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Re: What I like about programming . . .

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On 10/02/2023 11:46 am, Ben Bacarisse wrote:
> Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> writes:
> 
>> On 09/02/2023 2:05 pm, Ben Bacarisse wrote:
>>> Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> writes:
>>>
>>>> On 09/02/2023 1:09 am, Ben Bacarisse wrote:
>>>
>>>>> What I don't know
>>>>> is in what way that C program refutes a mathematical theorem.  One makes
>>>>> statement about programs,
>>>>
>>>> Yes. That statement refutes the mathematical theorem by pointing out an
>>>> obvious fact about all programs.
>>> I'm now not sure if you are still joking.
>>
>> "You make too much of a trifle", as Watson said to Holmes.
> 
> Might I urge you to follow the excellent device of Flora Poste and to
> mark with one or more asterisks those passages which you consider not to
> be mere trifles and about which you consider it appropriate that
> something might be made?

Indeed you might, but I give my readers the credit for being able 
to tell the difference without their having to waste precious 
computrons deciphering asterisks that are already overloaded with 
*far too many* meanings.

Still, let me lay my somewhat arid sense of humour aside for a 
moment and take one serious crack at explaining the rationale 
that lies beneath my previous 'contributions' to this thread.

To argue for a mathematical model (such as a Turing machine) that 
never halts necessarily and /obviously/ entails the claim that a 
mathematical model can exist in perpetuity, for if the model 
ceases to exist, so does the Turung machine. But such models 
themselves exist only in the minds, writings and inventions of 
mathematicians and scientists, and all the artifices and devices 
of thinking creatures will end with the heat death of the 
universe and the consequent inability for devices to do work. 
Therefore, to argue that an unending program and its encompassing 
mathematical model can exist necessarily requires one to argue, 
in essence, for a non-corporeal and /intelligent/ life force to 
persist after death not only of the individual but of the entire 
universe. I don't know of many computer scientists who would be 
prepared to argue for such persistence (because most computer 
scientists I know are atheists). I conclude that a computer 
scientist who argues that an unending Turing machine is possible 
is very likely to be suffering from cognitive dissonance.

If you choose to reply, I will of course read your reply with 
interest, but I may well not reply in turn because I intend to at 
least attempt to refrain from contributing further to this 
thread, as I, too, am making too much of a trifle.

-- 
Richard Heathfield
Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

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Re: What I like about programming  . . . JJ <jj4public@outlook.com> - 2023-02-08 04:58 +0700
  Re: What I like about programming . . . David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2023-02-08 08:59 +0100
  Re: What I like about programming . . . Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-02-08 09:34 +0000
  Re: What I like about programming . . . Paul N <gw7rib@aol.com> - 2023-02-08 07:03 -0800
    Re: What I like about programming . . . Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-02-08 15:50 +0000
      Re: What I like about programming . . . Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-02-08 21:07 +0000
        Re: What I like about programming . . . Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-02-08 21:56 +0000
          Re: What I like about programming . . . Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-02-09 01:09 +0000
            Re: What I like about programming . . . Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-02-09 07:18 +0000
              Re: What I like about programming . . . David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2023-02-09 09:42 +0100
                Re: What I like about programming . . . "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2023-02-09 11:17 +0100
                Re: What I like about programming . . . David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2023-02-09 14:15 +0100
                Re: What I like about programming . . . Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-02-09 11:41 +0000
                Re: What I like about programming . . . David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2023-02-09 14:20 +0100
                Re: What I like about programming . . . Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-02-09 13:38 +0000
              Re: What I like about programming . . . Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-02-09 14:05 +0000
                Re: What I like about programming . . . Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-02-10 07:04 +0000
                Re: What I like about programming . . . Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-02-10 11:46 +0000
                Re: What I like about programming . . . Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-02-10 12:49 +0000
                Re: What I like about programming . . . Y A <air000000000000@ya.ee> - 2023-02-10 06:37 -0800
                Re: What I like about programming . . . Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-02-10 23:16 +0000
                Re: What I like about programming . . . Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-02-11 07:20 +0000
                Re: What I like about programming . . . Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-02-11 21:12 +0000
                Re: What I like about programming . . . Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-02-11 23:05 +0000

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