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There is a way around this: discretize your values. That's how analog calculations can be a basis for digital calculations. That's why I think the original com
by persnickety 3y ago
There is a way around this: discretize your values. That's how analog calculations can be a basis for digital calculations.
That's why I think the original comment was about a specific, limited meaning of "analog computation" that does not allow for emulating anything digital. But I struggle to come up with one that doesn't throw the baby of being universal out with the bath water of emulating digital computations.
- formerly_proven 3y agoThere's a term for analog systems using discretized values: digital.
- persnickety 3y agoExactly! And under that lens all fundamentals applying to analog also apply to digital: that they are inherently unstable and that noise will always win in the long run. Which sounds at the very least imprecise to me, considering that I'm writing it on a digital (and therefore analog) computer.
- ajb 3y agoIn fact, Von Neumann proved mathematically that it's possible to build a reliable system out of unreliable components. But, modern digital logic uses a simpler mechanism: the thing you are missing is that noise does not propagate or accumulate in discretize (digital) systems, as long as it remains below a threshold, and circuits are designed so that it is far below the threshold.