h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have found a marvellous proof, but this thread is not able to contain it.

The thread is too narrow, is it?

Yep.

This lookes to me what Fermat wrote in the margin, to become his famous "last statement".
If you are right, I would like to see it.

Sorry, that was my famous last statement, and therefore I can't show you the proof now. In fact, ignore this posting altogether since posting no. 1 in this thread was my last statement. Wait, you can't follow any instructions in this posting, since you're ignoring it... That's a nice paradox.

As a matter of fact, I should have said: his last theorem, and it took a few hundred years to see a proof. That leaves you a lot of time and still do better.
Most paradoxes can be paradoctered by looking from some other side.
If your proof is accepted, we will see abstracts of it in popular papers and websites.

It wasn't really a theorem, it was a conjecture. A theorem is a conjecture and a proof.

And I hope you didn't take me seriously when I misquoted Fermat.

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to post that. Of course you should have written it in latin.

Sorry, I don't know the Latin version...

Actually (racks memory) as I remember Fermat's last theorem was not the only theorem he never told anyone his proof of. There was this habit among mathematicians of proving stuff and then writing to each other and saying "Look at this, aren't I clever? Bet you can't prove it." So once Fermat died people had to go through all his writings and dig out the proofs that they couldn't do. Some they never found (maybe they never existed) so they had to prove them anyway. The last to be proved was FLT. Hence the name.

So you don't have to say nothing ever again, iaoth, in latin or otherwise. You just have to claim to have proofs of lots of other theorems as well. And then die.

Which, I'm sure, will be a relief.

Latin? I thought the 'The margin is too small to contain it' quote was written originally in French by Pierre. I could be wrong though.

I believe you'll find that infinity causes this theorem to go into spasms and die. Though I may be incorrect.

All I'm understanding so far is : "yadda yadda yadda Fermat yadda yadda infinity yadda yadda yadda maths yadda yadda"!

You've lost me there, what does yadda mean?

Anyway, if you follow the link to FLT in the article you'll see that he said, and I quote, "hanc marginis exiguitas non caperet", which is apparently latin.

Tricky, those last two. As it isn't english, some parts could have been deleted.

"[Yadda removed by moderator]"?

"Yadda yadda yadda" meaning "blah blah blah" or "straight over my head!", etc...

Hmm. I'd just like to point out to any moderators out there that the gobbledygook in my last post says 'but this margin is too narrow' and not 'Tony Blair is a smarmy git who should not be voted for under any circumstances'. Which, in any case, is only partly true. (And it's too late now, we've done the deed)

A) It isnt linear
B) It is a blatant misdirection of numerical shells.