Why Computer Scientists Consult Oracles (quantamagazine.org) 39
Computer scientists are using hypothetical devices called "oracles" to advance the field of computational complexity theory, exploring fundamental questions about problem-solving difficulty. These theoretical tools, which instantly provide correct yes-or-no answers to specific questions, help researchers understand relationships between different classes of computational problems.
Oracles have proved particularly valuable in studying quantum computing, leading to breakthroughs like Peter Shor's 1994 quantum algorithm for factoring large numbers. The technique has also helped researchers rule out certain approaches to solving the longstanding P versus NP problem, a central question in computer science.
Oracles have proved particularly valuable in studying quantum computing, leading to breakthroughs like Peter Shor's 1994 quantum algorithm for factoring large numbers. The technique has also helped researchers rule out certain approaches to solving the longstanding P versus NP problem, a central question in computer science.
Oracle (Score:2)
Is Larry Ellison still alive?
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Is Larry Ellison still alive?
Ask his new wife
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Have you asked Netcraft to confirm it?
Re: Oracle (Score:2)
Too busy eating grits
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Reply hazy, try again
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Yes, and he still thinks it's a good idea to consult oracles [pasteimg.com].
N vs NP (Score:3)
To pee or not to pee - that is the question.
..sounds like a Magic 8-Ball (Score:3)
Computer Mystics (Score:3)
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If they start using oracles then they are no longer scientists. They may use more advanced computational tools, such as quantum computers, that run advanced but known and understood algorithms to solve problems but if they start relying on magical oracle devices that just provide answers withouth any understanding of how they work or even whether the answers are actually correct then they have become computer mystics, not computer scientists.
Sam Altman approves!
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If you read the article, or take a first year algorithms course, you'll find out that yes, you can use oracles and very much be a scientist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Cool (Score:1)
Not exactly news though, I read about oracles as a sort of hypothetical mathematical device in decades old literature.
Still neat I guess.
You mean the USENET oracle? (Score:3)
Anyone who has been in CS for a long time probably has consulted the USENET Oracle, which is by far the finest implementation of AGI/ASI we have ever seen as a human race.
Not hypothetical, fictional (Score:4, Funny)
"Like Magic 8 Balls, oracles are devices that immediately answer yes-or-no questions without revealing anything about their inner workings. Unlike Magic 8 Balls, they always say either yes or no, and they’re always correct — an advantage of being fictional."
Scientists are not using the oracles, they are using the concept of the oracle's classification to understand things like complexity. And like other posters have said, this has been around for a very long time.
What? (Score:3)
What in the hell are they talking about? Is an oracle a software that can solve only certain mathmatical problems or is it completely a thing of fiction?
-m
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What in the hell are they talking about? Is an oracle a software that can solve only certain mathmatical problems or is it completely a thing of fiction?
-m
You have to watch the movie called The Matrix to understand what is meant by The Oracle [youtube.com], I think. I am uncertain because I am not a CS graduate so I don't get it.
Next... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Next... (Score:4, Funny)
Why do physicists use massless rope and frictionless surfaces?
You would understand if you were a spherical cow in a vacuum.
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Why do physicists use massless rope and frictionless surfaces?
Ok, ok. The real answer is because first order principles are being taught so secondary effects are considered unimportant and not taught yet. It’s like using a Taylor series expansion and only keeping the first couple terms, it’s often handy for close approximation. Also, pretty much all physical systems are taught using systems of linear differential equations which are quite beautiful and elegant and are incredibly accurate however friction is really a piece wise function with a larger va
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first order principles are being taught so secondary effects are considered unimportant and not taught yet
This, and also because in many (but not all) cases, the secondary effects are small enough that they do not materially affect the outcome, on human scales of time and space.
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first order principles are being taught so secondary effects are considered unimportant and not taught yet
This, and also because in many (but not all) cases, the secondary effects are small enough that they do not materially affect the outcome, on human scales of time and space.
Very true, the exceptions tend to be something where the system is so large tiny effects show up in very noticeable ways like tides.
Re: Next... (Score:2)
I have an oracle (Score:2)
Someone hasn't read their Classics (Score:2, Informative)
A large part of the point of historical oracles, regardless of whether they worked by divine inspiration, a mixture of gaseous and herbal hallucinogens, or the native canniness of the prophet on the sharp end of a tripod stool, was to answer
What a dumb article (Score:2)
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Indeed.
This is hardcore theoretical CS (Score:2)
What does it do here? Posted because it contains the "quantum computing" concentrated bullshit?
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It's to determine which Slashdot posters have taken at least the first year of a decent computer science program.
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Hmm. Possibly.
And in response, thus spake the Oracle: (Score:2)
The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply.
This calls for a pun. (Score:2)
I am not a computer scientist, but when I read this, my first thought was: "Are they using Delphi to query the Oracle??".
Sorry, long day ....
And I learned that Delphi still exists, too :-)
Why? (Score:3)
Computer scientists consult Oracles because they couldn't configure mySQLs.