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Imho it was always "computerized", they just didn't have a computer. To me the approaches used in the early 20th century look like people defining a simple VM t
by dboreham 1y ago
Imho it was always "computerized", they just didn't have a computer. To me the approaches used in the early 20th century look like people defining a simple VM then writing programs that "execute" on that VM.
- zozbot234 1y ago> Imho it was always "computerized", they just didn't have a computer. They had a whole lot of computers, actually. But back then the "computers" were actual people whose job was to do computations with pen and paper (and a few very primitive machines).
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- constantcrying 1y agoExactly. The step to formalize mathematics through computation is just the logical consequence of the program of the formalizers. The idea actually goes back to Leibnitz, who was very much overoptimistic about computability, but already conceived of the idea of a logic machine, which could deter the truth value of any statement.
- ljlolel 1y agoWhich fell apart in shambles under Gödel
- jojomodding 1y agoIncredible, you managed to mention Gödel's incompleteness theorem on HN without wildly mis-stating what it's about ;)