What on earth makes anyone think a computer has anything to do with "meaning"?
That would require understanding, which would require thought, which would require consciousness.
Which is exactly what a machine explicitly does NOT have.
The American people don't think about it at all. Neither do Congressmen, they just say what other people tell them. I wonder how many lobbyists slashdot and OSDN and FSF have, compared to say IBM or M$ or Cisco or dozens of others.
Patents, like most laws, are good for the people who make them, not the people they are imposed on.
Pure research is probably 99% frustration, I expect. Climbing mountains is frustrating and hard too, that's why it's worthwhile. Especially when it makes the entire world a better place.
The first step towards knowledge is seeing the question. The solution comes later. Democritus knew there were atoms 3000 years ago, based purely on philosophical grounds. Our knowledge of the soul and god is probably in a similar state now, but who knows what will seem obvious 3000 years hence?
The biology students need a hero, and F+C are currently it, but don't think the structure of DNA was some world shattering new paradigm. In fact, in _What is Life_ by physicist Schrodinger already said that the genetic code was a thin long strand crumpled up in a ball. The only thing F+C found out is how many strands there were, and that was really mostly a matter of engineering.
In the words of Gian Carlo-Rota, the Galileo of biology has not yet made her/himself known.
One thing is for certain. The first step is acknowleding that whatever consciousness is, it is not the product of a machine. Rather machines are a side effect of consciousness. Kurt Godel said that the true theory of physics will involve the spiritualization of matter. The universe (all that is) is composed entirely of living monads.
Horseapples.
I had a good friend over recently who was amazed that I never use the commandline for anything. It's as easy as Mandrake Linux. My machine does more than any XP machine I've ever seen and I honestly don't know what the hell "grep" is used for.
What a bunch of foolish ideas. Has it not occurred to you that adding a bunch of laws to an already broken system is kind of like polishing a turd?
Seriously, anyone with a high-school level grasp of science should know that simpler laws are better, and that extremely complex laws are a sign that something is wrong at a deep level. In this case, the problem is the notion that a person or entity can "own an idea." Property laws make sense in relation to physical objects, because the objects are unique. But how on earth can you straigh-facedly suggest that ideas are anything besides the common property of all of mankind. I can only imagine what the effects would be if you people had been around when Liebnitz + Newton invented Calculus.
What a waste of time. What a shame.
On the positive side, I am absolutely certain that any nation which sticks to these laws will eventually be supplanted by nations that don't. Countries can evolve too.
Well, predicting something successfully is what gives your words credibility. Everyone in open source knows that Linux will make serious inroads into the desktop, hell it already has.
I didn't even know what a.tar archive was 2 years ago, now I hate having Microsoft products
on my computer (because I don't trust MS).
Please keep in mind 2 factors:
-Linux desktops get easier to find, install, and use every few months
-Societies average ability to "use a computer" is now at a point where my 8 year old nephew is already PROGRAMMING his laptop
So it's pretty obvious that Linux is going to spread, it already is in corporate environments (if it wasn't there already in another form, trademarks and copyrights aside) and people who aren't aware of this little logical structuring of computer related facts will be more apt to see whoever tells them this aspect of the "future" (given he turns out to be right) as a sage or prophet.
Why do you think writing, math and calendars were secrets for thousands of years?
Slashdot Mirror
What on earth makes anyone think a computer has anything to do with "meaning"? That would require understanding, which would require thought, which would require consciousness. Which is exactly what a machine explicitly does NOT have.
I wholeheartedly support this recommendation.
The American people don't think about it at all. Neither do Congressmen, they just say what other people tell them. I wonder how many lobbyists slashdot and OSDN and FSF have, compared to say IBM or M$ or Cisco or dozens of others. Patents, like most laws, are good for the people who make them, not the people they are imposed on.
Pure research is probably 99% frustration, I expect. Climbing mountains is frustrating and hard too, that's why it's worthwhile. Especially when it makes the entire world a better place. The first step towards knowledge is seeing the question. The solution comes later. Democritus knew there were atoms 3000 years ago, based purely on philosophical grounds. Our knowledge of the soul and god is probably in a similar state now, but who knows what will seem obvious 3000 years hence?
Pshaw!
The biology students need a hero, and F+C are currently it, but don't think the structure of DNA was some world shattering new paradigm. In fact, in _What is Life_ by physicist Schrodinger already said that the genetic code was a thin long strand crumpled up in a ball. The only thing F+C found out is how many strands there were, and that was really mostly a matter of engineering.
In the words of Gian Carlo-Rota, the Galileo of biology has not yet made her/himself known.
One thing is for certain. The first step is acknowleding that whatever consciousness is, it is not the product of a machine. Rather machines are a side effect of consciousness. Kurt Godel said that the true theory of physics will involve the spiritualization of matter. The universe (all that is) is composed entirely of living monads.
Horseapples. I had a good friend over recently who was amazed that I never use the commandline for anything. It's as easy as Mandrake Linux. My machine does more than any XP machine I've ever seen and I honestly don't know what the hell "grep" is used for.
What a bunch of foolish ideas. Has it not occurred to you that adding a bunch of laws to an already broken system is kind of like polishing a turd? Seriously, anyone with a high-school level grasp of science should know that simpler laws are better, and that extremely complex laws are a sign that something is wrong at a deep level. In this case, the problem is the notion that a person or entity can "own an idea." Property laws make sense in relation to physical objects, because the objects are unique. But how on earth can you straigh-facedly suggest that ideas are anything besides the common property of all of mankind. I can only imagine what the effects would be if you people had been around when Liebnitz + Newton invented Calculus. What a waste of time. What a shame. On the positive side, I am absolutely certain that any nation which sticks to these laws will eventually be supplanted by nations that don't. Countries can evolve too.
Well, predicting something successfully is what gives your words credibility. Everyone in open source knows that Linux will make serious inroads into the desktop, hell it already has. I didn't even know what a .tar archive was 2 years ago, now I hate having Microsoft products
on my computer (because I don't trust MS).
Please keep in mind 2 factors:
-Linux desktops get easier to find, install, and use every few months
-Societies average ability to "use a computer" is now at a point where my 8 year old nephew is already PROGRAMMING his laptop
So it's pretty obvious that Linux is going to spread, it already is in corporate environments (if it wasn't there already in another form, trademarks and copyrights aside) and people who aren't aware of this little logical structuring of computer related facts will be more apt to see whoever tells them this aspect of the "future" (given he turns out to be right) as a sage or prophet.
Why do you think writing, math and calendars were secrets for thousands of years?