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What does negation of sufficient statement discreet math?

User Nelsy
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Final answer:

The negation of a sufficient statement in discrete math involves stating that the sufficient condition is not true, but this does not automatically lead to the negation of the consequent due to the possibility of other conditions that can make the consequent true. This is known as the fallacy of denying the antecedent, which is distinct from valid deductive inferences like modus ponens and modus tollens.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question you've asked pertains to the negation of a sufficient statement in discrete math. Negation is the process of stating the opposite of an original statement. In terms of conditional statements, if we have 'If X, then Y', where X is a sufficient condition for Y, negating the sufficient condition would be 'Not X'. However, it's important to note that 'Not X' does not automatically mean 'Not Y', because there might be other conditions that could make Y true; thus this does not follow the original logical implication. This is known as the fallacy of denying the antecedent. An example using the basic form of negation would be, the statement 'All birds can fly' negated becomes 'Not all birds can fly'.

Valid deductive inferences, such as modus ponens and modus tollens, rely on correctly understanding sufficient and necessary conditions. Modus ponens takes the form of 'If X, then Y; X; therefore, Y', which is valid because the occurrence of the sufficient condition (X) guarantees the consequent (Y). In contrast, modus tollens is 'If X, then Y; not Y; therefore, not X', exploiting the necessity of Y for X to be true.

User Simia
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