[HM] query about von Neumann and Goedel

Martin Davis (martind@cs.berkeley.edu)
Thu, 24 Dec 1998 15:53:56 -0800

I have heard the following story: Von Neumann, joking about how his efforts
to prove the consistency of formalized arithmetic were blocked by Go"del's
discoveries, spoke of dreaming about such a proof. For two nights in his
dreams, he got closer. Then, he went on, he learned of Go"del's results.
The punch line:
"If only I could have dreamed for a third night, I would have succeeded."

Likely, this story is totally apocryphal, but any information to the
contrary would be appreciated.

Martin Davis