Eliezer_Yudkowsky comments on How to Convince Me That 2 + 2 = 3 - Less Wrong

52 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 27 September 2007 11:00PM

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Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 14 September 2011 07:18:37AM 0 points [-]

Only to the same degree that first-order logic requires an ambient group of models (not necessarily sets) to make sense. It's just that the ambient models in the second-order theory include collections of possible predicates of any objects that get predicates attached, or if you prefer, people who speak in second-order logic think that it makes as much sense to say "all possible collections that include some objects and exclude others, but still include and exclude only individual objects" as "all objects".

Comment author: [deleted] 14 September 2011 07:24:36AM 6 points [-]

Only to the same degree that first-order logic requires an ambient group of models (not necessarily sets) to make sense.

Well, it makes sense to me without any models. I can compute, prove theorems, verify proofs of theorems and so on happily without ever producing a "model" for the natural numbers in toto, whatever that could mean.