Re:Bayesian Epistemology
by n4r9 on Monday February 03, 2025 @07:54AM
(#42917716)
Deutsch is primarily a physicist, not a philosopher. I'm not a fan of his philosophical takes either but he is not as stupid as you infer. He invented the Deutsch-Josza algorithm along with Richard Josza, the first example of absolute quantum speedup.
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Re:Bayesian Epistemology
by kerkeslager on Monday February 03, 2025 @08:05AM
(#42917816)
Doctor Oz was at one time a doctor, too, but he's also been a blight on society, spreading medical misinformation for decades.
A lot can go wrong with a person's brain between the publication of Deutsch-Josza (1985, 1992) and the writing of the linked post (2014).
I'd also note that the algorithm described is more a work of math than an example of experimental science. It's not creating a hypothesis and testing it, it's writing an algorithm for a (then-theorized) computer system. So I wouldn't say that this lends credence to his ideas on the validity of hypotheses.
Perhaps, but I don't think that's what happened. He continued publishing good quality research in quantum theory and quantum computation until I was doing my PhD, which is just before 2014, and likely still does.
As I say, I also disagree with his philosophical (and political) viewpoints. But your dismissal above is based on a pretty shallow reading alongside unfounded personal attacks.
Re:Bayesian Epistemology
by kerkeslager on Friday February 07, 2025 @04:16AM
(#42970808)
Did you read past the first few paragraphs? I think I explained why I disagree with Deutsch pretty thoroughly.