Another “Oops” moment [link]

[fortyeridania]

http://​​www.thebigquestions.com/​​2011/​​10/​​04/​​big-news/​​

Steven Landsburg notes that mathematician Edward Nelson has retracted his claim that the axioms of Peano Arithmetic are inconsistent.

The bit Landsburg cites indicates that the retraction was cordial and drama-free, the way a retraction should be—even a retraction of a claim as momentous as this one.

Now, is this kind of event more common in math than in other fields? Is it more common now than before? (Landsburg seems to attribute it in part to the existence of the Internet.) Your thoughts?

[byrnema]

I’ve always appreciated the allowance for a self-deprecating culture in physics and math. This -- brave positioning of ideas with nonchalant retraction—is what the allowance is for. Personalities can be ‘big’ in these fields but everyone is the same size compared to objective truth. This in contrast to other (also important) professions where social influence is more necessary and you’re not doing your job correctly if you’re not selling your ideas (and standing behind them) well enough.

[Eugine_Nier]

The bit Landsburg cites indicates that the retraction was cordial and drama-free, the way a retraction should be—even a retraction of a claim as momentous as this one.

Now, is this kind of event more common in math than in other fields?

Yes, in fact I can’t think of a retraction in math that wasn’t.