Quantum Leaps May Solve Impossible Problems

NewsFactor Network ^ | October 7, 2002 | Mike Martin

[sourcery]

FYI

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[r9etb]

"It is widely accepted now that, without a doubt, information is physical and quantum physics provides the rules of that physical behavior."

So if I say that a joke is funny, they can provide the quantum rules describing why?

And also why you may not think it's funny?

This theory may well be neato spiffy, but it's not universal.

[Doctor Stochastic]

I couldn't find a link to his publication. I'll have to read to see if he's correct.

[Consort]

The universe is exactly what we "THINK" it is.

[wideawake]

Just a note on the editorial slant of this article: Turing's legal problems associated with cruising young men in public places has never been established as his motivation for suicide.

He was a pretty moody, emotional individual with many personal issues and he left no suicide note of any kind.

His conviction occurred in March 1952. He died in June 1954. I doubt that it took him more than two years to realize that he received a slap on the wrist on a public indecency charge, and that only then did he decide to commit suicide with a two-year-old incident as his motive.

[Doctor Stochastic]

I suppose if Tien Kieu's work is correct, I'll just say thank you.

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[r9etb]

OTOH, Turing is something of a gay icon. I once began reading a short biography of him. I had to stop once the author began referring to him only (and often) as "Alan," and began waxing poetic about him in a most unscientific manner. It began reading like something written by a 6th grade girl in the throes of her first crush. Yuck.

[wideawake]

A lot of this theory has been filtered through the insights of Claude Shannon's information theory and Wittgenstein's linguistic theory.

One question which Wittgenstein concerned himself with is the rules of language. He postulated a language which consisted of two speakers, one of whom was a mason and the other of whom was a mason's assistant. The language had two words - "brick" and "mortar". Each time the mason uttered "brick" it meant that the assistant would hand him a brick and each time he said "mortar" the assistant would provide him with mortar. Wittgenstein postulated that even in so impoverished a system humor would be possible - the one type of joke in this language would be if the mason said "mortar" and the assistant handed him a "brick" instead.

[LibWhacker]

It'd be funnier if, when the mason said "mortar," the assistant gave him the equivalent of a mortar pie in the face.

[RLK]

Alonzo Church and Alan Turing, who essentially invented the modern-day computer.

------------------------

I have doubts about this. The same with Von Neuman who is also given the same credit. I don't know why we seize on such figures and give them exaggerated importance.

[LibWhacker]

And, it would be a different type of joke than the one postulated by Wittgenstein.

[r9etb]

Wittgenstein postulated that even in so impoverished a system humor would be possible - the one type of joke in this language would be if the mason said "mortar" and the assistant handed him a "brick" instead.

But it's only funny if the mason thinks its funny, and perhaps also only if the assistant meant it to be funny. Otherwise, it's a mistake. Or it was a protest on the part of the assistant. Or several other alternate possibilities I can think of.

And again, what's "funny" between these two masons may not be "funny" between the next pair. So "humor" has some characteristics that are independent of this primitive two-word language.

The point being that "humor" in that simple system presumes the existence of non-concrete information over and above the simple passing of brick and mortar, so that they can tell the difference between humor and something else. It requires the existence of meaning beyond brick-and-mortar interaction.

[WVNan]

I never understand everything about Quantum Physics, but I also never tire of reading about it. It is such a fascinating field.

[Honcho]

OOOOOOWWWWWWW... Me head hurt.

[wideawake]

Exactly. Which leads to the conundrum of language - what W called "language games". Language is a game with certain rules. To interpret statements one looks to the rules, but then to interpret the application of those rules, one needs rules of interpretation, and so on ad infinitum.

It's interesting how many thinkers have grappled with this issue in one form or other:

Turing and the halting problem in computer science

Carl Schmitt and the Ausnahmezustand in political science and legal theory

Wittgenstein and language games in language theory

Godel and the undecidability problem in mathematics

Heisenberg and the uncertainty principle in physics

Derrida and differance in philosophy

Blanchot and the "death of the writer" in literary theory

Popper and falsifiabilty in the theory of science

MacIntyre and narrative tradition in ethics and moral philosophy

And the list goes on.

[MarkL]

42

Mark

[cd jones]

hummmm..........someone please post a picture of Ann Coulter, I've got a headache. ;-)