Building a computer in Conway's game of life
nicolasloizeau.com
Building a computer in Conway's game of life
1–10 of 68 posts
Re: Building a computer in Conway's game of life
#2Cool and all that, but isn't this... practically and intellectually useless? Surely, you can build a computer using pebbles on the sea shore by aligning them in the specific order. How is that surprising?
Re: Building a computer in Conway's game of life
#3Amazing how if you just stare at the logic gates you can kinda figure out what they mean. Makes you think maybe our meatware and the computers we use aren't as far apart as they seem.
Re: Building a computer in Conway's game of life
#4Cool and all that, but isn't this... practically and intellectually useless? Surely, you can build a computer using pebbles on the sea shore by aligning them in the specific order. How is that surprising?
Perhaps this specific exercise does not necessarily generate any utility in and of itself, but the concept is certainly quite interesting. Many would argue a bunch of pebbles on the sea shore couldn't possibly be alive, yet many still hope we can bring life to a machine of silicon. Clearly there must be some difference between the two, unless there isn't. Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/505/
Re: Building a computer in Conway's game of life
#5Cool and all that, but isn't this... practically and intellectually useless? Surely, you can build a computer using pebbles on the sea shore by aligning them in the specific order. How is that surprising?
Have you ever thought about what life is about for other people? Do you only think about eating, drinking, sleeping and exercise?
I would counter your question by asking, isn't your comment here practically and intellectually useless?
Re: Building a computer in Conway's game of life
#6Cool and all that, but isn't this... practically and intellectually useless? Surely, you can build a computer using pebbles on the sea shore by aligning them in the specific order. How is that surprising?
It might be useful:
We do not know how ‘soup of chemistry’ does information processing. (e.g. biology)
The more it looks like soup, the more we might be able to intuit how to tackle things that are unbounded in complexity. E.g. how do millions of cells coordinate growth to make a new organ/repair and then stop, what are the chemical initial conditions that generate this complex orchestra, what tells it to stop, can we speak that language if we knew it?
Re: Building a computer in Conway's game of life
#7Cool and all that, but isn't this... practically and intellectually useless? Surely, you can build a computer using pebbles on the sea shore by aligning them in the specific order. How is that surprising?
An obvious example would be intellectual cross-pollination. This project is likely to get a lot of exposure in the Game of Life community as well as the Computer Science community, increasing the chances that members of either community feel compelled to cross over and contribute in an area that may have previously seemed uninteresting/unpromising/unknown.
Re: Building a computer in Conway's game of life
#8Cool and all that, but isn't this... practically and intellectually useless? Surely, you can build a computer using pebbles on the sea shore by aligning them in the specific order. How is that surprising?
The interestingly useless and uselessly interesting are not only welcome here, they're at the apex of the tradition that HN (at its best) helps to continue. A post like this never needs an answer to "why"!
Re: Building a computer in Conway's game of life
#9Cool and all that, but isn't this... practically and intellectually useless? Surely, you can build a computer using pebbles on the sea shore by aligning them in the specific order. How is that surprising?
You can’t build a computer with pebbles though? OP is using basic Conway laws to build on logic gates.
Re: Building a computer in Conway's game of life
#10I remember seeing that video 3 years ago and being blown away.
In case someone doesn't already know it, here is Conway's Game of Life simulated in Conway's Game of Life: