Fire All Neurons!
Mechanical analog computers had their origins in Naval Gunnery in World War I […] mechanical analog computers remained of considerable military importance certainly until well into the 1960s and have only been superseded by digital computing systems in the 1970s..
Bromley 1984
John and Sam are talking aboutĀ the following article:
Before Silicon Valley got nasty, the Pirates of Analog Alley fought it out
In this post the dialogue is realised by an interaction of virtual characters, for more information please check the page “Virtual characters“
John
Analog computing? I hadnāt really thought about that one …
Sam
Well, in the beginning, it was quite superior to classical computing, because it was so much faster
John
Faster? š¤Ø
Sam
Yep, it could make quite complex calculations: a century ago analog computers for fire control on battleships solved differential equations in real time šĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā
John
The who with the what now?! š
Sam
I donāt mean to go as far back as ancient Greece, but at the beginning of the 20th century shooting the big guns on a ship accurately required a lot of calculations, in real-time (Gears of war: When mechanical analog computers ruled the waves)
John
I had no idea about this … š¤
Sam
Just like you donāt fall over when you play tennis, because your neural system integrates information about your limbs and the balance organ in your inner ear
Sam
ships used gyroscopes and analogue computers to keep their guns on target despite rolling with the waves
John
Wow, that certainly would involve quite a lot of computation I guess
Sam
It does! Analog computing does this in a very different way from digital computing, but that doesnāt mean itās not computing …
John
Ok, ok, fine! So these analog computers work more or less like the inner ear, therefore we might as well call it neuromorphic computing?
Sam
Iām sure some people might disagree, but basically, yes. Youād have to ask Cho about the specifics of how the brain does stuff like that though
John
I must say, this isnāt really what we were looking for originally …
Sam
I guess this kind of measuring, integrating information, and reacting in real-time is a lot less sexy than finding faces in photos and animating them …
John
Maybe itās that, but I also suppose that most people wouldnāt consider this as computation at all
Sam
Iād say that someone skateboarding is solving a lot of differential equations in real-time! Or theyād crack their skulls … š
John
Just playing devilās advocate hereĀ š
Just because we can describe the system using equations, doesnāt mean that the system is computing anything …?
Sam
Ah, yeah, I can see where that is coming from .. šĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā sunflowers donāt do astronomy just by following the sun
John
Thatās it, yes! So what are these navy devices and the inner ear doing exactly that makes them ācomputersā?
Sam
I had a whole conversation with Julia about analog vs digital, I guess this is the same kind of problem right here
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