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Trick or Truth Essay Contest (2015)
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Trick or Truth: the Mysterious Connection Between Physics and Mathematics by En Passant
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Author En Passant wrote on Mar. 11, 2015 @ 12:48 GMT
Essay AbstractMathematics for the most part deals with quantities. In some, relatively speaking, more recent kinds of math, particular properties are ascribed to certain terms that comprise it. It is fully analogous to what physics does. We posit the existence of certain (for lack of a more apt noun) qualities, and then use math to express a quantitative relation to something else. Just look at any equation that is used by physicists. It states that whatever is on its left side is equal to an amount of another quality on its right side. No, it is not, despite what Randall claims, that ultimately everything is reducible to a number. The number 2 can equally apply to a particle’s spin, but also to 2 degrees Kelvin, and to the two people in front of you at the checkout counter. The number 2 does not mean anything by itself. It needs context at minimum, and more ordinarily needs to be defined in terms of what it refers to.
Author BioI was raised to be the ultimate social sciences person. Science and business were foreign to me. Nevertheless, I eventually chose to be a business person, and became a VP Finance of an international company. I never lost sight of philosophy (my first and lasting interest), and was a member of MENSA and ISPE (International Society for Philosophical Enquiry) for many years. Currently, I write technical material for private industry, as it seems that understanding of engineering matters is not often paired with the ability to write about it. I hold several university degrees and professional certifications (not that it pertains).
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Michel Planat wrote on Mar. 11, 2015 @ 15:08 GMT
Dear En,
I agree that: it has to be "two of something", this is one main connection for the "maths of physics". Thanks for reminding it to us.
All the best,
Michel
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Author En Passant replied on Mar. 12, 2015 @ 15:04 GMT
Dear Michel,
Thank you for your comment, and for taking time to read my essay. I did read your essay so I could better understand the intent in your comment (above). Over the next couple of days I will make a comment about your essay, once I have given it more thought.
En
Michel Planat replied on Mar. 12, 2015 @ 21:26 GMT
Dear En,
Take your time. Before writing my comment I was wandering through nature that is quite beautiful around and I was precisely asking myself what is the problem with these numbers, I mean 10^53, 10^-34 and other numbers, that one gets from the Monster Group. What you say is in perfect agreement with my conclusion, what matters is just to put units on numbers, otherwise they just mean nothing. This is quite simple but the axiomatization of our physical theories leads us to hide this evidence that any engineer perfectly knows and applies.
Cheers,
Michel
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Michel Planat wrote on Mar. 13, 2015 @ 18:13 GMT
Dear En,
You are entirely right. Very often in my work, I observed the relationship. But I never found it fully satisfactory.
An example is the investigation of the so-called 1/f noise in highly stable oscillators, you can find a copy of the work here "1/f noise, the measurement of time and number theory"
http://empslocal.ex.ac.uk/people/staff/mrwatkin//zeta
/NTandtime.htm
Here you see/measure the approximation of real numbers by their continued fraction expansions. This is a classical example of the feedback of the measurement on the object.
The quantum measurements are even more impressive with the concept of contextuality which essentially means that the object is entirely shaped by all commutative/compatible observables.
It is often sayed that mathematics is tautologic that for me means that if there is a rich enough mathematical object, let's say the Monster Group, or Mandelbrot's set or another one, then its structure should fit the knowledge we have of the physical constants. We are far from this goal although many are trying to guess. But there are many other interesting problems: the hidden mass, the emergence of life and DNA, and so on. It was simpler for me to use Hawking's quote.
But you are right, that "something is not a number".
Best wishes,
Michel
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Gary D. Simpson wrote on Mar. 13, 2015 @ 20:09 GMT
En,
Is "En Passant" a pseudonym? I always assumed that anyone who might be a "big name" and who wanted to participate in a contest such as this would use a pseudonym ...
In any event, what you have written is short, direct, to the point, and true. It is essential to distinguish between the different types of "stuff" that are operated upon by mathematics. I am an engineer by education and I always check myself by making sure that my units are correct and consistent. I have caught more than a few errors by using this freshman level skill.
Best Regards and Good Luck,
Gary Simpson
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Author En Passant replied on Mar. 14, 2015 @ 03:21 GMT
Gary,
The pseudonym has a more banal purpose than you envision. It has to do with my work (separation of personal and corporate/commercial messaging).
Thank you for your comment. I was happy to see your pragmatic assessment of the ideas in my essay.
I look forward to your writing about other topics.
En
Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Mar. 15, 2015 @ 22:02 GMT
Dear En Passant,
Thanks for your well thought out comments and questions on my essay. As both Michel and Gary observe above, I believe you shine a light on the sterile concept of 'number' in math versus the mathematical relations between "things" in physics. You say:
"The correct selection of somethings and the appropriate selection of the numerical relations among somethings is...
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Dear En Passant,
Thanks for your well thought out comments and questions on my essay. As both Michel and Gary observe above, I believe you shine a light on the sterile concept of 'number' in math versus the mathematical relations between "things" in physics. You say:
"
The correct selection of somethings and the appropriate selection of the numerical relations among somethings is "physics".
For example, Stern-Gerlach measures
the scattering of particles depending upon the initial spin, i.e., the spin upon entry to the device. But Bell believes it is measuring "something else". Specifically, he believes that Stern-Gerlach directly measures "spin", which typically exits the device either aligned or anti-aligned with the local field. He therefore attaches an idealized 'number', ±1, to the output state. There's nothing wrong with this approach if one wishes only to describe the state of the existing spin, post-measurement. But Bell desires to use this idealized output prove a major point about Nature; that Nature is non-local.
This is unfortunate, because the approach he takes is to multiply the output of two correlated spins together to see if their average or expectation value agrees with that predicted by quantum mechanics. It does not! But I have shown that if he used the
actual measurement of scattering, the deflection position, instead of his
ideal measurement of 'spin' state, he actually would have found the correct correlation, in which case he would not have reached the conclusion that Nature is non-local.
Thus as you say, one must select the right "somethings" before establishing the relationships and drawing conclusions.
You further state:
"
Math without consideration of whether it mirrors the outside world is always tautologic… Once it starts to speak about the world, it becomes physics. At this stage, it can be validated (or not) by experiment, which is the final arbiter of whether your physics is right."
Bell's physics of course is not validated by experiment. His physical model fails to produce the quantum mechanical predictions which are found to agree with experiment.
Forgive me for, in essence, advertising my theory on your thread, but the point is that you clearly and cleanly point out the significant difference in math and physics, and that is more than a meaningless distinction.
Thanks again for your essay and for your kind attention to mine.
Best regards,
Edwin Eugene Klingman
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Peter Martin Punin wrote on Mar. 20, 2015 @ 11:22 GMT
Dear En
I just posted on my own forum a reply to your comment. I have read a first time your essay which is interesting because of its atypical aspects doubtlessly in connection with your pseudonym since it should be one, isn't it? However, precisely because of the atypical aspect of your essay, I have to read it again and to think about how to respond. But it would be done soon.
Best regards
Peter
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Peter Martin Punin wrote on Mar. 27, 2015 @ 13:07 GMT
Dear En,
I just posted a long but neverless partial answer to your questions.
Kind regards
Peter
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Member Marc Séguin wrote on Apr. 1, 2015 @ 01:51 GMT
Dear "En passant",
I think you perfectly answer Wigner's question when you say:
"There is no mystery. Whenever you find a consistent (repeatable) observation, it automatically means that you can use math to make utilitarian sense of it."
There's not much more to say... as long as we interpret this year's FQXi question as the relationship between known (or potentially known) mathematics and the observable (or potentially observable) universe. Of course, there's always the "deeper" question (perhaps too deep for science, and destined to remain in the realm of philosophy): what is the relationship between "all of mathematics" (in the limit that would be accessible to an infinitely intelligent mathematician) and the totality of all that physically exists?
Thank you for a refreshingly short and lucid essay!
Marc
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Author En Passant replied on Apr. 1, 2015 @ 15:04 GMT
Dear Marc,
I was not sure whether or not to view with suspicion any comments dated April 1st.
Nevertheless, thank you first of all for reading my essay, and for treating it kindly. I took a brief look at your own essay so I could better understand your comment (I will read your essay in great detail and respond on your page with my comment this week).
Consequently, the following lines are very preliminary and should only be taken as an indication of “first thoughts.”
It appears that there is a difference between what you understand by “mathematics” and what I think it is. But we may at least gain a mutual understanding of each other’s position if we compare our respective general understanding of what exists and how we know things (I didn’t want to use “them” big words here).
Of course, the issue you describe in the 2nd half of your third paragraph will be understood more clearly once we have done what I have just said.
I am also posting this comment on your essay page so as to acknowledge your comment on mine.
En
Member Marc Séguin replied on Apr. 5, 2015 @ 20:59 GMT
Dear "En Passant",
Thank you for the detailed comments you left on
my essay's page on April 3. They are much appreciated!
Indeed, we all start with basic assumptions. Mine is that there is a "monist" way to understand the world, a fundamental level of reality that can account for all that exists and is self-existing and self-explanatory --- which I identify with "All of Mathematics", an infinite structure that globally does not contain any information (like the Library of Babel of Borges' short story). On the other hand, you start with the assumption that only those things that we can detect with our senses or with an enhancement of our senses should be said to exist. Then, as I said in my first message, your conclusions are very well argued and follow naturally. I really like the way you put it in the post you left on my page, with the example of the pocket calculator. When I put on my "pragmatic physicist" hat (to borrow the expression from Sophia Magnusdottir's essay), I completely agree with you!
I hope your essay finds the audience it deserves and does well in the contest. All the best!
Marc
P.S. I have posted this reply on my essay's page also.
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Jonathan Khanlian wrote on Apr. 7, 2015 @ 17:02 GMT
Hi En,
I agree with your observation that “Whenever you find a consistent (repeatable) observation, it automatically means that you can use math to make utilitarian sense of it,” but I don’t think the conversation should end there, and I do believe there is still a mystery... or at least, a lack of consensus from physicists.
Do you think we can come up with a theory using mathematics that can also sheds light on the things that we observe that aren't systematic and repeatable? And are we talking about repeatable from a classical sense or a probabilistic sense? Should repeating something in a statistical sense even count as repeating something? How do you think areas of mathematics that relate to complexity theory relate to physics? Can we model a universe that has an infinite amount of information? How do you account for the fact that there are aspects of the natural world that physics has made good progress in explaining, while there are still many other areas that seem intractable?
Please check out my
Digital Physics movie essay if you get the chance. There are some questions posed at the end of the essay that may interest you. Here’s one that seems relevant to this conversation:
Is one alien’s signal another man’s noise?
Thanks,
Jon
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Author En Passant replied on Apr. 8, 2015 @ 14:05 GMT
Hi Jon,
Sure, put me on the spot. Couldn’t you just ask me a simple philosophy question instead, or something?
Your questions are about subjects in which I claim no expertise. Answering such questions would be like filling out a polling questionnaire. Unless you are a respected authority, nobody cares about your opinions.
Only one question relates to my essay, and that is the one I will answer. (Yes, a couple of the other questions tangentially connect.)
Re: “Whenever you find a consistent (repeatable) observation, it automatically means that you can use math to make utilitarian sense of it.” Why do I think this is true? It is not based on any theory but rather on informal observation of both nature and science. If something happens consistently (is repeatable), then its behavior usually depends on mechanisms that obey some principles. It seems to me that math can model any repeating process, while attaining at least some compression. The claim could be false, but if so, only in rare cases.
Yes, I will look at your essay.
En
Armin Nikkhah Shirazi wrote on Apr. 7, 2015 @ 21:02 GMT
Dear En,
I saw your post at Ken Wharton and would like to answer your questions, but because they had nothing to do with his essay I will post the answers here.
"I wonder whether you would be willing to pose your question in an FQXi blog accessible to a larger audience"
Thank you for considering this issue sufficiently important to suggest this, but I am not sure the...
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Dear En,
I saw your post at Ken Wharton and would like to answer your questions, but because they had nothing to do with his essay I will post the answers here.
"I wonder whether you would be willing to pose your question in an FQXi blog accessible to a larger audience"
Thank you for considering this issue sufficiently important to suggest this, but I am not sure the audience that I would potentially reach in this format is the audience I want to reach. For better or for worse, I have the impression that most of the people who frequent them are not professional physicists, but it is they who have to consider this argument. At any rate, I am working on this problem both from the relativity and from the quantum theory side, and the puzzle is by no means yet complete. Perhaps when I have more pieces together people will start paying attention.
"You are right, any inconsistencies in accepted theories must be investigated (if uncovered by qualified people)."
Well, just to be clear, I am not claiming that this issue is an inconsistency but that it is an apparent wrong prediction of the theory: A reasonable interpretation of the extrapolation of the theory to objects characterized by v=c should have led us to predict that there are no such objects, but in fact there are.
The claim that it is only "apparently" wrong, however, is based on my own ideas on how to resolve the problem, and definitely non-standard. But I don't want to force my own ideas on anyone: Anyone who wishes to do so, can try to resolve it on their own, but before this happens people first have to see that there is a problem. The bottom line, however, is that I do not take this to be grounds for rejecting special relativity. It is important for me to emphasize this because the argument could be co-opted by those who deny relativity, and I do not wish to be lumped together with the anti-relativity crowd.
"...such inconsistencies need to be looked at again regularly and not just “papered over.”
Well, correcting again for the fact that this is not an inconsistency but an apparently wrong prediction, you saw Ken's response, which is a typical denialist one, as seen by the following:
a) He said "1) I think in terms of fields, not particles, *especially* when it comes to light,..." implying that my argument applies only to particles, not fields. Well, go back and check, I did not use the word "particle" even once, the argument is general enough to encompass both particles and fields, so that implication is false.
b) Even though I expressly said that my aim was only to convince him that there was a problem, and not to convince him of my ideas, he said nothing about whether he thought there was a problem or not (i.e. ignoring in his response the central issue I was talking about) but only "I'm the last person to tell anyone that a crazy idea isn't worth exploring, if you think that a promising topic has been unfairly neglected..."
So yes, this is disappointing but not unexpected. I think to a great extent this is because the problem is being pointed out by an unknown person. If it had been, say, Hawking or Witten, who pointed this out, then people would pay attention, as evidenced by the fact that theoretical physicists are willing to seriously consider ideas like 6 extra dimensions and/or a multiverse, even though there is absolutely zero evidence either in nature or in our established theories which implies this. The problem I am pointing out, on the other hand, is straightforwardly implied by what many physicists consider one of our best established theories of science.
"Just for my own curiosity, what is the evidence that such objects exist (v=c), and what is the duration of their existence, and how is that measured?"
Well, there are at least two kinds of objects associated with v=c, photons, the force carriers of the electromagnetic force in Quantum Electrodynamics, and gluons, the force carriers of the strong force in quantum chromodynamics. The indirect evidence that these exist is that they play an essential role in these theories, and these theories have very successfully withstood experimental challenge.
The direct evidence can be obtained by setting up an experiment in which a photon source is aimed at a detector a distance r away, emits photons at time t=0 and the detector indicates a detection at time t=r/c later. At a microscopic level, the emission event at the source and the absorption event at the detector are due electrons going from a higher energy level to a lower one, and vice versa, respectively. This is all well understood.
The "duration of existence" is a little tricky in relativity, because there are two time parameters, coordinate time and proper time. Proper time is the time measured in a clock at rest relative to the object you are observing. Coordinate time is the amount of time you assign based on a clock at rest relative to the observer. If the observer is at rest with respect to the thing that is being observed, the two are the same, otherwise they are related to each other by

where tau is the proper time and t is the coordinate time, and gamma is the Lorentz factor. You can see that if v=c, you get tau=0, so a hypothetical clock in the rest frame of the object would stand still from the moment the object comes into existence until it goes out of existence, even if t could be billions of years (for example, light coming from galaxies billions of light years away). All this is also well understood and not controversial. However, as I mentioned in Ken Wharton's blog, it does imply a problem that is currently not recognized by physicists because, again, if we did not already know that such objects exists, this would have surely have led us to believe that a prediction of the theory is that they don't exist.
Finally, I did look over your short paper. It is rather informal. Although I tend to sympathize with what I perceive to be your main point, that the essential thing that distinguishes math from physics is that the latter uses numbers to express relationships between things characterized by physical qualities, let me just mention that one could mount a counterargument: In mathematics, there is a mathematical object called a measure, and the measure can represent any physical quality you want: Length, time, mass, apples, oranges, even probabilities. While often measures are used without dimensional units, they are used with dimensional units even in some areas of mathematics, for example length measures in geometry.
Hope you found my comments useful.
Best,
Armin
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Armin Nikkhah Shirazi replied on Apr. 7, 2015 @ 21:30 GMT
BTW, I'm a fellow Mensan.
Best,
Armin
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Author En Passant replied on Apr. 8, 2015 @ 14:21 GMT
Dear Armin,
I will move this discussion to your essay page. The apparently “wrong” prediction of SR is your project. That’s all I need, to have Pentcho Valev go after me.
Please don’t mention this Mensa thing. I am already embarrassed enough. I wrote my essay on the last day just before the deadline, and as I was filling out the form, they sprung this Bio requirement on me. Knowing that I had zero math or physics credentials, I tried to put something in there to gain “respectability.” If I had more time, I would not have said anything besides that I am interested in this subject.
En
Gordon Watson wrote on Apr. 7, 2015 @ 23:41 GMT
En,
Thanks for your comments on my essay and the spirit in which they were offered. Those 11 pages of unused white-space in your own essay would certainly have come in handy!
Now:
Given the similarity of our conclusions and the rarity of such challenges* to Wigner's position, I'd welcome any deeper and more critical analysis of my work; especially given your facility with English versus us non-English engineers!
* For easy comparison, here's my conclusion (from the piece that you cited):
3.6. We therefore close with a happy snapshot of Wigner’s (1960:14) views and our own:
… “The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve.”
… Nature speaks in many ways, from big bangs to whispers [like the whisper of an apple falling], but just one grammar,
beautiful mathematics, governs all her languages: thus all her laws.
Here's yours: "There is no mystery. Whenever you find a consistent (repeatable) observation, it automatically means that you can use math to make utilitarian sense of it."
So on this small but important point, it seems we agree:
There is no mystery.[…] added for clarity. Cheers;
Gordon Watson: Essay Forum.
Essay Only.
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Author En Passant wrote on Apr. 8, 2015 @ 21:36 GMT
Gordon,
Since this is about your essay, I will transfer it to your page (just wait, I will copy the necessary parts).
In the meantime, if you have time and the inclination, you can look up two comments that I have made on other people’s pages. They will give you a strong indication of the reasons that motivate my essay, and (potentially) provide philosophical “grounding” for all realist views.
One is on Peter Martin Punin’s page, so if you go there, look for En Passant wrote on Apr. 6, 2015 @ 04:55 GMT.
The second one is on Marc Séguin’s page. You should look for En Passant wrote on Apr. 3, 2015 @ 18:20 GMT. I intend to continue the discussion (which did not end with Marc alleging that we both make comparable assumptions, but I let him off the hook) on Punin’s page. His position, being Platonist, subsumes the MUH. Being an engineer, you should like my comment on Marc Séguin’s page, as it involves a bicycle chain analogy. (I am just getting you back for your sarcasm - from your comment above: “…especially given your facility with English versus us non-English engineers!...”)
That’s all I will say on my page.
En
Gordon Watson replied on Apr. 15, 2015 @ 02:01 GMT
Thanks En, I'll address the issues and continue this discussion on my page.
But please note: There was no sarcasm in the piece that you quote! The genuine call for help should had been clear (to you, of all people) from the tortured Title of my essay and your own call for me to: "Please have mercy and consider the reader."
With best regards;
Gordon Watson: Essay Forum.
Essay Only.
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Gordon Watson replied on Apr. 21, 2015 @ 01:46 GMT
En, I've responded to your "grounded realism" and calculator/bike analogies on my page.
With best regards;
Gordon Watson: Essay Forum.
Essay Only.
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Philip Gibbs wrote on Apr. 9, 2015 @ 20:29 GMT
"There is no mystery"
Have you heard about the connections between Monstrous Moonshine and String Theory? Dont worry about understanding the details. There are some short popular accounts that give the general idea. Don't worry if you dont regard string theory as physics. You just have to accept that it was developed out of physics rather than pure maths. Dont you think the connection is a little mysterious?
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Author En Passant replied on Apr. 10, 2015 @ 02:25 GMT
Philip,
I think we use the word “mystery” slightly differently. When I believe that there is a rational (in this case mathematical) explanation for something then I don’t call it a mystery. (We just don’t yet know what that explanation is.)
With this in mind, to me the connections between Monstrous Moonshine and String Theory are “interesting” (but not mysterious). I am nearly 100% certain that eventually someone will figure it out.
When you say that it (ST) was developed out of physics rather than pure maths, it makes me wonder about all the stuff I read about it elsewhere. The consensus seems to be that ST is pretty much all math (and no physics). I am also led to believe that the people who developed it were mathematical physicists, and that they started with mathematical representations of “strings,” and “ran with it mathematically from there.” If this is true, then a natural insight would have to be that the properties initially ascribed to the “strings” already “mapped” to Monstrous Moonshine (or at least to something from which MM can be derived).
In any case, once you establish parity between math and physics in a given area, it is only natural to expect math to continue to apply to the same physics (viewed differently) as you develop it. The physics part follows its internal physical logic, and the math just mirrors it. You see it the other way around, and I can conceive of a sense in which your view of things is right.
En
Peter Martin Punin wrote on Apr. 10, 2015 @ 15:38 GMT
Dear En,
I just put on my forum an answer to your last post; if you wish, the ultimate and final. But it would be regrettable.
Best regards
Peter
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Author En Passant replied on Apr. 10, 2015 @ 20:38 GMT
Dear Peter,
I have not yet looked at your page to see the answer you refer to here. But I would welcome our discussion to continue beyond the confines of this forum (which will “expire”). For that (if you don’t mind), please indicate an email address (on your essay page) to which I can write.
I will reply to your latest comment today or tomorrow.
Have a nice weekend.
En
vincent douzal wrote on Apr. 16, 2015 @ 21:38 GMT
Dear En Passant,
Your essay is short, but sound on many points.
Few have raised the case of categories (not in the mathematical sense, more in the spirit of Eleanor Rosch or George Lakoff), your qualities.
The connection you express between mathematics and physics states clearly the basic idea of empirical knowledge, with only a pragmatic criterion, under conditions of repeatability or reproducibility.
I won't paraphrase everything, I'd be longer than you.
Very good points.
Regards
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Author En Passant replied on Apr. 21, 2015 @ 07:13 GMT
Dear Vincent,
I am glad you understood what I was saying.
And I thank you for reading my essay. You already know that I could not care less about winning anything.
But I am not only studying physics – I have to understand everything. If you would be so kind, could you tell me where your last name comes from?
If I were to place it on a map, it would be somewhere in Western France (similar names also occur somewhere between Turkey and Eastern Europe). If you don’t want to share this info, that’s OK.
En
Alma Ionescu wrote on Apr. 18, 2015 @ 15:08 GMT
Dear En,
This is nice and to the point. Your writing displays an interesting personal stance and I'm sure you enjoyed the exercise. I think that you're right when you're saying, in the third paragraph, that Wigner's expression should not be taken literally as it was more a metaphorical way of encouraging new lines of thought and maybe a feeling of delight in the face of the best known parts of the natural world.
Warm regards,
Alma
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Author En Passant replied on Apr. 21, 2015 @ 07:32 GMT
Dear Alma,
I actually have many contacts with Romanians. They are extremely good at programming, and (in fact) BitDefender (the best antivirus program) is programmed by Romanians.
Don’t worry, the NSA can “get in” anyway. But their interests are not what we worry about (banking, etc.).
En
Sujatha Jagannathan wrote on Apr. 19, 2015 @ 13:56 GMT
Hands-on conceptualized framed layers!
- Regards
Miss. Sujatha Jagannathan
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Author En Passant replied on Apr. 21, 2015 @ 07:53 GMT
Dear Sujatha,
Your last name (in Sanskrit) means something like “the man who has unstoppable force.”
It is simply impossible to take Vedic (Sanskrit) wisdom, and think it is applicable to modern day physics.
I know you would like to make that case, and those people were very wise. But you need experimentation to do science. That did not develop until not that long ago in Europe. Yes, I am aware of Ramanujan and Sun Tzu, and they were brilliant in their way.
Your paternal line is likely to be R1a (possibly Brahmin).
En
Gary D. Simpson replied on Apr. 21, 2015 @ 13:37 GMT
En,
I suspect that someone is conducting a Turing test. Many of her comments simply do not make any sense.
Regards,
Gary Simpson
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Sujatha Jagannathan replied on Apr. 21, 2015 @ 16:13 GMT
In this case I want to inform you the bitter fact that the modern day maths emerged from Vedic Maths.
And the other theories derived from "Good-old-Sanskrit", 'Sanskrit' being the mother of all her kin languages.
Gary D. Simpson,
What a business in the forum you exhibit!
Your comments are turning more "Turing" these days since you're doing that business in every comment box, ain't you?
- Miss. Sujatha Jagannathan
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Gary D. Simpson replied on Apr. 21, 2015 @ 18:22 GMT
Ahhhhh ... finally a comment that seems appropriate. Either you are a person or the AI has gotten better. Very good.
Best Regards and Good Luck!!!!
Gary Simpson
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Author En Passant replied on Apr. 24, 2015 @ 01:24 GMT
Gary,
I don’t want to insult Sujatha Jagannathan in case she is not an automaton.
Your perception of the “fluency” of her language is right. Her talk seems to me to be “canned” (and I mean that in more ways than one).
But if you are right, then its creators are cheating. They intersperse regular (machine) dialogue with their human intervention whenever the situation...
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Gary,
I don’t want to insult Sujatha Jagannathan in case she is not an automaton.
Your perception of the “fluency” of her language is right. Her talk seems to me to be “canned” (and I mean that in more ways than one).
But if you are right, then its creators are cheating. They intersperse regular (machine) dialogue with their human intervention whenever the situation gets too complex for AI (and purposely introduce human errors).
Have no fear of AI. Below, I copy some text that I saw on the Internet just now. Strong AI is simply preposterous.
It would mean that we can lift ourselves by our own bootstraps.
En
May 15, 2013 | Luke Muehlhauser | Analysis
Strong AI appears to be the topic of the week. Kevin Drum at Mother Jones thinks AIs will be as smart as humans by 2040. Karl Smith at Forbes and “M.S.” at The Economist seem to roughly concur with Drum on this timeline. Moshe Vardi, the editor-in-chief of the world’s most-read computer science magazine, predicts that “by 2045 machines will be able to do if not any work that humans can do, then a very significant fraction of the work that humans can do.”
But predicting AI is more difficult than many people think.
To explore these difficulties, let’s start with a 2009 bloggingheads.tv conversation between MIRI researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky and MIT computer scientist Scott Aaronson, author of the excellent Quantum Computing Since Democritus. Early in that dialogue, Yudkowsky asked:
It seems pretty obvious to me that at some point in [one to ten decades] we’re going to build an AI smart enough to improve itself, and [it will] “foom” upward in intelligence, and by the time it exhausts available avenues for improvement it will be a “superintelligence” [relative] to us. Do you feel this is obvious?
Aaronson replied:
The idea that we could build computers that are smarter than us… and that those computers could build still smarter computers… until we reach the physical limits of what kind of intelligence is possible… that we could build things that are to us as we are to ants — all of this is compatible with the laws of physics… and I can’t find a reason of principle that it couldn’t eventually come to pass…
The main thing we disagree about is the time scale… a few thousand years [before AI] seems more reasonable to me.
Those two estimates — several decades vs. “a few thousand years” — have wildly different policy implications.
If there’s a good chance that AI will replace humans at the steering wheel of history in the next several decades, then we’d better put our gloves on and get to work making sure that this event has a positive rather than negative impact. But if we can be pretty confident that AI is thousands of years away, then we needn’t worry about AI for now, and we should focus on other global priorities. Thus it appears that “When will AI be created?” is a question with high value of information for our species.
Let’s take a moment to review the forecasting work that has been done, and see what conclusions we might draw about when AI will likely be created.
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Peter Martin Punin wrote on Apr. 19, 2015 @ 15:25 GMT
Dear En
I just posted on my forum a reply to your last comments.
Best regards
Peter
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