Near The Bear

Nevermind what we said last time, we are nowhere near finished.

Today we looked at the arm and noticed that something was wrong. When we measured the arm it was about 28 in but when we measured the pull up bar it was about 32 in, the arm was too short

Abdi being the beauty he is.

Everyone is just focused on fixing the robot at this point.

Yay our T-shirts arrived.

We’re attemping to fix our robot’s lift mechanism

The answer to the question, What is a Computer?

Or rather, it is a model created by Alan Turing to capture the idea of computing something. (The original paper is here, if you want to read it.)

If I gave you an multiplication problem, you would probably grab a pencil and paper and work it out. If I gave you a quadratic equation to solve, or a list of numbers to sort, or a long word to check if it is a palindrome… you would do the same. You’d take a paper, work it out and give me the answer. Some problems would take more time or more paper than others.

Turing wanted to formalize this idea. So the Turing Machine consists of a head (that’s you!) that can read and write, and a tape (that’s your paper!) that it can read from and write on. The tape is infinitely long and divided into squares. The head moves up and down the tape. 

So the input of the problem (like the list of numbers to be sorted) is already written on the tape. The machine reads it, writes something (like rough work) and then writes the answer (the output) somewhere on the tape. 

How does the machine know what to do? Well, when we describe a machine, it also comes with a set of states, which abstractly say what the machine is thinking. Depending on what state it is in, it decides what to do with whichever square on the tape it is looking at. Then it can move to another state, or remain in the same state. The states are related by transition rules, which tell it what to write, how to move the head and which state to go to next. 

That’s a bit of a confusing idea, so imagine yourself multiplying two five-digit numbers. First, you multiply the first number by each digit in the second number, writing the answers slightly to the left each time, then you add all of them. How do you know to stop multiplying and start adding? Well, you changed your state!

The cool thing about Turing Machines is that they are so powerful that making some changes does not add to their power. If you added more tapes or more heads, you can show that it can’t do anything more than a Turing Machine with just one tape and one head! So since they are equivalent, some people like to think of Turing Machines as having three tapes: one where the input is written, one for it to work out stuff, and one to write the answer.

So Turing Machines can do most math problems we can think of, and many many others. But there are some things it can’t do - look for the next article! 

And therefore these same concepts of a = -1 are infinitely abound in daily life.

Now there are several theories that point to this. simulation theory, Turing theory, the butterfly effect, the idea and concept of god and related entities, Zen Buddhism, and the list goes on and on. It applies to the whole field of mathematics even in today’s knowledge.

In Turing theory in particular (while there are many equivalents) every possible infinite “equation” ends with one of two answers. A loop or a stop.

If you follow the loops you get positive emotions and the concept of “god” / “buddha”.

If you follow the stops you get negative emotions and the concept of “harm” or “suicide” or “murder”.

The stance of negative and positive is subjective to personal viewpoints.

Neither is necessarily wrong or right per say as both sides are like two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. There’s parties representing both sides from many wakes of life who consider one or the other to be morally correct.

The definition per say of “god” or “buddha” is different from one to another the same way the opposite is.

What I mean by A = -1 is that with any sort of variable in life.. be it consciousness or anything really.. it cannot be proven.

Even the concept of what “proven” is. Even the deepest definitions conclude with one side or the other.

As humans we live in the divide as our decisions are to us and to every other conscious being who considers us of our “moral system”.

For those of u who don’t know what a Turing Machine is there is no way I can explain it to u but lemme tell u it’s been the bane of my existence for the last few weeks it’s made me wish I was never born but today I figured it out and goddammit it was the happiest moment of my semester so far