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Could you elaborate on why you dislike this quote? Maybe there is some context missing: for a lot of researchers quantum computing is interesting because of how
by krastanov 10y ago
Could you elaborate on why you dislike this quote? Maybe there is some context missing: for a lot of researchers quantum computing is interesting because of how its existence informs fundamental questions in physics and math like the Church-Turing thesis. For those people the code breaking application are indeed pretty boring, just like internal combustion engines can be boring for people working on statistical physics and thermodynamics.
- hnal943 10y agoWell, it's not really an application, is it? It seems like a fancy way of saying, "the stuff I'm working on isn't good for anything - it's just to satisfy my intellectual curiosity". Which is fine as far as it goes, but not exactly inspiring.
- krastanov 10y agoI would say for me it is the applications that are boring, not the fundamentals behind them. For a lot of people fundamental laws of nature are deeply inspiring, tangentially because of a belief that those fundamental laws and their deeper understanding bear fruit beyond our wildest imagination. Compared to this it is easy to see how today's applications are just boring. Sure, today's technology was yesterday's research project, but you can not fault people for being excited more about current research than about applications of yesterday's research. PS: However I agree that the quoted statement was poorly phrased to convey this sentiment. From what I know about the speaker I am fairly confident that this is what he was trying to say.
- artimaeis 10y agoMaybe we're reading it differently, but it seems to me that he's admitting there are practical applications, but their importance is unclear if we can't first demonstrate that the QC approach is superior.