David Deutsch: We will be uncovering a key to a great deal of deeper knowledge by investigating quantum computers.
That was physicist David Deutsch of the Center for Quantum Computation at Oxford University in England. Deutsch invented the idea of the quantum computer back in the 1970s.
In addition to just the ones or zeros of today’s computer, Deutsch said that quantum computers can in theory use both values at once. EarthSky spoke with Deutsch about his book The Fabric of Reality.
David Deutsch: The Fabric of Reality tries to present a unified world view that incorporates all our best knowledge. It doesn’t try to go beyond our best knowledge, other than to unify it.
Deutsch said that scientists’ deepest understanding of the world is contained in what he calls four strands of knowledge. They are quantum physics, the theory of computation, the theory of evolution and the theory of knowledge as explained by the philosopher Karl Popper.
David Deutsch: The more we learn about quantum computation, the more we realize that computation is built into the laws of physics in a fundamental way.
Deutsch also spoke of parallel universes and, and his own take on how quantum computers define reality. He believes that all the weird quantum effects are different things happening in different universes.
Deutsch frequently speaks of “universality”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universality_(philosophy. When speaking of computers, that means that all computers are equivalent because they can simulate each other’s behavior. “This is a deep fact that extends far beyond the theory of computation, ” Deutsch said, “because it is this fact that allows science to exist. If you think about it, science is just creating computer programs that run inside human brains and simulate aspects of the rest of the universe.”
He added, “If you think about it, all of life is also a matter of a universal thing, namely DNA, being able to code for the knowledge required to survive in an arbitrary environment.”
Our thanks to:
David Deutsch
Oxford University on Quantum Computing
Cant they have codes 0-9? I know CDs have 0-1 but computers i thought were better. I dont think we will come close to 1% of the knowledge the universe offers us.
four strands of knowledge? What the heck. And one of them is the THEORY of evolution. The only knowledge you people have is math so dont make up all those theories because you get answers using math. Is this what scientists do? Make up theories? All the people like Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton were not scientists. They were mathematicians. They also based all their findings on the Bible. They knew the Bible perfectly. If they didnt then the church would have easily made something up that wasnt true an have them killed. But they didnt kill them because they knew the Bible well and could not be tricked. I cannot say where science is going in our time. Nobody tries to keep old traditions alive. I mean there are people out in America trying to legalize gay marrige. Thats just mest up. Seriously if this happens Amricas got less then 50 years before she falls. What other country is trying to legalize this crap??? Science is gonna go nowhere without believing in the Bible. You believe there is life somewhere elsse in the universe. That is very funny considering you didnt find a single germ on Mars. To bad that you guys just have excuses and nothing else. Science will not go much further then now. Already the computers are beginning to stop developing that qickly. I love science but some parts of science should not be part of it. For axample how is the THEORY of evolution science? It is not. It has nothing to do with any advancement in technology or understanding how Gods wonderful creations work. It should be a philosophy and who ever wants to can believe it. It should not be considered science.
“It should be a philosophy and who ever wants to can believe it. It should not be considered science.”
Kind of like religion, eh? Just because this widely supported fact, which has far far far far more evidence than the bible ever did, doesn’t align with your chosen beliefs doesn’t mean it’s false. Quantum computers would have the ability to process information far faster and more efficiently than a human brain ever could, which provides great potential in proving once and for all that evolution is fact, and not some evil plan the meanie scientists came up with to make the religious people of the world mad.
We have creation, creative design, and evolution. All of which are just theories. Quantum computing will open the doors to the universe and will probably settle this once and for all. All matter in the universe computes. All Atoms, molecules, quirks and quarks communicate data with each other. Quantum computing will help us to understand the code that makes this happen.
Biotechnology has only just begun to understand the code in DNA. A quantum computer will help us understand the software that tells a single molecule what to do, when to do it and how to do it. When that happens, as Einstien once said, we will understand the mind of god. At which time there is going to be an awful lot of upset people in the world.
My own personal theory is that we will discover that our universe was created by a child in the 4th grade as a science experiment 15 billion years ago. Imagine god was a 9 year old kid.