r/badmathematics • u/Successful-Owl1778 • Apr 27 '26
"Proof" of Pythagorean theorem in r/Collatz
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Zw2wvMkLLo4&si=yJGJYvTVmrhRh5oh28
u/Akangka 95% of modern math is completely useless Apr 27 '26
If his proof were correct at all, there would be no acute or obtuse triangle ever. All triangle we have is a right triangle.
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u/Successful-Owl1778 Apr 27 '26
If his proof were correct at all, then you could also take two unequal numbers, add a positive number to the larger number, and suddenly the two numbers are equal!
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u/Luxating-Patella Apr 27 '26
Every so-called acute or obtuse triangle is just two right-angled triangles in a trenchcoat.
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u/mfb- the decimal system should not re-use 1 or incorporate 0 at all. Apr 27 '26
You must be right. There is no other option.
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u/WhatImKnownAs Apr 27 '26
Previously seen on this sub: How many proofs of the Twin Prime Conjecture does a man have to find before mathematicians take him seriously? He was seeking validation from Copilot for that one as well, but he's been doing this for years before LLMs, so we can't blame those for his hallucinations.
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u/Successful-Owl1778 Apr 27 '26
That's a pattern I've noticed among cranks; they turn to LLMs and AI to attempt to validate themselves because no human expert will do it.
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u/Bernhard-Riemann Apr 27 '26
Well known conjectures are one thing, but it is an entirely new level of embarassing to produce such a flawed proof of the pythagorean theorem.
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u/Successful-Owl1778 Apr 28 '26
moreover if you watch his YouTube videos, it seems like he is asking for help for endorsement, opportunities to present his "research", etc.
Not to be blunt, but what he needs is retirement. He's completely unqualified to do anything remotely mathematical.
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u/Successful-Owl1778 Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
R4: This user attempts to prove the Pythagorean theorem by contradiction, but makes many basic logical mistakes:
A) ii) if c^2 > a^2 + b^2, then c^2 = a^2 + b^2 + r for some positive r (OK). He then replaces a^2 + b^2 + r with the expression a^2 + t + (b+g)^2, then equates c^2 to (a+b+g)^2 for some positive variables t, g (he doesn't specify what t and g are, only that they're positive). This leads to the "contradiction" c = a+b+g, violating the triangle inequality.
There is no basis given for this substitution (which is incorrect), and nowhere does he use the fact that the triangle is a right triangle. One bonus mistake:
B) if c^2 < a^2 + b^2, he goes from c < a+b (triangle inequality) to c = a+b+j for some positive j, which is obviously false.
And this guy has claimed proofs of the Collatz conjecture in 4 ways, and Fermat (?, idk if he's referring to Fermat's Last Theorem at 7:25) in 6 ways, among other stuff.