Radiohead sings “Just cos you feel it doesn’t mean it’s there.” But Descrates says “I think therefore I am.” Time marches on, old ideas die, and Radiohead pines a new philosophy.
Physical Review Editors
Here is a final paragraph I wrote (CTC = closed timelike curve):
Finally, we would not be honest if we did not end this paper with the caveat that this work is at best a creature of eager speculation. Without a theory of quantum gravity, we cannot know whether CTCs can exist let alone whether they can be generated within the confines of the such a theory. Practical considerations are humorous at best. The surprising answer that quantum computation in the presence of CTCs is a powerful new model of quantum computation gives us reason, however, to pause and ponder the implications.
and the Physical Review editors replied with:
The wording of the last paragraph of your paper does not conform to the presentation of Physical Review A. We prefer literal descriptions and suggest the following: End the first sentence with “… at best based on eager speculation.” Remove the penultimate sentence entirely.
Is it any wonder that science is full of dull writing and that the public’s perception of science is that of a bunch of boring egomaniacs jargonizing endlessly about trivialities?
Driving
From a distance, the words on the truck ahead say “Walmart,” “Always,” and “Less.” Word.
BC
The trip to Vancouver: a full plane with lots of smiles. “Heading home?” they would ask. “No,” I could only envy. From Vancouver at night you can see the lights from the local ski areas. “Nobody seems to leave UBC,” the faculty tell me.
The trip from Vancouver: a 20% full plane with lots of sleepers. And then there was the 1 1/2 drive back to South Pasadena. At night in LA you can sometimes see the moon if the smog isn’t too dense.
I have seen the promised land and it is good. Whether I am saint enough to ascend to such heights remains an open question. Any supersticious acts performed on my behalf will be duly noted in my big book of karma.
Job Talks
Job talks in the next few weeks, so I have been wandering around looking for advice. Here is a nice, calming quote from the Chronicle of Higher Education:
As a doctoral student or postdoc seeking a professorship, your academic job talk may well be the most important presentation you will ever give. An excellent talk can get you the job, while a poor one will almost surely eliminate you from contention.
No pressure, eh?
Through a CTO's Eyes
Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s CTO, on quantum computing from this interview:
For nearly a decade there has been talk about the coming quantum computing revolution, yet it seems no nearer. What is it that is causing the delay?
It will probably be talked about for another decade too. It certainly won’t be relevant for another decade. That doesn’t mean it’s bad research but it’s far from coming to the commercial sphere. We need to challenge some of the assumptions about quantum computing and what it will be used for. We’re now building 3bit quantum computers with possibly a 5bit one under construction. That’s fine, but I’m already building 64bit computers. When we get quantum to 14bit then it can be used for encryption, which is one of the key applications for it. The country that gets a quantum network first will have a real competitive advantage.
I wish I had a 3 bit quantum computer in the same sense that he has a 64 bit computer! I wonder, however, where his 14 bit claim comes from?
There There
Me be
Tree be
I think
It not
(think about it)
Pluralist Manifest Destiny
Bumper sticker spotted last night: “God bless the whole world. No exceptions.”
When We Live Forever
Things fall apart. Normally we think about our computers as deterministic machines which never make a mistake. But with a very small probability, your hardware will make a mistake (information in a storage device is probably the most likely place where this will occur.) The point, however, is that for the task we need our computers, writing an email, ordering a product from amazon.com, etc, the rate of failure does not come into play.
Now suppose that humanity learns to prolong its lifespan to some enormous timescale. Will this change our fundamental concept of what a computer is? When the errors of a computer factor into your life in a real, albeit slow, way, will we think of computers in the same way we do today?
Computers are not invincible. It is not clear to me that their method of achieving fault-tolerance is even the best or most effective method for computation. When we build our computers small, so small that errors become unescapable, will we continue to try to maintain the model of the transistor and the near deterministic completely controlled system? Or will we take a cue from biology and maybe find that complex erring systems can be programmed in ways we haven’t thought of yet?
Lisa the Slow Learner
(Lisa is bowled over by a college girl.)
LISA (awed): “Are you reading `Gravity’s Rainbow’?”
COLLEGE GIRL (snidely): “Well, rereading.”