Thats an oversimplification of history without taking into account the geo-polictical and economical climate at that time.
They did not run him over because Gandhi had mass support. Once there are millions of people behind you, your opponent no matter how big a bully cannot easily kill you.
The british did not want social order in India to break down.
And yes, a computer CAN evaluate code without executing it. It could just execute it in a VM, simulating itself. Derp!
A computer cannot fully simulate itself. A computer with b bits of memory can go through 2^b states. The machine it simulates has less than 2^b states. If a computer can simulate itself perfectly, then the halting problem is solved.
* What is the smallest number of moves I can make to complete a 14x14 puzzle?
* Can I complete a given 14x14 puzzle in 25 moves?
If you have an efficient algorithm to calculate if you can solve a given puzzle in n moves, then you can answer the question what is the smallest number of moves required by doing a binary search and calling your algorithm every time in the binary search. In other words, you can call your algorithm for (2) polynomial number of times and find the answer for (1).
India with corruption so deep-set and intractable that even buying a TV usually involves multiple pay-offs?
What are you talking about ? You just go to the store, pay for your TV and get it home. If the shopkeeper increases the price or asks you for a bribe, you can go to the next shop. India sells the same Chinese made TV just as the US. It also costs about just the same (Actually a little bit less in absolute value, but then compared to the cost of living, it is like 3x more expensive)
IIRC the density of the planet is not the same throughout. If that is the case, the comparison is pretty misleading. It could very well be a rocy core with a very thick layer of some light gas.
It's one thing to help you along as you age (glasses, hearing aids, canes, etc.), but this ever-growing trend in trying to dodge time's arrow every step of the way (cosmetic surgery, perpetual drug regiments, etc.) is sad commentary on a society that supposedly believes in an afterlife. Enjoy your life, in all its stages, then move along -- this world was never meant to be your home forever.
Hmmmm... Not sure how you get to decide what humans are "meant" to do. But if you don't like cosmetic surgery, perpetual drug regiments etc, don't do it. If someone else wants to dodge the arrow of time, why does it matter to the rest of us.
Wrong! VMware only wants to review the methodology and approve it. You do not have to get the results approved.
From register.vmware.com/content/eula.html
"you (and not unauthorized third parties) may publish or publicly disseminate; provided that VMware has reviewed and approved of the methodology, assumptions and other parameters of the study. Please contact VMware at benchmark@vmware.com to request such review."
HOMER Bill Gates?! Millionaire computer nerd Bill Gates! Oh my god. Oh my god. Get out of sight, Marge. I don't want this to look like a two-bit operation.
Marge groans and rolls her eyes. Bill Gates and two "associates" enter.
GATES Mr. Simpson?
HOMER You don't look so rich.
GATES Don't let the haircut fool you, I am exceedingly wealthy.
HOMER (quietly to Marge) Get a load of the bowl-job, Marge!
GATES Your Internet ad was brought to my attention, but I can't figure out what, if anything, CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet does, so rather than risk competing with you, I've decided simply to buy you out.
Homer and Marge step aside to talk privately.
HOMER This is it Marge. I've poured my heart and soul into this business and now it's finally paying off. (covering his mouth) We're rich! Richer than astronauts.
MARGE Homer quiet. Acquire the deal.
HOMER (to Gates) I reluctantly accept your proposal!
GATES Well everyone always does. Buy 'em out, boys!
Bill Gates companions begin to trash the "office".
HOMER Hey, what the hell's going on!
GATES Oh, I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks!
How long until the long arm of the MPAA gets to my own site (run in Ecuador) and the rest of them holding the processing key? How long will we let rampant censorship go on, in the name of economic interest?"
With Slashdot as your friend, who needs enemies ? No need for MAFIAA to do the dirty work. We have slashdoted his site!
For a program to advance in intelligence, it must exist in a system that allows such: since you must provide it with such a system, you must first understand the system, and therefore you advance in intelligence yourself. To approach your intelligence, the program must exist within a system that approaches the complexity of the universe (or at least enough of a slice of the universe that it can simulate something on the complexity of a human mind in real time). You can always get around the problem of designing a complex world by hooking the program to your world with necessary hardware. It will just be like a human child learning things assuming we invent right hardware for consciousness.
You dont even have to hook the program to the actual world, the artificial world can be driven by actions in the real world. Just like how we have hardware random number generators. Another example is the guy who hooked up pacman to camera and had the monsters behave just like the inscets the camera was observing.
Also the environment can evolve. I think as long as the program is not more limited by physics than us (like our world is non-deterministic unless digital physics is true and the programs can currently run only in deterministic worlds), there is no requirement that the creator is always more powerfull than the creation.
I understand your general point but I think you made your example very specific.
"The Programmer"? Which is more likely, that the bits and bytes emerged from the randomness of the system, growing more complex over time, the fittest versions surviving, the rest being discarded? Or that there is "The Programmer", who is infinitely more intelligent and beyond the comprehension of any program, and he designed and wrote everything? Actually its similar to the programs wondering if there is a super-program that created the computer and other programs.
there is thus no "right" or "wrong" way to run, and eventually we need to figure out a way to escape the system before the universe ends The programmer is doing a pretty bad job if he wants the program to run in the "right" way and it does not. If he is just an observer to see how the prgram behaves, then there is no right way.
If I can make a conscious program (on a non-deterministic computer if our consiousness is not deterministic), it does not mean that I am a "God" for that program. I can hook up the program to experience the "real world" (my world) instead of the world I program for the conscious program to live in and if you have read any science fiction, it could get more advanced than me!
"universe is "nothing" (it is just a perception created by our consciousness"
I dont think consciousness causes collapse is anywhere near mainstream.
And I have not met a theoritical physcist working in quantum mechancs say that.
"I created the universe, created man, man has a special place in my heart, I gave man free will, and I'm a little upset that man has used that free will to turn away from me."
This is what I could never understand. In your example you make up a God who is omnipotent, omnicient and yet has all the human emotions/fallacies. I as a mere human know of drugs that can alter the mental state to make people happy or sad, why can't God use his power to not "turn away from him". If you are God and you create the universe, you can simply make all the humans have "faith". Unless you claim that people who have "faith" has no free will, God can still give people free will yet make them do what he wants.
Anyways my main point is that, its strange for us humans to not yet understand the mechanisms by which the universe was created/works yet we "know" what God thinks/ wants us to do so clearly from the begining (when we had even very little knowledge about what our earth is/how it works)
I think the grand parent was trying to imply that consciousness might be a non deterministic quantum process rather than a deterministic mechanical process. While I dont believe that our brain is non-deterministic computer, Roger Penrose has written quite a few amusing books on the subject.
I like Lego Mindstroms, but recently I have been playing with Vex Robotics and its starter kit is good value for just $100. It is based on PIC and also includes RC controller. The pneumatic parts especially look interesting:
"Face it, humans are just animals, and their lives are no more important (other than in the thoughts of their friends/relatives) than the lives of animals."
Important to whom ? Lives of humans are more important *to humans* than the lives of other animals. It is simply because they are human and hence we have higher empathy towards humans than animals. If this is embodied in religion or law (killing another human is far greater crime than killing an animal), it must simply because of the higher empathy we feel towards humans.
This is his way of gathering supporters without spending millions in court. A lot of people on this site care about the issue and making noise by having a pettition with huge number of supporters is a good thing.
A practitioner of atheism must firmly believe that there are no higher powers; if one concedes that a higher power MAY exist, and will subscribe to it if facts and evidence are presented, then one is agnostic.
According to dictionary.com:
atheism -noun 1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God. 2. disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.
The second definition is for 'weak atheist' who just does not believe in god. A person CAN be weak atheist and agnostic. The problem is disbelief is confusing and hence people talk about different things when they use the word 'atheist'
The only difference between God and underpants gnomes or FSM is that the question of God is a central question in philosophy, including discussion of what "God" even means to different people from different real living cultures around the world. Underpants gnomes and FSM are just artificial creations that mock thousands of years of human insight, intuition, art, and culture.
No. The question "Is there a God ?" asked by most people is actually "Is there something supernatural AND that something equal to my christian/islamic god"
You can put a million things (like simulation FSM etc etc) after the AND, and since nothing can be proven or disproven, all the questions are equally valid. Because you grew up with a certain religion, it is YOU who has a bial and one question seems lot more meaningful while the others seem silly to you.
Slashdot Mirror
>Who are we to judge any of the areas outside EUSia?
We are humans. Being treated as slaves is not something any human would want to happen to them.
Thats an oversimplification of history without taking into account the geo-polictical and economical climate at that time.
They did not run him over because Gandhi had mass support. Once there are millions of people behind you, your opponent no matter how big a bully cannot easily kill you.
The british did not want social order in India to break down.
And yes, a computer CAN evaluate code without executing it. It could just execute it in a VM, simulating itself. Derp!
A computer cannot fully simulate itself. A computer with b bits of memory can go through 2^b states. The machine it simulates has less than 2^b states. If a computer can simulate itself perfectly, then the halting problem is solved.
* What is the smallest number of moves I can make to complete a 14x14 puzzle?
* Can I complete a given 14x14 puzzle in 25 moves?
If you have an efficient algorithm to calculate if you can solve a given puzzle in n moves, then you can answer the question what is the smallest number of moves required by doing a binary search and calling your algorithm every time in the binary search.
In other words, you can call your algorithm for (2) polynomial number of times and find the answer for (1).
India with corruption so deep-set and intractable that even buying a TV usually involves multiple pay-offs?
What are you talking about ? You just go to the store, pay for your TV and get it home. If the shopkeeper increases the price or asks you for a bribe, you can go to the next shop. India sells the same Chinese made TV just as the US. It also costs about just the same (Actually a little bit less in absolute value, but then compared to the cost of living, it is like 3x more expensive)
IIRC the density of the planet is not the same throughout. If that is the case, the comparison is pretty misleading. It could very well be a rocy core with a very thick layer of some light gas.
It's one thing to help you along as you age (glasses, hearing aids, canes, etc.), but this ever-growing trend in trying to dodge time's arrow every step of the way (cosmetic surgery, perpetual drug regiments, etc.) is sad commentary on a society that supposedly believes in an afterlife. Enjoy your life, in all its stages, then move along -- this world was never meant to be your home forever.
Hmmmm... Not sure how you get to decide what humans are "meant" to do. But if you don't like cosmetic surgery, perpetual drug regiments etc, don't do it. If someone else wants to dodge the arrow of time, why does it matter to the rest of us.
Wrong! VMware only wants to review the methodology and approve it. You do not have to get the results approved.
From register.vmware.com/content/eula.html
"you (and not unauthorized third parties) may publish or publicly disseminate; provided that VMware has reviewed and approved of the methodology, assumptions and other parameters of the study. Please contact VMware at benchmark@vmware.com to request such review."
without paying the big bucks for VMotion on top of the already-hefty ESX pricetag
hmmm basic ESXi is free.
Fair enough! I did not read the summary since there was no article to "not read".
I am surprised no one has mentioned yet, Book by Cormen Rivest and Leiserson.
This is one of the best algorithms book I ever used.
ESXi does come with a client. You need to buy VC if you want to manage multiple ESXi boxes together (and/or need additional features like HA/DRS)
MARGE
Homer, Bill Gates is here.
HOMER
Bill Gates?! Millionaire computer nerd Bill Gates! Oh my god. Oh my god. Get out of sight, Marge. I don't want this to look like a two-bit operation.
Marge groans and rolls her eyes. Bill Gates and two "associates" enter.
GATES
Mr. Simpson?
HOMER
You don't look so rich.
GATES
Don't let the haircut fool you, I am exceedingly wealthy.
HOMER
(quietly to Marge) Get a load of the bowl-job, Marge!
GATES
Your Internet ad was brought to my attention, but I can't figure out what, if anything, CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet does, so rather than risk competing with you, I've decided simply to buy you out.
Homer and Marge step aside to talk privately.
HOMER
This is it Marge. I've poured my heart and soul into this business and now it's finally paying off. (covering his mouth) We're rich! Richer than astronauts.
MARGE
Homer quiet. Acquire the deal.
HOMER
(to Gates) I reluctantly accept your proposal!
GATES
Well everyone always does. Buy 'em out, boys!
Bill Gates companions begin to trash the "office".
HOMER
Hey, what the hell's going on!
GATES
Oh, I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks!
How long until the long arm of the MPAA gets to my own site (run in Ecuador) and the rest of them holding the processing key? How long will we let rampant censorship go on, in the name of economic interest?"
With Slashdot as your friend, who needs enemies ?
No need for MAFIAA to do the dirty work. We have slashdoted his site!
It will just be like a human child learning things assuming we invent right hardware for consciousness.
You dont even have to hook the program to the actual world, the artificial world can be driven by actions in the real world. Just like how we have hardware random number generators. Another example is the guy who hooked up pacman to camera and had the monsters behave just like the inscets the camera was observing.
Also the environment can evolve. I think as long as the program is not more limited by physics than us (like our world is non-deterministic unless digital physics is true and the programs can currently run only in deterministic worlds), there is no requirement that the creator is always more powerfull than the creation.
If I can make a conscious program (on a non-deterministic computer if our consiousness is not deterministic), it does not mean that I am a "God" for that program. I can hook up the program to experience the "real world" (my world) instead of the world I program for the conscious program to live in and if you have read any science fiction, it could get more advanced than me!
"universe is "nothing" (it is just a perception created by our consciousness"
I dont think consciousness causes collapse is anywhere near mainstream. And I have not met a theoritical physcist working in quantum mechancs say that.
"I created the universe, created man, man has a special place in my heart, I gave man free will, and I'm a little upset that man has used that free will to turn away from me."
This is what I could never understand. In your example you make up a God who is omnipotent, omnicient and yet has all the human emotions/fallacies. I as a mere human know of drugs that can alter the mental state to make people happy or sad, why can't God use his power to not "turn away from him". If you are God and you create the universe, you can simply make all the humans have "faith". Unless you claim that people who have "faith" has no free will, God can still give people free will yet make them do what he wants.
Anyways my main point is that, its strange for us humans to not yet understand the mechanisms by which the universe was created/works yet we "know" what God thinks/ wants us to do so clearly from the begining (when we had even very little knowledge about what our earth is/how it works)
I think the grand parent was trying to imply that consciousness might be a non deterministic quantum process rather than a deterministic mechanical process. While I dont believe that our brain is non-deterministic computer, Roger Penrose has written quite a few amusing books on the subject.
I like Lego Mindstroms, but recently I have been playing with Vex Robotics and its starter kit is good value for just $100. It is based on PIC and also includes RC controller. The pneumatic parts especially look interesting:
t s.shtml
http://www.vexlabs.com/vex-robotics-pneumatic-par
"Face it, humans are just animals, and their lives are no more important (other than in the thoughts of their friends/relatives) than the lives of animals."
Important to whom ? Lives of humans are more important *to humans* than the lives of other animals. It is simply because they are human and hence we have higher empathy towards humans than animals. If this is embodied in religion or law (killing another human is far greater crime than killing an animal), it must simply because of the higher empathy we feel towards humans.
Why is "put up or shut up" the only option ?
This is his way of gathering supporters without spending millions in court. A lot of people on this site care about the issue and making noise by having a pettition with huge number of supporters is a good thing.
A practitioner of atheism must firmly believe that there are no higher powers; if one concedes that a higher power MAY exist, and will subscribe to it if facts and evidence are presented, then one is agnostic.
According to dictionary.com:
atheism
-noun
1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
2. disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.
The second definition is for 'weak atheist' who just does not believe in god. A person CAN be weak atheist and agnostic. The problem is disbelief is confusing and hence people talk about different things when they use the word 'atheist'
The only difference between God and underpants gnomes or FSM is that the question of God is a central question in philosophy, including discussion of what "God" even means to different people from different real living cultures around the world. Underpants gnomes and FSM are just artificial creations that mock thousands of years of human insight, intuition, art, and culture.
No. The question "Is there a God ?" asked by most people is actually "Is there something supernatural AND that something equal to my christian/islamic god"
You can put a million things (like simulation FSM etc etc) after the AND, and since nothing can be proven or disproven, all the questions are equally valid. Because you grew up with a certain religion, it is YOU who has a bial and one question seems lot more meaningful while the others seem silly to you.
Definition of
'Weak atheism' - Lack of belief in God
'Strong atheism' - People who believe there is not a God.
I agree whith you regarding the great great GP posting about 'No god, Get over it!' statement. But at least 'weak atheism' is not a religion.