juraj on Nostr: Computational approach to reality. When studying computer science ("informatics" in ...

Computational approach to reality. When studying computer science ("informatics" in central european curriculum), I did not get the vast usability of this approach to many other fields. We have learned about what is decidable, how (asymptotically) complex a computation is, the universality of computation and many topics, hidden in theorems and lemmas. In computer networks, artificial intelligence, cognitive sciences and multiagent systems, we have touched upon complex systems and the fascinating phenomenon of emergent behavior.

Lately I have enjoyed using this knowledge to understand many more complex systems. Wolfram's approach to physics is computational, it builds physics theory from the ground up based on computation paradigms. Economy, society, and even our thinking are all examples for complex systems with emergent behavior.

Yes, I can be very bitchy about people not understanding what is going on. I often laugh at "centrally planned forests", when I walk to one, before enjoying the forest, I usually give some remarks about what is wrong with "scientific forestry".

I often criticize current centrally planned financial system, yet I do not have a degree in economy, finance or whatever political fields these people study. Yet I can criticize and discount their ideas solely on the basis of theory of complex systems and computation. These people think they control something, but that is very naive view of the world. No number of academic titles or experience can turn a complex system into something that can be centrally managed, but in order to do understand why the model is wrong, you need to understand how things emerge in complex systems. (for those of you who do not know what complex system is - it is not merely something "complicated").

I am often criticized for absence of humility - smarter people have studied something and know what they are talking about, I have studied something else and I don't know.

The problem is this - it is easier to know that something is unknowable or that something does not work than to prove that it does. Things often seem to work and then break down. I believe there's more humility in understanding why you can't centrally plan a complex system. It's humility in relation to reality, not to academic rank though.