[p2p-research] Drone hacking

[J. Andrew Rogers]

On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Tere Vadén <tere.vaden at uta.fi> wrote:
> J. Andrew Rogers wrote:
>> Even quantum mechanical behavior may be deterministic,
>
> Or then it may not. Given current knowledge, it is possible - indeed the
> 'received' view in the physics community, the Copenhagen interpretation -
> that individual quantum phenomena are genuinely random.


There is no strong theoretical reason to believe they are genuinely
random, so Occam's Razor would favor the "deterministic but not
measurably so in this universe" hypothesis.  From the perspective of
physics the consequences are indistinguishable; it does not make a
difference one way or the other.

I think "it's random" is the preferred popular view in physics because
it does not require further explanation and generates the same result
for all practical purposes as a more nuanced non-local determinism
model. Not terribly important either way at the moment.


> It is also possible
> that there are quantum phenomena that are relevant for the functioning of
> the human nervous system (e.g., the retina reacts to a single photon;
> exocytosis relies on quantum tunneling, etc.). If these quantum phenomena
> have some cognitive/experiental relevance (and there is very little reason
> to say that they don't, if we already accept that the nervous system and
> cognition are somehow coupled), then there is a very natural way that
> genuine randomness may be a part of human cognition/experience, and also
> behaviour.


The determinism is externally measured, so even if there were quantum
effects in cognition it would not materially change predictability. To
the extent there *is* unpredictability, it can be explained by a
classical non-quantum machine, so quantum explanations don't buy much.

Quantum computers are equivalent to conventional silicon, they just do
certain operations much faster. To an outside observer measuring
determinism, they will look the same.

At the end of the day the human brain may be a quantum device, but for
the purposes of behavioral predictability it is indistinguishable from
a classical computing device. It is almost an orthogonal argument.


-- 
J. Andrew Rogers
realityminer.blogspot.com