Distributed Mind

Well, Donald Knuth, famous computer scientist and a Christian (in some sense, anyway), thinks so. He wrote a book called God and Computer Science. And he gave a lecture series at Yale on the topic. The audio from those talks is available on TechNetCast. (These are very old, but I was thinking of them recently, so I thought I would post a link so more people could find this.)

While Knuth has some interesting ideas on the topic, some useful and some a little more questionable, studying quantum computing gave me a much greater appreciation of God's universe. Quantum Computation and Quantum Information by Michael A. Nielsen and Isaac L. Chuang was the book we used for the quantum computing course I took. Really, to understand it requires at lest some linear algebra. The physics is mostly explained, though I doubt I would understand it as a physicist would, but at least as far as understanding the computing, it is liveable. Of course, unless you come to IU and take an advanced math class with Zhenghan Wang, you are missing part of the experience, but such is life.

By the way, it turns out that at the intersection of quantum physics, mathematics, theoretical computer science (especially complexity theory), and information theory some interesting things turn up, such as the inherently physical nature of information, say. Feynman opened some of these doors (and asked the questions that led to quantum computing) but there is a lot more than just that. Perhaps someday I will take the time to write a little about that here, but in the mean time reading on any of the above topics will give you a good start.

I just watched one great movie, My Man Godfrey, and I saw then end of another one - Blade Runner. My Man Godfrey has all of the traditional attributes of a great film: excellent acting (especially by William Powell), decent directing and cinematography, clever dialogue, humor. But it is not just another good comedy. It is one of only a handful of great films I have ever seen that really had something to say. It attempts to critiques the frivolity of wealthy society (by which I think we could take to be the average person today - remember this is a film made in the middle of the depression), and for the most part hits it. There are no new insights here, but the traditional criticisms are particularly well portrayed, and this was one of the few films that could both make the statements and yet still go on to be successful - a product of its times I suppose. It is only in the last few years I think we have really started to see mainstream films attempting to cover the territory of My Man Godfrey. And especially few have done it with the humanity of this film. The suggestion made here is that no one is beyond redemption; the frivolities of a borgeouis "youth" (in a broad sense) may transition into something more useful.

Blade Runner, while a good film, is probably not of the same status as My Man Godfrey. It is a little uneven, a little uncertain, and at times too clever for its own good. But the ending is wonderful. The transition that takes place in the two main characters (and antagonists), Deckard and Batty, from calloused enemies to fellow "men," is well portrayed and moving. And, of course, the rest of the movie is good too.

What I found especially interesting though, was how similar these films are in their essential points: everyone deserves a chance, and no one should be forgotten. Oh, of course, there is much more to each (especially Blade Runner), but in this, at least, they are very similar. These are both very humanistic films, and they are both worth seeing.

(I especially recommend My Man Godfrey both because of its quality and its relative obscurity to modern audiences; it does deserve to be seen. And, with respect to Blade Runner, I reccomend the director's cut; the original theatrical release is not nearly as good, and actually ruins most of the good parts.)

Monday, I went out to Brown County State Park. I was there until after sunset. It was beautiful in twilight. It was very hazy because ti was so humid. There are several spots where several ridges are visible, and at the one the lights from Nashville (er, that would be Nashville, Indiana) are visible. It looked just like some of the forest shots in Star Wars and Return of the Jedi. I could see where Lucas and his cohorts got their visual inspiration. It was sad though that there was no one there with me to see it, though, but then such is life.

C is like the rocket sled of cars. So you say, well who wouldn't want a rocket sled? Fine, but have you ever tried to drive down Lakeshore Drive in one? Well, then.

Similarly, I am sure that to someone the idea of being able to set a value inside of a conditional expression made sense. After all, more power! Well, yes, but you're liable to run right over the Civic in front of you at the next stop light, and imagine what that is going to do to your insurance... When one thinks of all the man hours lost over this small little thing... It's enough to blow the mind. (And, yes, I know I am surely glossing over some of the subtleties here. But then, sometimes subtleties are just excuses, too, so maybe I am still right.)

if(c_is_lame = true) kill_c();

(Actually, just like a rocket car is good at setting land speed records, C is pretty good for systems programming, with a few quirks thrown in, just like every language. More my point is that we put up with it for too many things for too long. And as for C++ - well, its only excuse is that the people who like it like rocket cars. [or maybe 20 ton dump trucks...] Having said that, and having used some C# recently, sometimes you really miss the power. Especially when you know the only reason you can't do something is because the language designer said so.)

As I am sitting here doing some work, I threw Star Wars on in the background. Wow, what an incredible movie. Lucas' more recent exploits have made some, me included, wonder about the quality behind his older work. Well, just sit down and watch the movie and those doubts may disappear. Sure, the ideas are ripped off from every sci-fi/fantasy/mythological work ever created, and, yes, the dialogue is uneven, and, yes, some of the actors have, um, moments, and, yes, the science is absolutely ridiculous (calling Star Wars "science fiction" is really not a good idea - Star Trek it ain't). But, in some ways it is spectacular: the design for this movie is excellent, the special effects are on the whole believeable (even compared to many of today's movies - Lucas' included), and, of course, the score and musical direction is superb (and ground-breaking). And in most ways this movie is at least pretty good: the directing is actually pretty good, especially visually, it's funny, it has interesting characters, it's a real epic (not a wannabe). And the whole package is pretty much unbeatable. It is a beautiful movie to experience, even today (let alone ignoring its historical significance). If only Lucas had made more movies like this.... If only the industry had made more movies like this....

Following up on Frontline episodes and USA Today articles, Religion and Ethics Weekly recently did a series on "Evangelicals" in the United States, of which they have transcripts, and they actually did a poll to go with it, which, while not earth-shattering, does have some interesting results.

My advice to the Democratic party: Become the unquestionably dominant party in the United States by changing your stance on abortion. Almost half of your voters are opposed to abortion in some capacity, and hard telling how many more votes you lose to Republicans over the abortion issue. Just take a poll to see how many people voted for Bush in the last election exclusivley on the abortion issue. Bet it would have been more than the number of votes Gore lost by. Not to mention it is more consistent with protecting the rights of everyone (and yes, I understand it is complex to balance the rights of mothers and children, but that is still no excuse for what amounts to infanticide far as I can tell). Get with the program, and do everyone a favor. (The last straw for this one was reading the article on religion and voting patterns in, yes, I know, USA Today.)