Re:Leslie Lamport revolutionized computer science with math ...
by andi999 on Wednesday May 25, 2022 @04:52AM
(#31502007)
So you are saying an algorithm which says always go left unless you start at 1, is physically impossible (apart from using superdeterminism), because the A function would be non-continuous?
I am glad that paper got rejected.
Re:Leslie Lamport revolutionized computer science with math ...
by espadrine on Wednesday May 25, 2022 @06:26AM
(#31502534)
> So you are saying an algorithm which says always go left unless you start at 1, is physically impossible
The algorithm itself is possible. If implemented in a continuous machine, though, it is not guaranteed to reach either point 0 or point 1 in any given timeframe.
In practice, it usually does not matter. One application I can think of, though, is the surprisingly powerful fault injection vulnerabilities which can break the physical implementation of a cryptosystem: http://euler.ecs.umass.edu/ece597/pdf/Fault-Injection-Attack...
Looking at it macroscopically, highly complex decisionmaking such as the one that the brain produces, has continuity. In chaos theory, a double pendulum may, after a minute, be either on the left or the right depending on tiny changes in initial state; but changing the initial condition continuously, will change the state at the minute mark continuously, and so, the decision.
Looking at it microscopically, even CPUs are continuous, as there is a slim chance of a transistor only producing half the current, because of the quantum behavior of electrons.
It is conceptually weird that there must be a chance for permanently indecisive animals. To me, the true resolve of the paradox is superdeterminism: the choice taken had to happen.