English

The Surprise Examination Paradox and the Second Incompleteness Theorem

Logic 2010-11-24 v1 Computational Complexity Logic in Computer Science

Abstract

We give a new proof for Godel's second incompleteness theorem, based on Kolmogorov complexity, Chaitin's incompleteness theorem, and an argument that resembles the surprise examination paradox. We then go the other way around and suggest that the second incompleteness theorem gives a possible resolution of the surprise examination paradox. Roughly speaking, we argue that the flaw in the derivation of the paradox is that it contains a hidden assumption that one can prove the consistency of the mathematical theory in which the derivation is done; which is impossible by the second incompleteness theorem.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1011.4974,
  title  = {The Surprise Examination Paradox and the Second Incompleteness Theorem},
  author = {Shira Kritchman and Ran Raz},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1011.4974},
  year   = {2010}
}

Comments

8 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T16:47:33.760Z