That certainly has the stink of apocrypha about it.
All this talk about discovered integers reminds me of that fun fact I shared on the dope a while back about wisserteen.
That’s why I said “supposedly”. But regardless of whether or not the incident actually happened in history, the philosophical point remains.
My own personal opinion is that it’s important to question your premises. But you can take it too far - if you keep questioning the truth of next level after next level, you’ll reach the point where there can’t be truth or falsehood because there’s no meaning left. You need to stop at some level, accept that these things are true, and begin building up from there.
I really like the idea of dwarf numbers that Boyo Jim came up with in that thread.