aw. RE: AtD pg 675

[Kai Frederik Lorentzen]

Gödel's incompleteness theorems

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In mathematical logic, Gödel's incompleteness theorems, proved by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are two theorems stating inherent limitations of all but the most trivial formal systems for arithmetic of mathematical interest.
The theorems are also of considerable importance to the philosophy of mathematics. They are widely regarded as showing that Hilbert's program to find a complete and consistent set of axioms for all of mathematics is impossible, thus giving a negative answer to Hilbert's second problem. Authors such as J. R. Lucas have argued that the theorems have implications in wider areas of philosophy and even cognitive science as well as preventing any complete Theory of Everything from being found in physics, but these claims are less generally accepted.
 
 
Mark wrote:
 
> Hilbert (from AtD) is herein contained.
 
> For my purposes in trying to explicate AtD, I might be arguing that Pynchon uses the "n + 1 indefinitely" notion fromn Kit to state in 
> another way his
> belief that science/;math can never provide any complete Theory of Everything. 
 
I think the GR passages where Gödel's theorem is mentioned do support your view:
 
" ... And yet, and yet: there is Murphy's Law to consider, that brash Irish proletarian restatement of Gödel's Theorem --- WHEN 
EVERYTHING HAS BEEN TAKEN CARE OF, WHEN NOTHING CAN GO WRONG OR EVEN SURPRISE US ...
SOMETHING WILL. [See also TRP's early risk-sociological essay "Togetherness"! kfl]. So the permutations 'n' combinations
of Pudding's THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN IN EUROPEAN POLITICS for 1931, the year of Gödel's Theorem, don't give
Hitler an outside chance. So, when laws of heridity are laid down, mutants will be born. Even as determinist a piece of hardware 
as the A4 rocket will begin spontaneously generating items like the 'S-Gerät' Slothrop thinks he's chasing like a grail." (p. 275)
 
And also (after giving some lyrics of the Enzian related SOLD ON SUICIDE):
 
"In its complete version it represents a pretty fair renunciation of the things of the world. The trouble with it is that by Gödel's 
Theorem there is bound to be some item around that one has omitted from the list, and such an item is not easy to think off the top 
of one's head, so that what one does most likely is go back over the whole thing, meantime correcting mistakes and inevitable
repetitions, and putting in new items that will surely have occured to one, and --- well it's easy to see that the 'suicide' of the title
might have to be postponed indefinitely!" (p. 320) 
 
Could this second outtake also be some kinda self-comment of Pynchon while painting the Rainbow? 
 
(Dont get me wrong, there's nothing to edit about GR;
 
AtD would have needed some editing, though. It is, imo, much too long.)
 
 
Kai 
 
 
> A-and, as I put out there, perhaps TRP was showing the open-endedness, the "freedom" of consciousness....infinitely renewable 
> "intentionality" to use a concept some philosophers use........
 
 
 
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