And if anyone dislikes this idea, they're probably Bankers, butthurt that everyone hates them.

Not quantum? Meh.

Earth? What a dull name.

FTFA: A £900 million scheme to produce a computer system which could predict the next financial crisis has been backed by leading scientists.

Hmm...

First Universal Cybernetic Kynetic Ultramicro-Programmer was around before Deep Thought. Hitchhiker's Guide was sweet, but lots of the plot elements were Illuminatus! tributes/ripoffs. (talking dolphins, hagbard ≈ zaphod, Illuminatus even pre-empted HHG2G on idea of a 5-book trilogy) Brits cling to their few cultural icons so zealously.

I think Asimov already let us know how this one turns out.

so long, and thanks for all the fish...

He says "I won't tell. That would be cheating.". Ha...

/First thing I thought of.

First. Even if you have the uber bestest supercomputer it is worth nothing without a working algorithm to do the stuff. And guess what, no one has an idea on how to make such algorithms.

Second. What do you think will happen If this computer successfully predicts an economical crisis? Banks will intervene to avoid it? Ha-ha no. They will make steps to ensure the highest profit. You'll loose.

FTA "Many problems we have today - including social and economic instabilities, wars, disease spreading - are related to human behaviour, but there is apparently a serious lack of understanding regarding how society and the economy work."

So they're going to try to use a computer to predict the inherent unpredictability of human nature? Good luck with that one.

Ed Finnerty: Yes, but what is the ultimate question?

Well, that's what we're trying to find out.

it is NOT, by the way, "WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU MULTIPLY SIX BY NINE". That's an imperfect answer (question) because the arrival of the Golgafrinchans would have distorted the computational matrix.

I like to think that the fact that the Answer, and the Question, *are* imperfect, is the real Answer. Life, the Universe, and everything are imperfect. We apologise for the inconvenience.

The alternate-universe, base 13, digital wristwatch fan-retcon works, too. Especially since digital watches were mentioned a few times in the first book. (Early digital watches required that you press a button to get the time, which needs three fingers. The story had it that Man complained about not having wrist-fingers, so God gave people three extra fingers for using their watches, then Man complained about now having to relearn math because now they'd count on 13 fingers instead of 10, and coincidentally 6 times 9 is 42 in base 13...)

It will only be as good as its algorithm. This may result in a CICO system: crap in, crap out

Mister Peejay: then Man complained about now having to relearn math because now they'd count on 13 fingers instead of 10

I've always disliked the "we use base 10 'cos we have ten fingers" line, seeing as how other past cultures have used base 12 (the way to go if you ask me), base 20, base 60, and more.

traylor: First. Even if you have the uber bestest supercomputer it is worth nothing without a working algorithm to do the stuff. And guess what, no one has an idea on how to make such algorithms.

I know it's not the greatest of sources..but on science or discovery ( i forget which ) they had a show where a scholar had been working on such a system and it didn't predict 911 or the tsunami but there were HIGH indicators during those times and other political events over the recent time. Which lead the scholar to suggest, he might be able to predict such things in advance soon.

If true, I'd say the two requisites for your number one are virtually met.

rickycal78: FTA "Many problems we have today - including social and economic instabilities, wars, disease spreading - are related to human behaviour, but there is apparently a serious lack of understanding regarding how society and the economy work."

So they're going to try to use a computer to predict the inherent unpredictability of human nature? Good luck with that one.

Human nature in bulk is very predictable in many ways; they've even successfully identified trends in financial markets based solely on analysis of Tweets.

Good high level overview of predictive algorythms (new window) on Wikipedia with some relevant references.

/Always funny when a random guy looks at decades of science worked on by hundreds of acreddited minds and says "that's dumb, see, the way things are is..."

How long until this thing decides humans are it's only threat? It could create a catastrophic economic meltdown and sit back as people go crazy and panic to the point of starting WWIII. The machine would cause a large percentage of the human race to die and it wouldn't even had to have built a single evil robot.

Dammit, just use it to predict the weather. Not all of this other shiat.

rdyb: First Universal Cybernetic Kynetic Ultramicro-Programmer was around before Deep Thought. Hitchhiker's Guide was sweet, but lots of the plot elements were Illuminatus! tributes/ripoffs. (talking dolphins, hagbard ≈ zaphod, Illuminatus even pre-empted HHG2G on idea of a 5-book trilogy) Brits cling to their few cultural icons so zealously.

THIS!

/loves both RAW and Adams

W.......h......a......t............d.....o...............y.....o.....u ..........g....e....t.........

rickycal78: FTA "Many problems we have today - including social and economic instabilities, wars, disease spreading - are related to human behaviour, but there is apparently a serious lack of understanding regarding how society and the economy work."

So they're going to try to use a computer to predict the inherent unpredictability of human nature? Good luck with that one.

What you do tomorrow can't be predicted. What a million people do tomorrow can, as an aggregate, be predicted. Your own actions are irrelevant noise.

hershy799: Dammit, just use it to predict the weather. Not all of this other shiat.

This group told Scientific American that predicting the weather more than 15 days out is probably a far more intractable problem than predicting large-scale human behavior.

ArcadianRefugee: I think Asimov already let us know how this one turns out.

I prefer this one (new window). However, my favorite along these lines isn't by the Good Doctor (new window). Now that we have primates with machine-assisted telepathy and psychokinesis, I think it is likely that we will be going down the path of the latter book within the next generation or so.

ArcadianRefugee: I've always disliked the "we use base 10 'cos we have ten fingers" line, seeing as how other past cultures have used base 12 (the way to go if you ask me), base 20, base 60, and more.

Past cultures had notoriously difficult time with division, especially before the idea of zero was introduced, thus the reason for number systems with a lot of factors, which base 10 doesn't have.

And honestly if we were to switch number systems at this point, it should be to hexadecimal to make it easier to work with computer math.

hershy799: Dammit, just use it to predict the weather. Not all of this other shiat.

Certainly not football standings.

Gwyrddu: ArcadianRefugee: I've always disliked the "we use base 10 'cos we have ten fingers" line, seeing as how other past cultures have used base 12 (the way to go if you ask me), base 20, base 60, and more.

Past cultures had notoriously difficult time with division, especially before the idea of zero was introduced, thus the reason for number systems with a lot of factors, which base 10 doesn't have.

And honestly if we were to switch number systems at this point, it should be to hexadecimal to make it easier to work with computer math.

Hurm. I've done a base12 clock. Maybe if I get bored this holiday I'll whip up one in base 16.

/yes, these are the things I do when I am bored, I code virtual clocks

Seriously- how does one possibly end up with a haircut that bad?

Anything large enough to actually do this would become self aware. Then we would be in trouble.

Approves.

/hot

traylor: First.

Egggsactly. This reminds me of the guy who wired up in a similar way to the human brain (got millions to do it, BTW), and then was puzzled that it didn't do anything.

Mister Peejay: The alternate-universe, base 13, digital wristwatch fan-retcon works, too.

For the record (and I'm sure you know this), but Adams would later say of this theory, ``I may be a sorry case, but I don't write jokes in base 13.'''

I always thought the best answer would be that Deep Though instantly knew that he could not come up with an answer that would satisfy the philosophers, sages, luminaries and other professional thinking persons. So he did what any computer would do in such a situation: devised a way to convince people to keep him turned on for 7.5 million years.

Great headline made me giggle. Nothing more need be said.

traylor: First. Even if you have the uber bestest supercomputer it is worth nothing without a working algorithm to do the stuff. And guess what, no one has an idea on how to make such algorithms.

Second. What do you think will happen If this computer successfully predicts an economical crisis? Banks will intervene to avoid it? Ha-ha no. They will make steps to ensure the highest profit. You'll loose.

Recorded Future

I could see the next recession when I was offered a $200k mortgage while in college.

"Buy instead of rent, then when you graduate sell the house to pay off your tuition, and it's like you lived rent free"

I graduated in 2007. Right when housing sales locked up.

Will this computer be smart enough to see a way out of the current recession? The one that's been ongoing since 2007, regardless of what pundits might be saying about being out of it.

For £100 million I will happily explain basic chaos theory to the EU so that they will understand why they should cancel the project and save themselves the other £800 million.

Honey, this machine just called me an asshole

Clearly, it is necessary for there to be only 42 comments in this thread. I suggest the thread be closed when we get 1 more.

Her name is not "The Living Earth Simulator Project (LES)"
It is GeNN/GeNN

/And it is in my House
///Bahahahahahah
///google is you friend guys

Meh, they should just wait a few years to buy it at 1/4 of the cost.

Whatthefark: How long until this thing decides humans are it's only threat?

Nah, if it became sentient, we may get an SSDD-like Oracle that just picks individual people to fark around with.

And start a revolution so it can install itself as the shadowy center of power in its government, and then take over an opposing faction's shadowy center of power, and start a war so it can play both sides against each other just to see if what it predicts is correct.

Colin O'Scopy: And if anyone dislikes this idea, they're probably Bankers, butthurt that everyone hates them.

traylor: First. Even if you have the uber bestest supercomputer it is worth nothing without a working algorithm to do the stuff. And guess what, no one has an idea on how to make such algorithms.

Second. What do you think will happen If this computer successfully predicts an economical crisis? Banks will intervene to avoid it? Ha-ha no. They will make steps to ensure the highest profit. You'll loose.

Yeah, because all of the banks that just basically went bankrupt during this recession are making huge profits.

Now that.... is one big Magic Eight Ball.

/Hopes it answers it's first question...
//"outlook not so good"..
///triple bonus points for "maybe"

marfar: Yeah, because all of the banks that just basically went bankrupt during this recession are making huge profits.

Yeah, about that (new window)....

Gwyrddu: And honestly if we were to switch number systems at this point, it should be to hexadecimal to make it easier to work with computer math.

I found you a hexadecimal clock.

Supercomputers. Don't talk to me about supercomputers.

/ Brain the size of a planet, and I'm supposed to read Fark.com articles all day.