Timeline for I know that you know...
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
14 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 7, 2019 at 22:12 | comment | added | vidyarthi | @JoelDavidHamkins maybe this would be a starting point for epistemology and metaphysics | |
| Nov 3, 2013 at 18:50 | vote | accept | Pietro Majer | ||
| Nov 24, 2012 at 16:45 | comment | added | Joel David Hamkins | Bern, I am sorry to hear you say so. Meanwhile, see voices.yahoo.com/hypatia-first-woman-mathematics-86501.html | |
| Nov 24, 2012 at 12:07 | comment | added | Joel David Hamkins | Tweetie-bird, can I help explain it better? It is clear that my merely sending the first message is not enough, since otherwise I couldn't be sure that she had agreed to the plan. Similarly, her sending the first reply is not enough, since otherwise she couldn't be sure that I had known that my first message was actually received. So I have to confirm her reply, and furthermore know that this confirmation was received. And so on. If the last message sent needn't have been confirmed, then the plan should work whether or not is was received, and so it needn't have been sent. | |
| Nov 24, 2012 at 11:59 | comment | added | tweetie-bird | I was really trying to understand this answer, but now need to get some other work done outside MathOverflow. | |
| Nov 24, 2012 at 9:36 | comment | added | S. Carnahan♦ | My wild guess is that people in our uncertain real world maintain a vague accounting of how much they think the other party understood during a conversation, and update their levels of confidence in accordance with the evidence they are presented. At some point one could say that it is reasonable to assume that the correct information was transmitted. Naturally, this isn't perfect insurance against the occasional worldview getting shattered (and the occasional child being left behind at school). | |
| Nov 24, 2012 at 5:15 | comment | added | Bern Oay | As someone who didn't have the easiest time in school, I am glad that I was not named horatio or hypatia... | |
| Nov 24, 2012 at 4:35 | history | edited | Joel David Hamkins | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Improved exposition
|
| Nov 24, 2012 at 4:27 | history | edited | Joel David Hamkins | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 1 characters in body
|
| Nov 24, 2012 at 4:10 | history | edited | Joel David Hamkins | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 545 characters in body
|
| Nov 23, 2012 at 23:18 | comment | added | tweetie-bird | I deleted my previous comment so as not to confuse others. This logic puzzle is already confusing enough. | |
| Nov 23, 2012 at 22:50 | comment | added | Joel David Hamkins | Tweetie-bird, of course my intention here was to provide a comparatively concrete example exhibiting the principal issues of common knowledge. I am actually fascinated by the logic and mathematics of this kind of situation, which I view as a genunine, sophisticated mathematical topic. | |
| Nov 23, 2012 at 21:25 | comment | added | Joel David Hamkins | Incidentally, it seems to me that the same problem still arises even if we were to speak in person, because one would have to make sure that the previous comment was received and understood, before its acknowledgement would rise to the level of common knowledge. I am left to wonder how it is possible ever for us to attain common knowledge... | |
| Nov 23, 2012 at 18:01 | history | answered | Joel David Hamkins | CC BY-SA 3.0 |