Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!elroy!cit-vax!ucla-cs!sdcrdcf!markb From: markb@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Mark Biggar) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: Safe optimization Message-ID: <5368@sdcrdcf.UUCP> Date: 4 Jul 88 06:15:59 GMT References: <16271@brl-adm.ARPA> <408@proxftl.UUCP> Reply-To: markb@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Mark Biggar) Organization: Unisys - System Development Group, Santa Monica Lines: 17 In article <408@proxftl.UUCP> bill@proxftl.UUCP (T. William Wells) writes: >Well, since we are bandying about concepts without any real >reference to reality, let me toss this possible reason at you: >computers are discrete devices, the brain is (or at least might >be) a continuous device. I think that it is easy to demonstrate that the brain IS a discrete device. Nerve impulses are transmitted across the synaptic gaps using certain neuro-transmitter molecules. Since a fraction of a molecule is nonsence, the brain is a discrete device. Given that electric changes and even energy are quantized, I am willing to take the position that all realizable material devices are discrete. There are no such things as continuous devices (at least in this universe). Mark Biggar {allegra,burdvax,cbosgd,hplabs,ihnp4,akgua,sdcsvax}!sdcrdcf!markb markb@rdcf.sm.unisys.com