In a new book, the mathematical epidemiologist Adam Kucharski explains how certainty, even in math, can be an illusion.

Fortunately, biased inferences are rare, even though concluded truths—under the scrutiny of the most careful scientific research—are not as locked with the same logic as a mathematical proof.

Modal logic, an extension of classical logic, investigates the modes of truth such as necessity and possibility. Its development has been closely intertwined with advances in proof theory, a field ...

If someone were to ask you to prove that you exist, you would seriously struggle to do so. One’s own existence simply cannot be rationally proven.

This kind of mockery is a little unfair (although only a little). What's important to realize is that the ontological proof is perfectly logical -- that is, the conclusions follow inevitably from the ...

A mathematical proof is irrefutably true, a manifestation of pure logic. But an increasing number of mathematical proofs are now impossible to verify with absolute certainty, according to experts ...