Does this sound right?
The original statement is:
All zombies eat brains.
Formally: ∀ zombies z, z eats brains.
Formal negation: ∃ a zombie z such that z does not eat brains.
Informal negation: Some zombies don't eat brains. (They're on a diet.)
Does that sound right? Did I miss anything?
The original statement is:
All zombies eat brains.
Formally: ∀ zombies z, z eats brains.
Formal negation: ∃ a zombie z such that z does not eat brains.
Informal negation: Some zombies don't eat brains. (They're on a diet.)
Does that sound right? Did I miss anything?
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The proper formation of the statement is:
∀z[ Zombie(z) => Eats_brains(z)]
or equivalently
∀z[ ~Zombie(z) V Eats_brains(z)]
So the formal negation is:
∃z[Zombie(z) Λ ~Eats_brains(z)]
or informally
There exists at least one "thing" z that is both a zombie and does not eat brains
or more informally
there's at least one zombie that doesn't eat brains.
Avoid "some zombies", it doesn't have a clear meaning.
∀z[ Zombie(z) => Eats_brains(z)]
or equivalently
∀z[ ~Zombie(z) V Eats_brains(z)]
So the formal negation is:
∃z[Zombie(z) Λ ~Eats_brains(z)]
or informally
There exists at least one "thing" z that is both a zombie and does not eat brains
or more informally
there's at least one zombie that doesn't eat brains.
Avoid "some zombies", it doesn't have a clear meaning.