PhilosophyIdeas.com Database     |     Current Total Ideas: 22,401     |     home     |     back

Ideas from 'Gödel's Proof' by E Nagel / JR Newman [1958], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Gödel's Proof' by Nagel,E/Newman,J.R. [NYU 2001,978-0-8147-5816-8]].

green numbers give full details    |     back to texts     |     unexpand this idea

18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 5. Rationality / b. Human rationality
9591 The human intellect has not been, and cannot be, fully formalized
                        Full Idea: The resources of the human intellect have not been, and cannot be, fully formalized.
                        From: E Nagel / JR Newman (Gödel's Proof [1958], VIII)
                        A reaction: This conclusion derives from Gödel's Theorem. Some people (e.g. Penrose) get over-excited by this discovery, and conclude that the human mind is supernatural. Imagination is the key - it is a feature of rationality that escapes mechanization.