Timeline for How is the computational power of a human brain comparing to a turing machine?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
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| May 9, 2015 at 11:59 | comment | added | babou | @CarlDong Thanks. I did not think you did, and it does not really matter much, except for the fact that voting has little to do with science, especially when not motivated. But we should delete these two comments as they do not contribute to the issue. | |
| May 9, 2015 at 11:34 | comment | added | Carl Dong | I did not downvote. Someone else did. I understand your answer. | |
| May 9, 2015 at 9:42 | comment | added | babou | @CarlDong I chose a humorous tone for my answer, but that does not mean I am not serious about it. I do not mean the use of the word "theorem" which is really more part of the (hopefully) humorous style. But when I present Lego sets as challengers of the human brain, I am actually questionning the meaning of your question. | |
| May 9, 2015 at 9:30 | comment | added | babou | @CarlDong I did not fully answer the question because I have no data that indicates that the human brain could do more than a TM, or to indicate that it is not possible, as long as the Church-Turing thesis will be a thesis, rather than a results proved on firmer ground. I do not even know whether the laws of the universe, whatever they are, would allow for more computational power. And it is even possible that this is not even the right way to question the issue. Recall that Greek scientists were limited to rational numbers, trying to answer questions on that basis. We now have wider concepts. | |
| May 8, 2015 at 18:00 | comment | added | Carl Dong | @vzn I have already double or triple emphasized that this question is not about time, but about power. Also, the question is not about pure mathematics, but more on logic and insight. Again, I can understand what this answer emphasizes, although it does not answer my question. On the other hand, you apparently misunderstood my question. I assumed that all computation happen in finite but unlimited time with finite but unlimited space, ignoring any human I/O or calculation mistakes. Therefore, this answer does make sense although it does not complete my question. | |
| May 8, 2015 at 17:42 | comment | added | babou | @vzn All that may well be true, but the question was about Turing Machines, not supercomputers. Regarding the fact that "humans are unreliable/ inconsistent", that may well be true too, especially where I am concerned, but it was ruled out by the hypotheses of the question, which I do include explicitly in the statement of my "theorem". I was only addressing the question as asked, not stating a universal and unconditional truth. | |
| May 8, 2015 at 17:33 | comment | added | vzn | quite to the contrary of the assertions, supercomputers are capable of doing things that [individual] human brains cant. also human calculators were replaced with computers, such that the meaning of the word "calculator" has completely shifted. in comparison to electronics humans are unreliable/ inconsistent. etc! math proofs have no "experimental evidence" thats kind of the point. | |
| May 8, 2015 at 17:15 | comment | added | babou | @vzn It makes as much sense as the question does. You should notice that it makes reference to experimental evidence, which is not too standard in mathematical proofs. and even less so in theorem statements. Furthermore, I never said it is mathematical, with reference to a fully formalized theory. My text may be facetious, though I left out any hint. But since you feel it is worth disputing and downvoting, you should adress the proof more precisely in disputing it: that could possibly bring some understanding. If you want to address the logic of my answer, I think it is not its weakest point. | |
| May 8, 2015 at 16:55 | comment | added | vzn | it makes no sense to call this a theorem, except maybe facetiously, it could never be mathematically proved. its more like a "thesis" or a "conjecture" | |
| May 8, 2015 at 14:56 | history | answered | babou | CC BY-SA 3.0 |