Display.exe: Posted to document the date of my invention

[kmoney]

I wonder if it would come up with a proof for God's existence. :think:

 

[MrRadish]

I wonder if it would come up with a proof for God's existence. :think:

If it did, how could we know the proof was true?

 

[kmoney]

If it did, how could we know the proof was true?

It would tell us. :noid:

And no one would be able to refute it.

 

[genuineoriginal]

That's a great point.

As the software generated page, after page, after page, many of those pages would go unnoticed unless an actual intelligent being was reviewing and monitoring them. (that would obviously slow down the process and possibly make it far less valuable)

And furthermore....

Assuming there is a cure for cancer and assuming that the software would eventually display the cure, it wouldn't help us much unless there was someone there to recognize it as a valid solution, because obviously the software wouldn't know to tell us "hey you should take note of this page".

So it seems to me that the software could be a very real thing yet still only be beneficial in hypothetical ways.

Certainly fun to ponder.

There might be a problem with that if it is based on the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics.
The very act of reviewing and monitoring the output of Display.exe could change what will be displayed due to waveform collapse....

 

[MrRadish]

It would tell us. :noid:

And no one would be able to refute it.

Since when was people not being able to refute something adamant proof of its veracity?

 

[Newman]

I don't buy any of this. I'm an adisplayist.

 

[Nathon Detroit]

It would also display a large number of cures for cancer that didn't work, and you'd have no way of knowing which was real and which one wasn't.

That was the exact point I just made.

Which amusingly is one of my main problems with religion/the lack of it.

Let's not get off-track but you are dead wrong in your thinking.

Here's why...
Every individual is able to review all the evidence and make our own judgment regarding the truth of God (some accept it some reject it). There is valid evidence and invalid evidence, there is valid arguments and INVALID arguments for God's existence. None of that nullifies that ultimate truth does exist.

Case in point...
Bob's program would display testimony from OJ Simpson for the Nicole Brown murder.

Bob's program would also display FALSE testimony from OJ Simpson for the Nicole Brown murder.

The fact that conflicting testimony exists, doesn't nullify the fact that a true version of the testimony exists.

Truth exists regardless of our ability to recognize it. It is our obligation to review the evidence and make important judgments about truth based on the evidence at our disposal.

That's why you would never hear me state: "I reject evolution because there are too many theories as to how evolution works". While it's true I reject evolution as a valid theory, it isn't because there isn't a unified explanation of evolution.

 

[elohiym]

The only possible way that Bob's program could work is by displaying only one true and correct copy of whatever software or book one was seeking to have using the software.

 

[The Graphite]

The only possible way that Bob's program could work is by displaying only one true and correct copy of whatever software or book one was seeking to have using the software.

Well, if you insist on limiting its capabilities, Elo, but it sounds like that's not how Bob's amazing invention works. Besides which, as someone pointed out, that's already been done. This goes way beyond that.

 

[elohiym]

Well, if you insist on limiting its capabilities, Elo...

In this case, less would be more.

If I want the program to output the source code for Microsoft Word, but it gives me more than one result, when only one result can possibly be the actual source code for Microsoft Word, then I am forced to figure out which output is the actual source code. Me having to do that, or to hire someone that can do that, renders the software completely useless.

 

[Bob Enyart]

Software Feature #6: 12-15-09 Yes, Display.exe will display sheet music. (A TOL'er called the radio studio, and I agreed to answer this here. I apologize that we've been too busy to keep up with this thread. On Jan. 1, 2010, we'll post to TOL either a typical output page from Display, or the program's own source code, depending upon interest.)

-Bob Enyart
KGOV.com

 

[kmoney]

Software Feature #6: 12-15-09 Yes, Display.exe will display sheet music. (A TOL'er called the radio studio, and I agreed to answer this here. I apologize that we've been too busy to keep up with this thread. On Jan. 1, 2010, we'll post to TOL either a typical output page from Display, or the program's own source code, depending upon interest.)

-Bob Enyart
KGOV.com

Both. :guitar:

 

[elohiym]

Bob,

If you could make a short YouTube video showing it in action, that would be most enlightening. Take us step-by-step through a typical user session.

And if you are going to release the source code, does that mean display.exe will be open source?

 

[elohiym]

Both. :guitar:

What would an output page prove? :idunno:

Best if he provides the working software as a download with instructions on how to use it. Just looking at the source code wouldn't the average Joe much, but I suppose some of us could compile it, run and test it, then report back here. :idunno:

 

[The Graphite]

In this case, less would be more.

If I want the program to output the source code for Microsoft Word, but it gives me more than one result, when only one result can possibly be the actual source code for Microsoft Word, then I am forced to figure out which output is the actual source code. Me having to do that, or to hire someone that can do that, renders the software completely useless.

I do not speak for Bob. However, I don't recall him promising that this would be a practical application or a produt to be sold. But, that doesn't mean it has no value.

And if you are going to release the source code, does that mean display.exe will be open source?

If I'm not mistaken, Display.exe will actually display its own source code.

 

[kmoney]

What would an output page prove? :idunno:

Nothing. I'd still like to see some output.

Best if he provides the working software as a download with instructions on how to use it. Just looking at the source code wouldn't the average Joe much, but I suppose some of us could compile it, run and test it, then report back here. :idunno:

Or that.

 

[elohiym]

... I don't recall him promising that this would be a practical application or a produt to be sold. But, that doesn't mean it has no value.

In the case of outputting another software's source code, unless display.exe produced only one correct copy of the source code, not thousands of possibilities, one would have no way of determining that the software actually worked.

 

[Granite]

Nothing. I'd still like to see some output.



Or that.

I wouldn't hold my breath, kmo. This strikes me as an attempt at allegory more than anything else.

 

[Brother Vinny]

Bob,

Some questions:

1. Can this program separate provable mathematical statements from non-provable ones? (I would assume so based on #4)

2. Can it return π to its final decimal place?

3. Will it run on Ubuntu Linux?

This sounds fascinating, although I would think the computing power needed would be far more than not only what we have available today, but anything short of quantum computers (maybe not even then). The program would not only have to generate something intelligible, it would also have to be able to recognize whether or not it's intelligible.

The yawners here are spoilsports. I enjoy a good mystery.

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

Software Feature #6: 12-15-09 Yes, Display.exe will display sheet music. (A TOL'er called the radio studio, and I agreed to answer this here. I apologize that we've been too busy to keep up with this thread. On Jan. 1, 2010, we'll post to TOL either a typical output page from Display, or the program's own source code, depending upon interest.)

-Bob Enyart
KGOV.com

Did I miss the post where this happened?

AMR