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I remember Keats and the whole truth is beauty, beauty truth thing. I feel like it's actually, truth is ugly, always. I mean, have you ever found out the truth and not been disappointed?

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All of the time. The universe is pretty incredible. The stories we make up about it don't come close.

Douglas Adams said it better than I can: "I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day."

Have you ever proved a mathematical theorem on your own?

Yes; that's actually a pretty good counterpoint. But what about Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem? That is a mindbreaker.

what about Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem? That is a mindbreaker

Why? If I had to guess, I would say you are uncomfortable with intrinsic uncertainty. Or is it something else?

Well, to begin with, it's set theory, which is notable for driving at least one person mad, and further, it's one of the more unsettling parts of set theory. And I mean actually working through it, not just knowing about it. But reading it over, "mindbreaker" is clumsy; perhaps "disturbing" or, better yet, "unsettling" would be better.

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