From Coherence to Computers: Logic's Unseen Influence on Technology
If logic serves as the guardian of coherence and sidesteps content or truth, one might wonder about its significance in society. How can a discipline that seemingly detaches itself from reality exert any influence on our daily lives? In "Logic in the Wild," I tackle this question from a practical standpoint. I demonstrate how prioritizing coherence over truth enables us to navigate through complex phenomena when truth is elusive, reconcile new information that contradicts our pre-existing beliefs, or engage constructively with others holding divergent viewpoints without descending into disputes over content or truth.
Moreover, there's an intriguing narrative highlighted by Martin Davis in "The Universal Computer," which credits logic with the inception of the computer. Far from being mere collections of software, computers are, at their core, embodiments of logic. This journey begins, not with the ancients or medieval logicians, but in the 17th century with a young boy. He harbored what he described as one of the "greatest ideas of all times"—the vision of a perfect language capable of articulating all truths. This boy was none other than Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who, as an adult, often boasted about this groundbreaking concept in various letters. Leibniz's vision included not just the perfect language but also the notion of a machine that could operate using this language, enumerating all truths and, by extension, becoming the ultimate repository of knowledge and truth.
Leibniz indeed engineered some simple yet ingenious mechanical devices capable of performing basic arithmetic operations. However, beyond these inventions, his contributions to logic largely consisted of him bragging about his groundbreaking ideas in various letters. The narrative progresses to the 19th century with the mathematician Gottlob Frege, who initiated a renaissance in crafting a perfect logical language. Building on centuries of mathematical advancements, including those by Leibniz, Frege laid the groundwork for what we now recognize as Classical Logic.
It was the English logician Alan Turing who bridged the theoretical with the tangible by devising the concept of the Turing machine, the precursor to modern computers. It took approximately five decades to evolve the technology necessary to actualize this theory, but the culmination of these efforts was the realization of Leibniz’s dream: a perfect machine operating with a perfect language.
So, if the abstract study of logical patterns and the coherence of beliefs and theories seem distant from practical utility, consider the computer as a resounding rebuttal. Through logic, we not only enhance our understanding and interactions but also pave the way for technological marvels that define our contemporary existence.
