Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Views

Abstract

In 1632, Galileo Galilei wrote a book called \textit{Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems} which compared the new Copernican model of the universe with the old Ptolemaic model. His book took the form of a dialogue between three philosophers, Salviati, a proponent of the Copernican model, Simplicio, a proponent of the Ptolemaic model, and Sagredo, who was initially open-minded and neutral. In this paper, I am going to use Galileo's idea to present a dialogue between three modern philosophers, Mr. Spock, a proponent of the view that $\mathsf{P} \neq \mathsf{NP}$, Professor Simpson, a proponent of the view that $\mathsf{P} = \mathsf{NP}$, and Judge Wapner, who is initially open-minded and neutral.