I've just finished "MetaMaths" by Gregory Chaitin. When I say 'finished' I mean I've read the main body of the book. I didn't feel inspired to continue into the lengthy appendices. It's not the best maths book I've read. The style is idiosyncratic and the subject matter could be summed up as "Godel and Turing had some good ideas, but here, in chatty style with lots of words in bold print for emphasis, is a flavour of my own ground-breaking contribution."
However, Chaitin does put forward some interesting mathematical and philosophical concepts. One is that maths is less logical and more intuitive than most people think. People like Godel and Turing have shown that however carefully you construct your mathematical system, there will always be true statements that cannot be proved and solutions that cannot be computed. Chaitin says that mathematics, like physics, relies on experimentation rather than pure logic to uncover the truth.
This has settled my mind somewhat in regard to the issues raised by Dawkins (see various posts early on in this blog). The truth about God is not going to be found only by sitting down and thinking about it, but by experimenting with it. When I behave as if God exists and loves me, what happens? Does my life make sense? Does the Christian faith begin to ring true when it is put into practice? Let's see, shall we...
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