We are doomed

[Drake Tungsten]

a) You are wrong

I'm not surprised.

b) von Neumann is on the third tier among those names...

I would rather have given Feynman the credit, but his important work seems to have come too late to really count as "giving the world" quantum theory.

[Drake Tungsten]

I had forgotten how much of a badass von Neumann was. The man made major contributions to the fields of mathematics, physics, economics and computer science, which is pretty impressive...

[KrazyHorse]

Just so it's clear, I am not impugning his status as a great thinker.

I just don't think that in this area he was a fundamental innovator.

[Drake Tungsten]

Just so it's clear, I am not impugning his status as a great thinker.

I didn't think you were. The fact that von Neumann wasn't a leading light in the creation of quantum mechanics doesn't mean that he wasn't an intellectual heavyweight in other areas.

I just don't think that in this area he was a fundamental innovator.

This seems like an accurate appraisal. von Neumann might have been the first to arrive at a complete mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics, but he appears to have been greatly aided by the more innovative work of other physicists/mathematicians.

[Drake Tungsten]

Do you know anything about game theory, KH? I've read some Schelling and BBM, but I feel like I could use a better general understanding of game theory and some of the mathematics involved. Theory of Games and Economic Behavior sounds completely over my head, however, and I'm wondering if there's a more modern introductory text that isn't intended for retards, but also doesn't require much math beyond calculus.

edit: This seems like the best bet so far.

edit 2: I think I'm going to get this one. Thanks, Columbia online syllabi.

[Kuciwalker]

electricity and quantum theory weren't invented in the US

I choose to give credit to Ben Franklin and John von Neumann, for nationalistic bragging purposes.

Why the **** would you give von Neumann credit for QM? There are far better candidates...

edit: nvm you and KH have worked this out peacably

[Heraclitus]

Exactly. Other nations gave the world electricity, nuclear fission, semiconductors, lasers and quantum theory. Croatians gave us the strip of cloth.

You are such a bigot.

[VetLegion]

Exactly. Other nations gave the world electricity, nuclear fission, semiconductors, lasers and quantum theory. Croatians gave us the strip of cloth.

Do you wear nuclear fission around your neck?
Case closed.

[Wiglaf]

Alabama is doomed

[Solomwi]

Goddammit.

FCUK YOU MARENGO COUNTY.

Uh, by the way, Tim James is, uh, not actually an Alabama politician, but an elaborate performance artist. Don't believe anything you might come across with his name attached to it. Especially if it purports to be a campaign ad.

[aneeshm]

I do not agree that we are doomed. The human race is a hardy one. It has survived the collapse of civilisation before (the fall of Rome leading to the Dark Ages), and can do so again.

[Barnabas]

Or the Aryan invasion of the Harappan Civilization

[Sava]

Goddamn Croatians.

[N35t0r]

Sava!

How are you doing?

[Ecofarm]

I do not agree that we are doomed. The human race is a hardy one. It has survived the collapse of civilisation before (the fall of Rome leading to the Dark Ages), and can do so again.

As long as we do not underestimate the impact of a nuke while planet-bound. If we seriously screw that up, we might not have time to evolve and get to Mars.

I'm sure we will leave this solar system via Pluto (I wonder if the life-raft came from the same place as the life), if only as seeds. Of course, I do not discount the possibility of abiogenesis; yet, people were surprised that we weren't the center of the universe. How would they feel upon a discovery that we are not the source of life.