Re: Introduction (Digital Physics)

From: Russell Standish <R.Standish.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 16:26:50 +1000 (EST)

Joel Dobrzelewski wrote:
> And please explain for me how this calculation involved
> the continuum or infinite binary expansion of the symbol
> "pi" in any meaningful way.
>
> All you have really said was:
>
> 2 * broccoli = 2 broccoli

No - I said the circumference of a circle of diameter 1 is pi. Not the
same thing at all. :)

>
> I am unimpressed.
>
> It seems to me there is a great deal more information in
> PI than just the 2 bytes it takes to convey it in an email
> message.

Not much more. One could express pi by a short program - eg the Wallis
formula, that would be a few tens of bytes on most Turing
machines. Even expressing it as a pattern on your beloved CA, it would
probably not consume more that a few hundred bytes.

>
> Maybe Mathematica was a poor choice for your
> counterexample, since it too runs on discrete hardware
> and software that could easily be run on a CA.
>

I chose my example wisely....

> So far you have not convinced me that a CA could not
> perform these same calculations.
>

That was not my point...

> Do you have some other example?
>
> Joel
>



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Standish Director
High Performance Computing Support Unit, Phone 9385 6967
UNSW SYDNEY 2052 Fax 9385 6965
Australia R.Standish.domain.name.hidden
Room 2075, Red Centre http://parallel.hpc.unsw.edu.au/rks
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Received on Sun Jun 24 2001 - 23:39:44 PDT

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