Cool Logic

Grzegorz Lisowski and Max Rapp (ILLC)

Is the Triviality of AGM a Serious Possibility?

November 17th at 18:00, in F1.15, ILLC Seminar Room

Have you ever wondered whether it is really rational to learn new things? Well, if you plan on taking the Ramsey-test, you're in for a surprise. It is the only exam that one can only pass if one has learned nothing at all.

This is true at least if you believe the AGM-postulates for belief revision. In reality of course, we all know there is a serious possibility to fail an exam if one did not study. But no worries: according to AGM, serious possibilities are paradoxical. So just stop studying, you'll be fine. Unfortunately, in this talk we plan to burst this bubble by presenting an AGM-semantics which allows one to pass the Ramsey-Test by studying. Thus failing now is a serious possibility. Why would we do such a stupid thing? Well, we just know how much you all love studying logic.