&gt; The way around the Halting problem is very similar: <i>Don&#x27;t write arbitrary programs</i>. Rather, design your programs right from the beginning so that you can prove whatever you need to prove about them.<p>The system you outline works perfectly as long as you limit yourself to provable assertions. But Gödel&#x27;s theorems have led to examples of unprovable assertions, thus moving beyond the hypothetical into a realm that might collide with future algorithms, likely to be much more complex than typical modern algorithms, including some that may mistakenly be believed to be proven correct.<p>If we&#x27;re balancing a bank&#x27;s accounts, I think we&#x27;re safe. In the future, when we start modeling the human brain&#x27;s activities in code, this topic will likely seem less trivial, and the task of avoiding &quot;arbitrary programs,&quot; and undecidable assertions (or even recognizing them in all cases), won&#x27;t seem so easy.<p>&gt; This much math you need to know if you want to lecture others on the Internet.<p>My original objection was completely appropriate to its context.