Modeling the World
Much of science and programming involve creating models of systems within our world.
Folksonomies: modeling simulation
Memes
13 MAY 2013
AI Fails Because it Uses the Wrong Kinds of Computers
My own opinion is that AI has failed to fulfill its promise because we are using the wrong kind of computers. We are using digital computers, and the human brain is probably analog rather than digital. So my guess is that AI will succeed only after we move from digital to analog computing. This is a tough intellectual problem that cannot be solved just by spending a lot of money. 
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Human brains are analog, computers are digital.
11 MAY 2013
Plato's Theory of Forms and Object Oriented Programming
In the theory of forms, Plato posits that there were these things called "forms," and a form is basically an abstract concept that represents some sort of object that exists. Then these objects were basically some sort of particular thing that has form-ness of some kind. So you can almost think of this as like a class and an instance basically, where you have the general definition and then the specific one. And then those objects also have attributes, which is some sort of quality.
Whenever...Plato's idea of forms and objects with that formness is very similar to the concept in OOP, with classes and objects.
11 MAY 2013
Can All Computer Code be Reduced to Pure Logic?
As we move from the "low" level to the "high", say from the domain of machine code all the way up to, for instance, a rich, expressive Ruby DSL, the question arises, as it does for all language: have we acquired a surplus of content that cannot be simply reduced to core rules? At this point things get less Wittgensteinian and a little more late-Heideggerian, i.e., less analytic and more eidetic/phenomenological.
To remove the fuzziness from this notion, think of how, for instance, a first-pe...Folksonomies: computer science philosophy
Folksonomies: computer science philosophy
Everything in a computer program is built on low-level binary operations, but at the higher levels we deal with fuzzy objects. Does the fact that those fuzzy objects are built on concrete logic mean they can be understood concretely?
13 APR 2013
The Problem with Occam's Razor
In climate forecasting, the situation is more equivocal: the theory about the greenhouse effect is strong, which supports more complicated models. However, temperature data is very noisy, which argues against them. Which consideration wins out? We can address this question empirically, by evaluating the success and failure of different predictive approaches in climate science. What matters most, as always, is how well the predictions do in the real world.
I would urge caution against reducin...Not all models can be simple.
12 APR 2013
The Origin of Chaos Theory
Lorenz and his team were working to develop a weather forecasting program on an early computer known as a Royal McBee LGP-30.21 They thought they were getting somewhere until the computer started spitting out erratic results. They began with what they thought was exactly the same data and ran what they thought was exactly the same code—but the program would forecast clear skies over Kansas in one run, and a thunderstorm in the next.
After spending weeks double-checking their hardware and try...Folksonomies: prediction chaos theory
Folksonomies: prediction chaos theory
Weather modeling produced two widely different results when a few thousandths of a decimal point went missing.
12 APR 2013
All Models are Wrong, but some models are useful
As the statistician George E. P. Box wrote, “All models are wrong, but some models are useful.”90 What he meant by that is that all models are simplifications of the universe, as they must necessarily be. As another mathematician said, “The best model of a cat is a cat.”91 Everything else is leaving out some sort of detail. How pertinent that detail might be will depend on exactly what problem we’re trying to solve and on how precise an answer we require.
Nor are statistical models the only ...All models are simplifications of the universe, this includes language as a form of modeling.
04 APR 2013
The BRAIN Initiative
As humans, we can identify galaxies light years away, we can study particles smaller than an atom. But we still haven’t unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears. (Laughter.) But today, scientists possess the capability to study individual neurons and figure out the main functions of certain areas of the brain. But a human brain contains almost 100 billion neurons making trillions of connections. So Dr. Collins says it’s like listening to the strings s...
1 Text of Obama's comments on the initiative itself.
11 JUN 2012
At Best Science Can Only Model
The sciences do not try to explain, they hardly even try to interpret, they mainly make models. By a model is meant a mathematical construct which, with the addition of certain verbal interpretations, describes observed phenomena. The justification of such a mathematical construct is solely and precisely that it is expected to work—that is, correctly to describe phenomena from a reasonably wide area. And work on improving those models.
References
13 MAY 2013
Interviews: Freeman Dyson Answers Your Questions
Electronic/World Wide Web>Internet Article: Dyson , Freeman (May 13, 2013), Interviews: Freeman Dyson Answers Your Questions, Slashdot, Retrieved on 2013-05-13Source Material [science.slashdot.org]
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09 APR 2013
The Signal and the Noise
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Silver , Nate (2012-09-27), The Signal and the Noise, Penguin Press, Retrieved on 2013-04-09Source Material [books.google.com]
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04 APR 2013
Text of Obama Remarks on BRAIN Initiative
Proceedings of Meetings and Symposia>Speech: Obama, Barack (April 2, 2013), Text of Obama Remarks on BRAIN Initiative, Retrieved on 2013-04-04Source Material [blogs.wsj.com]
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11 JUN 2012
Method in the Physical Sciences
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Neumann, John von , Method in the Physical Sciences, The Unity of Knowledge, Retrieved on 2012-06-11Source Material [books.google.com]
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30 NOV -0001
OOP and the History of Philosophy
Proceedings of Meetings and Symposia>Speech: Klabnik, Steve (02/2013 ), OOP and the History of Philosophy, Heroku's Waza 2013, Retrieved on 2013-05-09Source Material [vimeo.com]
Folksonomies: computer science philosophy
Folksonomies: computer science philosophy
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30 NOV -0001
A Philosophy of Programming Languages
Electronic/World Wide Web>Message Posted to Online Forum/Discussion Group: davesims, (05/09/2013), A Philosophy of Programming Languages, Hacker News, Retrieved on 2013-05-09Source Material [news.ycombinator.com]
Folksonomies: computer science philosophy
Folksonomies: computer science philosophy
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