Class Notes 2/16/2011

Today we began class by Mirealla going around the room and saying everyone’s name.  Then we outlined the prepartions for next class, which included, readings for Monday, video for Wednesday, scheduling writing conferences.

1.     The Science and Technology of Information

Reviewing two articles from Monday’s readings:

            Katherine Rowe (English Prof.)

 Gender and Technology – Class Notes for February 16, 2011 by Hillary G

Katherine Rowe:

-       Raised idea that there should be unpredictability in communication within information

-       Noise depends on the observer while information depends on context

-       Is the presence of “meaning” the only difference between noise and information?

Paul Grobstein:

 When asked, "Do you find it odd that teaching a computer chess is easier than teaching it Jeopardy?" I contemplated this for about a minute and realized that I do not find this odd at all. I agree with the statement that teaching a computer/robot chess is easier than teaching it Jeopardy. When I was younger, I played chess at a pretty competitive level. I learned it was very much like a mathematical equation. Chess is based a lot on probability and statistics; the key to the game is to predict the next move of the opponent. Chess is also a reaction-game - when a specific move is made, there are a limited amount of choices you can make to react to that move. Therefore, a computer would have an easier time computing the probabilities involved in the game.

I must admit that evolution is no easy task to conquer. I would like to now place Darwin right up on the pedestal with Albert Einstein and other great geniuses. Why wasn't he there before? I am not sure, maybe my gut reactions and morals were holding me back from holding him to such esteem but after attempting to piece together a course syllabus on evolution I found that the subject is not only complex but never ending. It pours into other disciplines and weaves its way into society and popular culture. I can see how some people can find great excitement from such a theory because, I feel like there's so many questions that still need to be answered and so many answers that still need to be understood. I think I might have a crush on evolutionary theory.