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Monday, April 6, 2015

Aaronson's first paragraph

Since I often mention MIT complexity theorist Scott Aaronson, I am giving a plug for his book.

You can tell a lot from the first paragraph of the first chapter of a book. That is where the author carefully attempts to grab your attention and give you a flavor of the book. Some authors will rewrite it 20 times until they get it right.

Here is how Quantum Computing since Democritus starts:
So why Democritus? First of all, who was Democritus? He was this Ancient Greek dude. He was born around 450 BC in this podunk Greek town called Abdera, where people from Athens said that even the air causes stupidity. He was a disciple of Leucippus, according to my source, which is Wikipedia. He's called a “pre-Socratic,” even though actually he was a contemporary of Socrates. That gives you a sense of how important he's considered: “Yeah, the pre-Socratics – maybe stick ’em in somewhere in the first week of class.” Incidentally, there's a story that Democritus journeyed to Athens to meet Socrates, but then was too shy to introduce himself.
The book is 370 pages of this.

He is writing a new book, from his blog posts on similar topics. He has acknowledged that his own book has led people to quantum computer over-hype, and proclaims: "Single most important application of QC (in my opinion): Disproving the people who said QC was impossible!" He laments that "we as a community have failed to make the honest case for quantum computing". Much of the content of his book is on his web site.

9 comments:

  1. It sounds like a conversation you'd overhear at Starbucks.

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  2. I don't know why you keep hyping this guy as some kind of authority when he probably doesn't even know much about condensed matter physics in general.

    If the physicists working on quantum computers had a clue they would finish the deal on superconductors and gain fame rather than working on something even more difficult.

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  3. I really don't care how intelligent he is supposed to be, he writes like a 'surfer dude', or like Keanu cipher from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure".
    He has the prose of a clod.

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  4. Only degenerates believe that simulation and faster computers and better algorithms will lead to progress.

    The crisis in Physics is a basic lack of honesty.

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  5. Physics is dead. It can't put gas in your car or solve any other big problem.

    Bulldoze the commies from Kalifornia and MassyChoosits into the ocean and start fracking The only thing that computation crap is good for is surveillance and porn and distributing free shit.

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  6. Roger can't deal with the simple fact that the math intellectuals in France that he so admires can't even keep the electricity generators going. All they know is fraudulent derivatives. Illusory wealth. Areva is bankrupt.

    The UK can't build a nuclear reactor.
    Neither can Finland.

    Millions of dummies sitting in universities with the sorry excuse:

    "We don't have the resources"

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  7. Look at this experimental physicist (haha) from the UK who advises the government that it should spend billions on quantum computers, biology, solar cells, windmills, and every other retarded idea....look what he wastes his time on constantly: transhumanism...hahahaha...the UK can't even keep the bleeping lights on and this nut wastes all his time on con artists like Ray Kurzweil and Eric Drexler.

    http://www.softmachines.org/wordpress/?p=1607

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  8. Tony Rothman in the article 'The Man Behind the Curtain' (American Scientist May-June 2011) explained what is wrong with Physics and Roger can only respond by deleting posts.

    "Every problem has an exact answer. Not only that, students are expected to find it...Vanishingly few problems in physics have exact solutions and a physicists career is one of finding approximations and hopefully not being too embarrassed by them"

    Too embarrassed by them? The approximations are complete guesses. If that isn't embarrassment, what is?

    And simulations don't lead to any physical insight whatsoever. All these bullshit papers "and yes it was confirmed by numerical studies"...hahaha.

    When is there ever going to be a physics book entitled "Here is all the fudges, swindles, and dirt under the rug, they don't teach you in physics graduate school"

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  9. How are you going to compute emergent properties with the super duper all powerful computer?

    More computing power, more useless phds, more useless papers.

    Moores Law = PONZI PHYSICS

    Roger likes PONZI physics

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