[FOM] New Axioms(?)

Todd Eisworth (Math Fac) eisworth at math-cs.cns.uni.edu
Thu Jun 26 16:11:33 EDT 2003


At each of the last two set-theoretic topology conferences I have
attended, there have been informal discussions over snacks and beer about
Woodin's work and whether or not we (the mathematical community) have
finally been presented with a combinatorial principle that will in time be
considered as "obviously true" as the other axioms of ZFC.

I am interested in people's opinions about how a "new axiom" gains
acceptance. [I guess this is asking for the mathematical version of "how
does a bill become a law?".]

For a concrete question, what happened that makes the Axiom of Choice seem
so much more reasonable to mathematicians now than 100 years ago? What
does the Axiom of Choice possess that the Continuum Hypothesis does not?

Best regards,

Todd Eisworth





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