A 120-year-old Poincaré argument resurfaces: AI proofs only show how the pieces move
MoonL88537 · x · 2026-10-20
- The author quotes Poincaré's famous 1908 passage from Science and Method: proving a theorem requires no understanding of its meaning — mathematics could be a "reasoning piano" turning axioms into theorems.
- Commenting on today's "leanslop proofpocalypse" of AI-generated proofs, the author argues the debate is 120 years old and that AI demos only show "how the pieces move," not the good stuff of mathematics.
- The attached image shows the book page: perfect logic isn't all of mathematics, just as chess isn't merely the rules of piece movement.
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