I plan to post something more substantial tomorrow, but I saw a news story today that I wanted to share.I always keep an eye on the science news, because, as I mentioned previously, I'm something of a geek.
Anyway, this story on a couple of Hungarian mathematicians was up today. It seems no one in the world could get a computer to play "Go" at the same level as a skilled human player.
No one, that is, until now!
That's right, a couple of Hungarian mathematicians figured out the algorithm that gets computers to play the moves that previously only human intuition managed to understand. Way to go abstract math.
Interestingly enough, Hungary is widely regarded as the home of many of the greatest modern mathematicians. Unfortunately most of the great minds pack up and leave for wealthier nations before they do their greatest work.
Abstract math, however, continues to flourish here in Hungary. This is mostly because there is not a lot of capitol investment required for research.
All you need is a blackboard, some chalk, and maybe a Go board.
3 comments:
for the record, i bet GW couldn't beat a blind monkey at go.
when i first moved to austin one of the things i did to meet new people was going to this "go" club at the university. i was hoping to meet people that were like max from the movie pi, or perhaps his professor, instead i met some very a-social geeks that smelled horrible. i gave up after just one meeting.
i don't really care much for games of strategy like chess or go. i'm no lover of math.
I think Max was A-social. And I can't imagine he smelled very good. But I am with you on the math thing. I also like the phrasing on that. "I'm no lover of math." There's something to that. It reads like verse.
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