Minds have semantics. Programs are purely syntactical. The syntax of the program isn’t sufficient for the semantics. Therefore, the program is not a mind. It’s a very simple argument, I don’t know why it takes so much trouble to get people to understand it.
The government, together with local councils and public authorities, has scrapped the use of facts.
“Imaginary” universes are so much more beautiful than this stupidly constructed “real” one; and most of the finest products of an applied mathematician’s fancy must be rejected, as soon as they have been created, for the brutal but sufficient reason that they do not fit the facts.
— G. H. Hardy (apud K. David Jackson, Adverse Genres in Fernando Pessoa, p. 9)
***
Hoje de manhã, ao reflectir acerca do melhor enquadramento para a ocorrência de hoje no sítio do costume, pensei em recorrer a José Maria Adrião e aos Retalhos de um Adagiário («Nasceu em boa hora — diz-se de quem é ditoso e a sorte lhe corre bem», p. 50). Depois, admiti outras possiblilidades: o «“Fake news” is so yesterday. “Alternative facts” is where it’s at now», este excelente «it is a mistake to demand too strictly that new physical theories should fit some preconceived philosophical standard», do Weinberg, ou até a hipótese de Riemann confirmada pela teoria dos Factos Alternativos.
Contudo, felizmente, a história de Scarfolk, em boa hora aqui trazida pela Carla Romualdo, trocou-me as voltas.
Ao reparar neste cartaz, [Read more…]
Comentários Recentes