Probable Insanity

After further studying the perplexing slide mentioned earlier today I think I have a glimpse at comprehension. The fog of befuddlement thinned to the point where I could discern the secret knowledge the example seeks to impart. Or so I hope. There is always the chance that I’ve constructed a special logical system of my very own in which this understanding only holds sway. And to be clear, in this instance “special” means retarded.

Interestingly enough (actually I expect you’re bored out of your gourd), I think part of the problem was trying to reconcile the name of the rule, “Existential Elimination”, with what was really going on. For those with a truly masochistic nature, the existential elimination steps are labeled with the “backwards E –elim” justifications. The existential elimination steps don’t actually eliminate anything. Perhaps they would better be labeled “Existential Assumption Discovery.” It kind of makes you think, right? Actually, probably not. I fully expect that I’m talking to myself at this point….and thus the title of this post.

A final thought, or perhaps, insight. I peered through the befuddlement with a hint that I found on a slide from a similar class taught at a completely different university. Oh, how Google has changed education. Eroded is the information asymmetry between those who know and those who do not. As an undergrad (pre Google) if something was not clear after examining the course material you were boned. Now you just craft a clever search to find information from similar courses and Google brings it to you. It just takes one clever explanation by one professor somewhere and you are illuminated.