[ExI] Goldbach Conjecture, the frisbee analogy to tranhumanism

spike spike66 at att.net
Sat Nov 28 17:59:44 UTC 2009


On Behalf Of Will Steinberg
	Subject: Re: [ExI] Goldbach Conjecture
	
	
>	If it can be proved that every two-way sieve of eratosthenes has at
least one hole, the conjecture can be proven.  What this means is that
(since oles are at 2k, 3k, 5k, nmod2+2k, nmod5+5k, etc.) ...What is needed
to continue is a way to prove there will always be a p that doesn't equal
nmodp +pk.  Will Steinberg
	
	
	2009/11/28 spike <spike66 at att.net>

		> ...On Behalf Of Giulio Prisco (2nd email)
		> Subject: Re: [ExI] Goldbach Conjecture
		>
		> I think the Goldbach conjecture is probably false, with
		> probability 1 (that means, certainly false). Here is
why:... Giulio
		
		
		I disagree sir, however I confess my line of reasoning is
not as well developed as the one you offer...		spike
		
		
Clearly I took an engineer's approach to the question, which sidesteps the
real question.  With this I reveal myself as merely an engineer who likes
math and not the genuine article.  I offer for your Saturday morning
entertainment the frisbee analogy to the Goldbach conjecture, along with the
extropian and transhumanist angle to this discussion.

In my teens I had a doberman who loved to play frisbee, but wasn't quite
capable of catching the device in flight.  He would chase it, knock it down,
carry it back, have a blast, but he couldn't quite leap and catch.  He was
close, often attempted it, never managed the task.  My dog was a terrific
athlete, brave, fierce, fast, coordinated, a magnificent beast was he.  He
once slew a rattlesnake single-pawedly, or single-mouthedly(?) but in any
case without help from me or Mister Twelve Gage.  Oddly he had a close
relative (in human terms his niece) who could catch a frisbee in flight.
His niece was actually a clumsy dog in some ways, but not in that.  She got
better at it over time.  My dog would watch her catch that frisbee with a
kind of amazement, as if to say "How does that bitch do it?"

Catching the frisbee is an example of a skill that is right on the ragged
edge of that particular breed's abilities.  Most dobies cannot, a few can.
If we bred only the catchers, I can easily imagine we could create a frisbee
catching breed.  On the other hand, actually throwing the frisbee is a skill
outside the abilities of any dog that I know of.  If my dog could throw a
frisbee, what fun he and the other dogs could have!  The dogs would watch in
amazement as I and the other two-legged beasts would throw that frisbee back
and to.  They worshipped us.

The great unsolved mathematical conjectures such as Goldbach, my own search
for an odd perfect number, and (until 1995) Fermats, are examples of
humanity's version of the dobies' frisbee problem.  These are questions
right on the ragged edge of our species' abilities.  Guys like Andrew Wiles
demonstrate that these kinds of problems can be solved, given enough effort.
We have solved a number of rattlesnake problems, but these questions are our
frisbees.

We as a species have before us some immediate and urgent frisbee problems,
such as the energy generation.  Eugene, Keith, et.al. have outlined the
problem and offered possible solutions.  Having tasks right at the ragged
edge of the envelope gives us something at which to aim.  In this case the
stakes could not be higher.  Transhumanists and extropians are examples of
humans who can *almost* catch, people who believe that the object is
catchable, people who are taking a flying leap at that frisbee.

spike












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