Confessions of an Eccentric

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Confessions of an Eccentric James A. Foster IBEST, UI, etc. 27 March 2003

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Confessions of an Eccentric. James A. Foster IBEST, UI, etc. 27 March 2003 . The Theme. Contemplation of the wonderful is not passive or discipline specific. It is eccentric. And eccentrics make great friends. First Turning: Exploration. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of Confessions of an Eccentric

Page 1: Confessions of an Eccentric

Confessions of an Eccentric

James A. FosterIBEST, UI, etc.27 March 2003

Page 2: Confessions of an Eccentric

27 March 2003 Confessions of Eccentric

The Theme

Contemplation of the wonderful is not passive or discipline specific. It is eccentric. And eccentrics make great friends.

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27 March 2003 Confessions of Eccentric

First Turning: ExplorationWhen human life, all too

conspicuousLay foully grovelling on

earth, weighted downBy grim superstition

looking from the skiesHorribly threatening

mortal men, a manA Greek, first raised his

mortal eyes Bravely against this

menace. No reportOf gods, no lightning-

flash, no thunder-pealMade this man cower, but

drove him all the moreWith passionate manliness

of mind and willTo be the first to spring

the tight-barred gatesOf Nature’s hold asunder.

So his force,

His vital force of mind, a conqueror

Beyond the flaming ramparts of the world

Explored the vast immensities of space

With wit and wisdom, and came back to us

Triumphant, bringing news of what can be

And what cannot, limits and boundaries,

The borderline, the bench mark, set forever.

Superstition, so, is trampled underfoot,

And by his victory we reach the stars.

(Lucretius, De Rerum Natura I.62-79)

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27 March 2003 Confessions of Eccentric

Exploring InfinitiesThere are as many fractions as counting

numbers (some infinities are smaller than you think)

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27 March 2003 Confessions of Eccentric

Exploring InfinitiesThere are as many fractions as counting numbers

1/1 1/2 1/3 1/4 …2/1 2/2 2/3 2/4 …3/1 3/2 3/3 3/4 …4/1 4/2 4/3 4/4 …… … … …

Etc.

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27 March 2003 Confessions of Eccentric

Exploring InfinitiesThere are as many fractions as counting numbers

1/1 1/2 1/3 1/4 …2/1 2/2 2/3 2/4 …3/1 3/2 3/3 3/4 …4/1 4/2 4/3 4/4 …… … … …

Etc.

1

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27 March 2003 Confessions of Eccentric

Exploring InfinitiesThere are as many fractions as counting numbers

1/1 1/2 1/3 1/4 …2/1 2/2 2/3 2/4 …3/1 3/2 3/3 3/4 …4/1 4/2 4/3 4/4 …… … … …

Etc.

12

3

Page 8: Confessions of an Eccentric

27 March 2003 Confessions of Eccentric

Exploring InfinitiesThere are as many fractions as counting numbers

1/1 1/2 1/3 1/4 …2/1 2/2 2/3 2/4 …3/1 3/2 3/3 3/4 …4/1 4/2 4/3 4/4 …… … … …

Etc.

12

3 6

5

4

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27 March 2003 Confessions of Eccentric

Exploring InfinitiesThere are as many fractions as counting numbers

1/1 1/2 1/3 1/4 …2/1 2/2 2/3 2/4 …3/1 3/2 3/3 3/4 …4/1 4/2 4/3 4/4 …… … … …

Etc.

12

3

7

6

5

4 8

9

10

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Exploring Infinities

There are more real numbers than fractions (some infinities are larger than others)

Think of real numbers (between 0 and 1) as infinite fractions of the form:

0.d1d2d3d4d5d6d7

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Exploring InfinitiesSuppose you can count the reals, like this:

1 0.d1,1d1,2d1,3d1,4…

2 0.d2,1d2,2d2,3d2,4…

3 0.d3,1d3,2d3,3d3,4…

4 0.d4,1d4,2d4,3d4,4……

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Exploring InfinitiesThen you missed at least one! Let mi

be any digit other than di,i. Consider:

Oops!0.m1 m2 m3

m4…

1 0.d1,1d1,2d1,3d1,4…

2 0.d2,1d2,2d2,3d2,4…

3 0.d3,1d3,2d3,3d3,4…

4 0.d4,1d4,2d4,3d4,4……

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Exploring Infinities

So, no matter how you try to line up counting numbers and reals, you will miss at least one.

Hence, there are more real numbers than fractions and some infinities are larger than others

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Exploring Infinities

Implications: Speaking of “infinity” is imprecise.

There are many “sizes” Reason alone suffices to show this Since one can count all possible

computer programs, and there are as many yes/no questions as reals: most decision questions cannot be answered algorithmically

Questions: What are unsolvable problems like? Are there “intermediate” infinities?

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Second Turning: Poetry & DesireThe Muses’ grace is on me,

as I writeClear verse about dark

matters. This is notA senseless affectation;

there’s reason to it.Just as when doctors try to

give to children A bitter medicine, they rim

the cupWith honey’s sweetness,

honey’s golden flavor,To fool the silly little things,

as farAs the lips at least, so that

they’ll take the bitterDosage, and swallow it

down, fooled, but not swindled,

But brought to health again through double-dealing,

So now do I, because this doctrine seems

Too grim for those who never yet have tried it,

So grim that people shrink from it, I’ve meant

To explain the system in a sweeter music,

To rim the lesson, as it were, with honey,

Hoping , this way, to hold your mind with verses

While you are learning all that form, that pattern

Of the way things are.

(Lucretius, De Rerum Natura I.935-950)

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Evolution

We can evolve programs and computers We can evolve teams Evolved artifacts are robust

Some of our DNA evolves independently of us

We can watch evolution in the lab We can discover evolutionary history

We can evolve explanations of natural evolution

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Third Turning: FriendshipFor what ensues, my friend,Listen with ears attentive and a

mind Cleared of anxiety; hear the

reasoned truthAnd do not without understanding

treatMy gifts with scorn, my gifts,

disposed for youWith loyal industry.(Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 50-53

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Initiative for Bioinformatics & Evolutionary STudies (IBEST)IBEST Mission: have fun by doing good science MO: hobnob with eccentric friends

History General faculty meeting (1993) Lunches with eccentrics (1993-now) Computer Scientist growing viruses (1999) Formation, lunches, name (2000) $26M in competitive funding to date,

dozens of papers, many grad students, new BCB degrees, model for interdisciplinary studies, new friends

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Fourth Turning: WonderLook up at the pure bright

color of the sky,The wheeling stars, the

moon, the shining sun!If all these, all of a

sudden, should ariseFor the first time before

our mortal sight,What could be called more

wonderful, more beyond

The heights to which aspiring mind might dare?

Nothing, I think.

And yet, a sight like this,

Marvelous as it is, now draws no man

To lift his gaze to heaven’s bright areas.

We are a jaded lot. …The sum of space is

infinite, reaching far Beyond the ramparts of

the world; the mindPersists in questioning:

what can be there?What is there so far off,

toward which the urgeOf the free spirit flies?

(Lucretius, De Rerum Natura II 1030-1047