I woke up this morning incredibly happy - mostly because I didn’t have to work today and I didn’t really have anything too overly strenuous planned. And then I saw a lecture by Janna Levin and it made me even happy. She is now my new hero - I even bought her new book A Madmad Dreams of Turing Machines.

There is something about a woman who talks mathematical logic that just turns my crank. Her introduction about the book is absolutely fascinating - I hope the book is even half as good. The book is about Alan Turing and Kurt Godel. Although they never met in person they both dealt with the truths and lies in mathematics. One making a statement equivalent to “this sentence is a lie” in mathematics and the other creating the computer - more or less. Turing is slightly more well known than Godel (out side of the math world, anyway) but I think he’s far more interesting.

Godel was insane - he died by starving himself to death. (Where in direct opposition to that Turing ate a poison apple.) I think what I find most interesting about them is that although they both came to the conclusion that mathematics is essentially infinite and unprovable (no “theory of everything”) they took it entirely different ways in their outlook on life.

Godel …somehow… had it confirm his religion even deeper where as Turing denied religion entirely. Turing called humans biological machines, that are essentially soulless - just as artificial intelligence would be soulless.

Anyway - I’m super excited to read the book. It’s fiction but non-fiction, which is really cool. And I think it’ll be well written. I’ll do a post about it when I finish reading it. But until I read it and end up disappointed Janna will remain my new favorite person on the planet.