From Chris Rogers
Stephen Wolfram states that we could simulate alien society here on Earth, and from that derive all knowledge that an alien could possess (26 November, p 30). But I think he is missing the point. As an active participant in the SETI@Home project over the past five years, I can attest to having no real interest in the knowledge an alien could pass on to us. Here are my key questions: are extraterrestrials out there, where are they, and what are they?
From Billy Huang
Wolfram seems to believe that computer programs might contain the fount of all knowledge. I agree with him. However, I believe we will never be able to extract this knowledge.
If we are given an infinite list of combinations, yes, Hamlet will be there, and also the theory of relativity. But one will also find infinitely many alternate versions of these works. Unless we know exactly what we are looking for, we cannot extract or find the right version. In the infinite world, there is an infinitesimally small possibility of finding what you are looking for.
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Edinburgh, UK
From Andrew Thewlis
It seems clear, even at this early stage, that the end result of searching for useful algorithms would take seven-and-a-half million years and yield the answer “42”.
Stockport, Greater Manchester, UK
St Louis, Missouri, US
