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> Seriously, they say there are no stupid questions but if X is impossible then "is X illegal" is probably not a productive question to ask. The point of askin
by acuozzo 14y ago
> Seriously, they say there are no stupid questions but if X is impossible then "is X illegal" is probably not a productive question to ask.
The point of asking such a ridiculous question is to show the silliness of attaching __so_much__ value to what are, essentially, very large numbers.
Here's a less ridiculous question for your consideration: What if a team of Mathematicians accidentally generate a copyrighted commercial MP3 during research? Is it illegal for them to hold on to that very large number? Furthermore, is it illegal for them to publish it?
- andreasvc 14y agoNo it's still ridiculous because that remains effectively impossible. Think of this analogy: it would be like running into someone with your exact same genes, but who isn't your twin. Genomes can be seen as a series of bits, and they're sufficiently large that getting the same sequence twice cannot happen by accident. Furthermore it's a misunderstanding to say that people attach value to a 'large number', the value is in the effort it took to arrive at it and the fruits it can give in the context of society. The sequence of bits by itself is meaningless because it only becomes a song or a movie using the right interpretation & context.