The Assault on Reason, or Inventing the Internet 101
No generally accepted formal definition of "algorithm" exists. We can, however, derive clues to the issues involved and an informal meaning of the word from the following quotation from Boolos and Jeffrey (1974, 1999):
- "No human being can write fast enough, or long enough, or small enough to list all members of an enumerably infinite set by writing out their names, one after another, in some notation. But humans can do something equally useful, in the case of certain enumerably infinite sets: They can give explicit instructions for determining the nth member of the set, for arbitrary finite n. Such instructions are to be given quite explicitly, in a form in which they could be followed by a computing machine, or by a human who is capable of carrying out only very elementary operations on symbols" (boldface added, p. 19).
The words "enumerably infinite" mean "countable using integers perhaps extending to infinity". Thus Boolos and Jeffrey are saying that an algorithm implies instructions for a process that "creates" output integers from an arbitrary "input" integer or integers that, in theory, can be chosen from 0 to infinity. Thus we might expect an algorithm to be an algebraic equation such as y = m + n — two arbitrary "input variables" m and n that produce an output y. Unfortunately — as we see in Algorithm characterizations — the word algorithm implies much more than this, something on the order of (for our addition example):
- Precise instructions (in language understood by "the computer") for a "fast, efficient, good" process that specifies the "moves" of "the computer" (machine or human, equipped with the necessary internally-contained information and capabilities) to find, decode, and then munch arbitrary input integers/symbols m and n, symbols + and = ... and (reliably, correctly, "effectively") produce, in a "reasonable" time, output-integer y at a specified place and in a specified format.
Algorithm
- 1699, from Fr. algorithme refashioned (under mistaken connection with Gk. arithmos "number") from O.Fr. algorisme "the Arabic numeral system," from M.L. algorismus, a mangled transliteration of Arabic al-Khwarizmi "native of Khwarazm," surname of the mathematician whose works introduced sophisticated mathematics to the West (see algebra). The earlier form in M.E. was algorism (c.1230), from O.Fr. Modern use of algorithmic to describe symbolic rules or language is from 1881.
Algol
- variable star in the constellation Perseus, 1390, lit. "the Demon," from Arabic al-ghul "the demon." It corresponds, in modern representations, to the gorgon's head Perseus is holding, but it probably was so called for its periodic visible dimming, which sets it apart from other bright stars. The computer language (1959) is a contraction of algo(rithmic) l(anguage) (see algorithm).
- Allegory
- 1382, from O.Fr. allegorie, from L. allegoria, from Gk. allegoria "description of one thing under the image of another," from allos "another, different" (see alias) + agoreuein "speak openly, speak in the assembly," from agora "assembly."
- Amphigory
- 1809, "burlesque nonsense writing or verse," from Fr. amphigouri, of unknown origin, perhaps from Gk. amphi- (q.v.) + gyros "circle," thus "circle on both sides," or second element may be from Gk. -agoria "speech" (cf. allegory, category).
Al Gore Loves Mirrors
Gore didn't reverse John 3:16, but he DID reverse Matthew 6:21
During the second debate, while
discussing the environment, Gore said: "And I'm a grandfather now. I want to
be able to tell my grandson, when I'm in my later years, that I didn't turn away
from the evidence that showed that we were doing some serious harm. In my faith
tradition, it is written in the book of Matthew, 'Where your heart is, there's
your treasure also.' And I believe that we ought to recognize the value to our
children and grandchildren of taking steps that preserve the environment in a
way that's good for them."
Gore got the quote from Matthew 6:21
backwards. Matthew 6:21 states: "For where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also." This follows verses 19 and 20 which say: "Do not store up
for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves
break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and
steal."
"We can build a collective civic
space large enough for all our separate identities, that we can be e pluribus
unum -- out of one, many." E Pluribus Unum is the motto on the Great Seal of
the United States of America, and is Latin for "out of many, one," not
"out of one, many."
(Source: January 1994. From a Milwaukee speech to
the Institute of World Affairs as quoted in Investor's Business Daily, October
25, 1996.)
In the spring 1998 - Gore called The
Washington Post's executive editor to tip him off on an ''error'' in the paper.
''I decided I just had to call because you've printed a picture of the Earth
upside down on the front page of the paper,'' Gore said.
(Source:
Florida Times Union 4/3/98 ) There is no ''up'' in space; only on maps
that orient the Earth's surface north and south.
Al Gore Loves Courtney Love
Finding himself talking to the controversial rock star Courtney Love at
a Hollywood party, Mr. Gore attempted to charm her by telling her he was a fan.
Rather than just accepting the easy compliment, Love cross-examined
him.
"He goes 'I'm a really big fan'," said Love. "And I was like 'Yeah,
right. Name a song, Al'." The answer came limply back: "I can't name a song, I'm
just a really big fan."
Mr. Gore and his wife, Tipper, were the driving
forces behind the campaign to make record companies put stickers on records that
contained lyrics with sexually explicit content.
(Sources: The [London]
Times, 10/1/98; Courtney Love recounted this event on the May 20, 1999 Late Show
with David Letterman ) (see PMRC)
There's a
lot of debate right now over the best way to communicate about global warming
and get people motivated. Do you scare people or give them hope? What's the
right mix?
I think
the answer to that depends on where your audience's head is. In the United
States of America, unfortunately we still live in a bubble of unreality. And the
Category 5 denial is an enormous obstacle to any discussion of
solutions. Nobody is interested in solutions if they don't think there's a
problem. Given that starting point, I believe it is appropriate to have an
over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous it is, as a
predicate for opening up the audience to listen to what the solutions are, and
how hopeful it is that we are going to solve this crisis.
In September 1987, when Senator Al Gore was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, his press secretary, Mike Kopp sent him a memo warning Gore that his image "may continue to suffer if you continue to go out on a limb with remarks that may be impossible to back up." That apparently didn't solve the problem, because six months later, his communications director, Arlie Schardt, sent Gore a memo in which he said, "Your main pitfall is exaggeration."
Hubris was a crime in classical Athens. Violations of the law against hubris ranged from what might today be termed assault and battery, to sexual assault, to the theft of public or sacred property.[1] Two well-known cases are found in the speeches of Demosthenes; first, when Meidias punched Demosthenes in the face in the theater (Against Meidias). The second (Against Konon) involved a defendant who allegedly assaulted a man and crowed over the victim like a fighting cock. In the second case it is not so much the assault that is evidence of hubris as the insulting behavior over the victim.
An early example of "hubris" in Greek literature are the suitors of Penelope in Homer's Odyssey. They are eventually made to pay for their presumptuous encroachments on the household of Odysseus.
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