Login

Computer philosophy 1-0-1-0
I hope the title doesn't scare you too much. In order to make this whole thing easier for a computer to grasp, I'll use binary numbers. The binary number 1010 is the same as hexadecimal 0xA - or in daily talk, 10. Let's get started.

0001: You say you don't understand computers, but do the computers understand you? Even though you think computers are complicated, you do more than a computer does, because computers:

• * don't think
• * don't know anything
• * don't understand anything

Computers just do. They follow instructions. When a computer follows instructions written by a really smart guy, then we may get an illusion believe that the computer is smart.

0010: Computers are the quickest idiots on earth ...
Any CEO will confirm that idiots can be very useful or even essential. Especially if the idiots are good at following instructions, do things very fast, and have a large memory.

0011: Computers are only as smart as the person who runs them; They are often stupid.
A Reminder not to blame the computer if it can't construe instructions with unexpected syntax or if the instructions don't align with your expectations.

0100: Computers are stupid (0001), they only do what you instruct them to do.
That is, they only take written instructions from their own language.

0101: Computers are stupid (0010), they can only count to one.
In reply to point 0100, here's a reminder about how basal the computers knowledge is. The computers multiplication table can be learned in 3 minutes:

0*0=0;
0*1=0;
1*0=0;
1*1=1

Adding is actually more complicated:
0+0=0;
0+1=1;
1+0=1;
1+1=(1)0

The parenthesis in the last line means that the result is 0, but you also need to carry over '1' to the next level.

0110: There's no place like /home. (NT)
'NT' means that there's no (meaningful) text in the post, except for the title itself.

0111: Memory doesn't have any speed.
The marking is just a declaration of the speed this memory should be able to handle ... RAM and even processors don't have any speed in themselves. They only have latency. If you clock them so high that you try to use output before it has stabilized, then in the best case, you'll get garbage output. In the worst case, your computer will turn into garbage. Very philosophical. No matter how fast your computer is, at some point you will complain that it is too slow.

1000: More's law
For each year, you will need MORE processors, memory, and connectivity to do the same tasks as before! We have heard so much about the famous Moore's law. I think we need one more law about the continuous expansion. Let's see if it will stay true, as well.

1001: Haiku:
Chaos? Composure!
PCs are mere silicon;
sand through your fingers.

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Memory. Both are blank.

To paraphrase Einstein: Every day, mankind is making ever faster, better, more idiot-proof computers, and every day, nature is creating faster, better, idiots. So far, nature is winning. Man has always made mistakes. The computer makes possible the creation of more mistakes in less time.

1010 Can computers think? is like the question of whether submarines can swim.
NexS helped us to find this statement by Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930,2002), Dutch computer scientist. It's a deep one. I won't tell you how to understand it. Just a warning: While elaborating on this statement, don't put your laptop into your tub!