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Q: How many mathematicians does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A''': In an earlier article, X writes:
Q: How many mathematicians does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: One. He gives it a philosopher, thereby reducing the problem to an earlier joke...
In earlier work, Wiener [1] has shown that one mathematician can change a light bulb.
If k mathematicians can change a light bulb, and if one more simply watches them do it, then k+1 mathematicians will have changed the light bulb.
Therefore, by induction, for all n in the positive integers, n mathematicians can change a light bulb.
Bibliography:
[1] Wiener, Matthew P., <11485@ucbvax>, Re: YALBJ, 1986
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“But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.”
Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace
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