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| The "Proof by Contradiction" is also known as reductio ad absurdum, which is probably Latin for "reduce it to something absurd". Here's the idea:
This is based on a classical formal logic construction known as Modus Tollens: If P implies Q and Q is false, then P is false. In this case, Q is a proposition of the form (R and not R) which is always false. P is the negation of the fact that we are trying to prove and if the negation is not true then the original proposition must have been true. If computers are not "not stupid" then they are stupid. (I hear that "stupid computer!" phrase a lot around here.) Example:Lets prove that there is no largest prime number (this is the idea of Euclid's original proof). Prime numbers are integers with no exact integer divisors except 1 and themselves.
Note: The conclusion in Step 5 makes implicit use of one other important theorem: The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic: Every integer can be uniquely represented as the product of primes. So if N had a composite (i.e. non-prime) factor, that factor would itself have prime factors which would also be factors of N.
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