Cantor's diagonal argument explained simply

No.14195955 ViewReplyOriginalReport
Lemma: For any enumeration of binary sequences, there exists a binary sequence not in that enumeration.

Proof: Let be any enumeration of binary sequences. Let be a binary sequence such that . Then for any . Thus is not in .

Theorem: There is no enumeration of all binary sequences.

Suppose there is an enumeration of all binary sequences. By our lemma, there is a binary sequence not in this enumeration. But this contradicts the assumption the enumeration contains all binary sequences. Contradiction. Thus no such enumeration exists.