This is totally reasonable. When I first saw this film, I was struck by how much it gelled with my own personal philosophy - and I imagine it fits in with the way that some others with a "metaprogramming perspective" view of the world as well.
The movie's basic premise is that we are trapped in an artificial construct called the Matrix, and that there is a level of reality that is more real than the Matrix. No problem: my basic premise is that we are trapped in an artificial construct called the Mind.
What is the mind for? Apart from its useful analysis functions, the mind is really good at believing things. We believe these things even when they are obviously injurious to us. All of the events of our lives are filtered through these beliefs, and these beliefs then determine our reactions.
The Matrix was great in that it showed people escaping from the Matrix, and the dilemma of someone who wanted to return back to this invented reality.
How similar is life?
Can one escape from the boundaries of personal belief? Is the world from this perspective better, or would one long to return to the certainties of belief in particular "truths"?
It all depends on what you believe (which is wonderfully self-referential!). I believe that we choose our beliefs. What other source is there for them? One can argue with someone over their beliefs, but in the end that person will always choose what they believe.
Can we do away with belief entirely, and experience the here and now without the distraction of belief in a certain past and possible futures? Look inside and check it out. Is there any part of you unaffected by the beliefs that you have held over the course of your lifetime? Maybe that bit of you is worthy of further examination...
Hey! Put me back in! I am without an anchor in the sea of consciousness, and nothing is self-evident anymore.
This is not so unexpected, given current computing power.
In Schneier's "Advanced Cryptography" he makes estimates on the amount of computer power needed to factor various size numbers. The estimatetd that using the General Number Field Sieve, it would take 30,000 mips-years to do the factoring of a 512 bit number (it took 6,000 mips-years). He also postulated that the NSA might have a much more efficient algorithm (that works at the same speed as the more specialized Special Number Field Sieve) that would do the job in under 200 hours. The number here, 6,000 mips years is in between these numbers, and completely expected. Anyone risking hundreds of millions of dollars on security the can be broken for less than that (i.e. 512 bit keys) deserves to lose their money.
What is safe? For comparison, the General Sieve would take 2*10^8 mips-years to factor a 768 bit number and 3*10^11 mips-years to factor a 1024 bit number
IF a way to run this as fast as a special sieve is discovered these numbers become 100,000 mips-years and 3*10^7 mips-years respectively.
Dedicated hardware sieves _could possibly_ do these today.
This result doesn't change the basic conclusion that 1024 bits is, for individuals, safe for the near future. For governments and banks etc. public keys of at least 2048 bits should be used.
It all depeds on how valuable your information is, how important performance is, and how long you want your data to be safe for.
Schneier also makes the useful remark that all predictions of the future are bunkum and shouldn't be trusted.
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This is totally reasonable. When I first saw this film, I was struck by how much it gelled with my own personal philosophy - and I imagine it fits in with the way that some others with a "metaprogramming perspective" view of the world as well.
The movie's basic premise is that we are trapped in an artificial construct called the Matrix, and that there is a level of reality that is more real than the Matrix. No problem: my basic premise is that we are trapped in an artificial construct called the Mind.
What is the mind for? Apart from its useful analysis functions, the mind is really good at believing things. We believe these things even when they are obviously injurious to us. All of the events of our lives are filtered through these beliefs, and these beliefs then determine our reactions.
The Matrix was great in that it showed people escaping from the Matrix, and the dilemma of someone who wanted to return back to this invented reality.
How similar is life?
Can one escape from the boundaries of personal belief? Is the world from this perspective better, or would one long to return to the certainties of belief in particular "truths"?
It all depends on what you believe (which is wonderfully self-referential!). I believe that we choose our beliefs. What other source is there for them? One can argue with someone over their beliefs, but in the end that person will always choose what they believe.
Can we do away with belief entirely, and experience the here and now without the distraction of belief in a certain past and possible futures? Look inside and check it out. Is there any part of you unaffected by the beliefs that you have held over the course of your lifetime? Maybe that bit of you is worthy of further examination...
Hey! Put me back in! I am without an anchor in the sea of consciousness, and nothing is self-evident anymore.
This is not so unexpected, given current computing power.
In Schneier's "Advanced Cryptography" he makes estimates on the amount of computer power needed to factor various size numbers. The estimatetd that using the General Number Field Sieve, it would take 30,000 mips-years to do the factoring of a 512 bit number (it took 6,000 mips-years). He also postulated that the NSA might have a much more efficient algorithm (that works at the same speed as the more specialized Special Number Field Sieve) that would do the job in under 200 hours. The number here, 6,000 mips years is in between these numbers, and completely expected. Anyone risking hundreds of millions of dollars on security the can be broken for less than that (i.e. 512 bit keys) deserves to lose their money.
What is safe? For comparison, the General Sieve would take
2*10^8 mips-years to factor a 768 bit number
and
3*10^11 mips-years to factor a 1024 bit number
IF a way to run this as fast as a special sieve is discovered these numbers become
100,000 mips-years
and
3*10^7 mips-years respectively.
Dedicated hardware sieves _could possibly_ do these today.
This result doesn't change the basic conclusion that 1024 bits is, for individuals, safe for the near future. For governments and banks etc. public keys of at least 2048 bits should be used.
It all depeds on how valuable your information is, how important performance is, and how long you want your data to be safe for.
Schneier also makes the useful remark that all predictions of the future are bunkum and shouldn't be trusted.