3 ms·

Yeah this is why I'm confused as well. I don't follow how if we assume n are the same color, that it implies anything about n+1. It sounds like the article is

• ashtonbaker 5y ago
  Assume (accept without questioning) that it’s a property of the universe that any group of 2 horses are the same color. Now, say you have a group of 3 horses, A, B, and C. You can use your knowledge about groups of 2 horses here: A and B must be the same color because they are a group of 2 horses. B and C must be the same color for the same reason. So all the horses are the same color. You can now use the proof for groups of 3 horses to prove the same fact about groups of 4 horses, and so on. The flawed inductive proof tries to generalize this argument to all groups of n and n+1 horses. That is, assume the property is true for groups of n horses, and show that it logically follows that it’s true for groups of n+1 horses. The structure of the argument is the same as my 2/3 horses example. However, you can’t use an argument like that for any value of n, as it isn’t true for n=1. That is, it’s not true that if every group of 1 horses is the same color (a true fact in nature) then it follows that every pair of horses is the same color.
• joppy 5y ago
  It’s more like “in a world where every group of n horses are the same colour”, no matter of whether that world is the real world or not, “prove that any group of n+1 horses are the same colour”. This inductive step proves nothing about the real world, it needs a base case to kick things off. If you can prove it true for n=5 say, then the inductive step gives you every higher number.