5 ms·
This paper is the antivax argument, but for tech.
by DaniloDias 8y ago
This paper is the antivax argument, but for tech.
- vasili111 8y agoAgree. If there was no major digital disaster that does not means that it cannot happen.
- cblades 8y agoAnd I think it's very arguable that there have been. There have been provable infiltrations of infrastructure, undermining of democratic processes, and that's not counting the more 'mundane' cyberattacks. STUXNET was an attack on a nuclear facility that had real-world, hardware effects; that's a digital disaster, just one in which the outcome isn't objectionable to a good chunk of western observers.
- vasili111 8y agoThe border between disaster and just a little/medium accident is vague and mostly based on personal criterias. I personally not considering those that you mention as a disaster.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- TeMPOraL 8y agoSound more like anti-killer-AI-robots argument, really. The essay argues that digital disasters are unlikely to happen, and when they do, they're unlikely to be important, compared to other global problems we currently face.
- tptacek 8y agoWhat's the medical science equivalent to co-inventing the index calculus algorithm? Because from what I understand, the "medical scientists" behind the antivax movement were disgraced later as charlatans, and the index calculus algorithm is one of the more important discoveries in the underlying science of computer security.
- DaniloDias 8y agoA person who makes an important contribution to science can still say stupid and dangerous things. I appreciate Andrew Odlyzko’s contributions to cs, but this paper is not one of them. It is a fine example of the evolution security nihilism in its final, tenured form.
- likpok 8y agoA better (but less emotionally evocative) example might be Linux Pauling, who made large contributions to chemistry (eventually winning the nobel prize), but who in later life became a proponent of pseudoscience (megavitamin therapy). I can't say whether this paper is nonsense or legitimate, but people making major contributions to their field and then going off in interesting directions isn't unprecedented.
- pbsd 8y agoOdlyzko, despite having some notable contributions to index calculus algorithms, was not among the first to invent or suggest its use.