tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post6595504518390712808..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: Questions for DysonSteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-70023679983188605302014-05-05T06:38:53.831-04:002014-05-05T06:38:53.831-04:00Politics and self-promotion play a huge role in sc...Politics and self-promotion play a huge role in science.steve hsuhttp://duende.uoregon.edu/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-88872026926112260892014-05-05T00:41:56.583-04:002014-05-05T00:41:56.583-04:00"He is more able than either Schwinger or Fey..."He is more able than either Schwinger or Feynman to talk about ideas other than his own. And he has enough of his own too. He is an exceptionally unselfish person." He's essentially saying that Tomonaga, more so than other scientists Dyson worked with, was open to others and their ideas. He did not merely tout himself; he did not toot his horn. Perhaps that is partly why Caltech aseussnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-14599880375044511832009-11-27T06:19:54.303-05:002009-11-27T06:19:54.303-05:00So, what questions did you ask and is the recordin...So, what questions did you ask and is the recording accessible soemwhere?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13952924286037255721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-75600990947950330172009-11-23T04:38:33.120-05:002009-11-23T04:38:33.120-05:00Dyson's statements on global warming and geo-e...Dyson's statements on global warming and geo-engineering seem insanely optimistic.Janus Danielshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15253124365227852722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1092580476400044942009-11-10T12:12:02.482-05:002009-11-10T12:12:02.482-05:00Steve - I hope you are correct - indeed I always t...Steve - I hope you are correct - indeed I always thought this until a very famous physics prof (not Smolin) told me that nobody at all was trying to do 'revolutionary' science in physics nowadays (presumably he meant nobody in his field). <br /><br />Assuming for a moment he was correct, the reason could be either that physics is taking some very smart and creative people and forcing themBruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-73094620418878445002009-11-10T10:02:56.585-05:002009-11-10T10:02:56.585-05:00BGC,
In mathematical subjects someone of Dyson...BGC,<br /><br />In mathematical subjects someone of Dyson's ability can still get to the frontier, make contributions, and become an independent researcher at a fairly young age. For example, see the story of Terence Tao in my more recent post.<br /><br />Admittedly, almost all subjects in science and mathematics have been explored more deeply than when Dyson was young, so getting to the Steve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-18760739508592509772009-11-09T16:10:35.424-05:002009-11-09T16:10:35.424-05:00It is a bit like your question three - but assumin...It is a bit like your question three - but assuming he does agree that the top modern scientists are duller than they used to be, I wonder whether he would agree with my thesis in <br /><br />http://medicalhypotheses.blogspot.com/2009/02/why-are-modern-scientists-so-dull.html<br /><br />that this is because of the much higher requirement for conscientiousness imposed by a much more prolonged Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-6030076360581957482009-11-09T12:02:10.405-05:002009-11-09T12:02:10.405-05:00The plan is to record the discussion, so it will b...The plan is to record the discussion, so it will be available online.<br /><br />Note there's no guarantee all of these questions will make it in.<br /><br />In Dirac's paper he writes that the quantum amplitude and e^{iS) are "analogous". Later Feynman asked him directly about it (according to Feynman):<br /><br />F: Did you know they are proportional?<br /><br />D: Are they?<Steve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-80706132193333890682009-11-09T11:51:42.545-05:002009-11-09T11:51:42.545-05:00This sounds like it should be a very interesting i...This sounds like it should be a very interesting interview - I also would like to see it broadcast in some capacity. I've also wondered about Dirac's feeling on the path-integral formulation- it's interesting if he really didn't see the connection that he, on some level, helped to set up (which, I suppose, is not that uncommon).<br /><br />I read should get around to reading &S.C. Kavassalishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01326429306907885422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-5339504532530967872009-11-09T00:32:31.406-05:002009-11-09T00:32:31.406-05:00I'm with Grim in hoping the talk may be broadc...I'm with Grim in hoping the talk may be broadcast or that the answers will make their way back across the intertubes.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02128499858806569768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-26899962280367658882009-11-08T20:32:49.153-05:002009-11-08T20:32:49.153-05:00I'm not sure there is a question in this, but ...I'm not sure there is a question in this, but see the quote from Dyson in <a href="http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/freeman-dyson-on-j-robert-oppenheimer/" rel="nofollow">this September 2003 post</a> on Michael Nielsen's blog:<br /><br /><em>[...] we can see the nature of the flaw which made his life ultimately tragic. His flaw was restlestness, an inborn inability to be idle. Intervals of CWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671404306768077552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-24855983022925775032009-11-08T09:47:34.334-05:002009-11-08T09:47:34.334-05:00Great questions! Be sure to note the answers well ...Great questions! Be sure to note the answers well and send them back our way. Thanks!Grimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13459877707601971181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-58552260504823388382009-11-08T08:36:30.884-05:002009-11-08T08:36:30.884-05:00Bee, great suggestion!
I actually corresponded wi...Bee, great suggestion!<br /><br />I actually corresponded with him in 2004 about just this question and whether one can in principle detect a single graviton. If so, one would have to accept that gravity is described by QM, etc. <br /><br />I proposed some gedanken experiments which could detect single gravitons, but the issue is subtler than I perceived at the time. See <br /><br />http://Steve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-80594645432314557252009-11-08T02:49:39.418-05:002009-11-08T02:49:39.418-05:00Here's another question: In the review of Bria...Here's another question: In the review of Brian Greene's book "The Fabric of the Cosmos," Dyson wrote<br /><br />"According to my hypothesis, the gravitational field described by Einstein's theory of general relativity is a purely classical field without any quantum behavior. Gravitational waves exist and can be detected but they are classical waves and not collections Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com