Understanding "help" command description syntax - explanation needed

[Chris Angelico]

On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 4:47 PM, Steven D'Aprano
<steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote:
> But a *great* mathematician will say, "Hmmm, actually, we don't *know* that
> 2+2 equals 4, because we cannot prove that arithmetic is absolutely
> consistent. If arithmetic is not consistent, then we might simultaneously
> prove that 2+2 = 4 and 2+2 ≠ 4, which is unlikely but not inconceivable."
>

And the mother of a young child will say "It just is. Now eat your greens."

ChrisA