Paper detail

Point-set topology as diagram chasing computations: Lifting property as negation

We observe that some natural mathematical definitions are lifting properties relative to simplest counterexamples, namely the definitions of surjectivity and injectivity of maps, as well as of being connected, separation axioms $T_0$ and $T_1$ in topology, having dense image, induced (pullback) topology, and every real-valued function being bounded (on a connected domain). We also offer a couple of brief speculations on cognitive and AI aspects of this observation, particularly that in point-set topology some arguments read as diagram chasing computations with finite preorders.