| ▲ | defrost 3 days ago | |
There's a confusion of nomenclature. Computers are functional mappings from inputs to outputs, sure. Analog fire computers are continuous mappings from a continuum, a line segment (curved about a cam), to another continuum, a dial perhaps. Symbolic operations, mapping from patterns of 0s and 1s (say) to other patterns are discrete, countable mappings. With a real valued electrical current, discrete symbols are forced by threshold levels. | ||
| ▲ | lmm 2 days ago | parent | next [-] | |
> Analog fire computers are continuous mappings from a continuum, a line segment (curved about a cam), to another continuum, a dial perhaps. > Symbolic operations, mapping from patterns of 0s and 1s (say) to other patterns are discrete, countable mappings. What definition of "symbolic" are you using that draws a distinction between these two cases? If it means merely something that symbolises something else (as I would usually use it), then both a position on a line segment and a pattern of voltage levels qualify. If you mean it in the narrow sense of a textual mark, that pattern of voltage levels is just as much not a "symbol" as the position on the line segment. | ||
| ▲ | emmelaich 3 days ago | parent | prev [-] | |
To what degree is the threshold precise? Maybe fundamentally there's not that much difference. | ||