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No Ouch!

no ouch

“Ouch!”

Over the past few weeks we’ve explored background topics regarding calculation, code, and computers. That led to an exploration of software models — in particular a software model of the human brain.

The underlying question all along is whether a software model of a brain — in contrast to a physical model — can be conscious. A related, but separate, question is whether some algorithm (aka Turing Machine) functionally reproduces human consciousness without regard to the brain’s physical structure.

Now we focus on why a software model isn’t what it models!

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SR #2: Relative Motion

sr2-0In the last two posts I’ve explained how Special Relativity concerns relative motion between two frames of reference, and that the motion involved is constant, straight-line motion that allows us to view either frame as the “moving” one or the “standing still” one.

Today I’m going to dig a little bit deeper into the idea of relative motion and what that involves for actions within a constantly moving frame of reference versus what observers in a different frame perceive. In other words: trains, planes, and automobiles.

(Warning: this gets a little math-y, but you can ignore those bits.)

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