Brick, can you PROVE to me, that you can't fly?
You CAN prove that you CAN fly, but you can NEVER prove to me that you CANNOT.
I mean, you can jump off a cliff and NOT take to the air, but I could argue that you died to protect your secret.
There is no way to prove what things AREN'T, you can prove what they are.
The way you are defining proof is totally incorrect. Yes he can prove that he can't fly because he is a human, humans cannot fly they don't have that capability QED. Magic does not apply to the real world, and it most certainly does not apply to proofs.
(And before anyone tried to tear that apart, i know he can't fucking fly, it's an example)
The fact that you would use that as an example is setting yourself up for failure. You are proving that you have no idea what the word proof means.
So I guess what I SHOULD HAVE SAID, was that you can not prove a negative...
Yes you can prove a negative. I will use my addition example again.
Theorem: 2 + 2 != 5 (!= means does not equal)
Definition: A number
N's value is defined by the collection of elements in its set, e.g. 2 is the set containing the empty set and two unique elements. (The empty set's numerical equivalent is 0, every set contains the empty set, this is an axiom. For future reference, assume that the empty set is contained in each set.)
Definition:
Addition of numbers
N and
M will give a set
R that has all the elements of each set
N and
M in it. e.g. The sum of 3, the set containing three unique elements, and 2, the set containing two unique elements, is a set with five unique elements, or the number 5.
Proof: This proof will be done by contradiction. Assume 2+2=5
From the definition above we know that 2+2 is equal to the set with 4 unique elements or 4, which gives:
4=5
Using the definitions above we can state that the set containing 4 unique elements is equal to the set containing 5 unique elements. This is a contradiction, therefor 2+2!=5 QED. We have proven that 2+2!=5, OR, if you would like to phrase it differently, we have disproved, through contradiction, that 4=5.
That is the proper way to prove something. You can't just pull shit out of your ass like bricktop can fly, he maybe holding back some secret. That's an incredibly stupid example. There are axioms, undeniable truths, that apply to everything in our Universe. You use these axioms to prove other truths about occurrences that happen in our Universe. Using axioms is also how you disprove a credited theory in our universe. If a theory violates a newly discovered axiom, then the theory must be altered to work with all of the known axioms. Look at gravity, it went from Newtonian gravity to General Relativity because Einstein discovered that time is a dimension and that the fastest anything could travel is the speed of light. Newton's idea that gravity is instant was found to be untrue, so Einstein disproved Newtonian gravity and proved his theory of General Relativity, which is now found to violate another newly found axiom. It's how we develop theories, if you're not following the correct manner in which to prove something, then you aren't saying anything.
If you try to prove something without use of an axiom, like humans can fly, you're already barking up the wrong tree. Lots of teenage "philosophers" have a tendency to do this. Try to prove something while ignoring axioms completely, saying something like: "you never know, it could happen." Problem is, we do know. It's fine to voice an opinion, but you should know what you're talking about before starting an argument.
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