That's young. What happened?
Suicide? Edit: I wonder why it is getting downvoted? I am actually about to quit HN due to its increasingly oppressive PC culture.
It was also my first thought.
Vladimir Voevodsky has died
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Re: Vladimir Voevodsky has died
#22That's young. What happened?
Suicide? Edit: I wonder why it is getting downvoted? I am actually about to quit HN due to its increasingly oppressive PC culture.
You're getting downvoted because putting forward suicide as an explanation without any evidence is, well, "bad taste" doesn't really cut it. If you're going to speculate about it, at the very least give some justification.
Re: Vladimir Voevodsky has died
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Suicide? Edit: I wonder why it is getting downvoted? I am actually about to quit HN due to its increasingly oppressive PC culture.
You're getting downvoted because putting forward suicide as an explanation without any evidence is, well, "bad taste" doesn't really cut it. If you're going to speculate about it, at the very least give some justification.
It's from a text from a friend who knew him, if that matters. We all got PhDs from the same school. I have been here for 6.8 years and in the last two I find myself going back to Slashdot more and more.
Re: Vladimir Voevodsky has died
#24Re: Vladimir Voevodsky has died
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Suicide? Edit: I wonder why it is getting downvoted? I am actually about to quit HN due to its increasingly oppressive PC culture.
Unfounded speculation is now "PC"?
You got it wrong. He complained that speculation is considered non-PC here.
Speculation is at the heart of science. We shouldn't forget that.
Re: Vladimir Voevodsky has died
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unfounded speculation is now "PC"?
You got it wrong. He complained that speculation is considered non-PC here. Speculation is at the heart of science. We shouldn't forget that.
It sounded like he was complaining that the downvotes were out of "PC", as if we were offended that suicide could be the cause. I downvoted him because I don't think speculation without evidence is useful.
Re: Vladimir Voevodsky has died
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think topology is mentioned in recent Microsoft Ignite Quantum Computing discussions from at least 1 panel who is a mathematician. I wonder how it might be related.
Topology of course is fundamental to all of physics, but in that context my guess would be on topological quantum computing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topological_quantum_computer I once attended a talk on the subject by Michael Freedman who is with Microsoft Station Q. They are trying to build just such a computer.
Since you didn't include it, but it's relevant to the topic at hand -- Michael Freedman is also a Fields medalist that did substantial work in topology. Which is, ultimately, why he's involved with Station Q -- he was part of the group that realized you could use the topological structure of certain interactions to encode general computations, and was part of convincing MS to pursue that.
Re: Vladimir Voevodsky has died
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Suicide? Edit: I wonder why it is getting downvoted? I am actually about to quit HN due to its increasingly oppressive PC culture.
You're getting downvoted because putting forward suicide as an explanation without any evidence is, well, "bad taste" doesn't really cut it. If you're going to speculate about it, at the very least give some justification.
A sincere question: Why is it bad to speculate that it was suicide? I assume there is some intention-guessing or social norm coming into play that I don't see. Could you explain your reasoning?
Edit: Is it that it is not considered okay to consider suicide a plausible explanation? Is suicide a taboo, or something that would make a person seem less?
Re: Vladimir Voevodsky has died
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
You got it wrong. He complained that speculation is considered non-PC here. Speculation is at the heart of science. We shouldn't forget that.
It sounded like he was complaining that the downvotes were out of "PC", as if we were offended that suicide could be the cause. I downvoted him because I don't think speculation without evidence is useful.
Speculation without evidence is a fundamental tool to figure stuff out. You are given a situation you don't understand (He died young). You make a speculation that seems plausible (Maybe suicide). You look for evidence (They asked here). Seems naively fine to me.
Re: Vladimir Voevodsky has died
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think topology is mentioned in recent Microsoft Ignite Quantum Computing discussions from at least 1 panel who is a mathematician. I wonder how it might be related.
Topology of course is fundamental to all of physics, but in that context my guess would be on topological quantum computing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topological_quantum_computer I once attended a talk on the subject by Michael Freedman who is with Microsoft Station Q. They are trying to build just such a computer.
It is actually Michael Freedman who was that math panel. https://youtu.be/d7f_GZsQMpA?t=59m56s
Not sure who else might have a device that can instantiate in some physical way a Quantum Superposition, but Microsoft showed such a device during that discussion: https://youtu.be/d7f_GZsQMpA?t=1h3m6s