Saturday, December 14, 2024

Max Planck

We're doing something different this time. Usually, we talk write on ideas; today, we're mentioning a few people. But, the focus is Max Planck since one of his books is crucial to defining and testing truth engineering. 

He was the Nobel Prize Awardee for 1918: Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck. This pointer goes to his profile on the Nobel site where the tabs are: Facts; Biographical; Nobel Lecture; Banquet speech; Nominations; Documentary; Photo gallery; Other resources. They have been updating the records for all Awardees, from the beginning which was in 1901. 

We intend to use this work for a review of the history of science in terms of decisions and their management using the Nobel choices to assess the cultural drifts. This year's prizes for Physics, Chemistry and Medicine got my attention, as I have been doing advanced computing (including AI) for decades. 

Earlier this year, I decided to pour through Planck's treatis on thermodynamics where he quotes those before him (Gibbs, van der Waals, and others) plus his contemporaries. By pour through, I mean actually get into his head and assess the situation, decisions, and such through the entire discussion. Why? Science is cultural as it is done by people. Mathematics may not admit such for itself, but science is known for this. If that is not known, then pay attention. 

My research is abetted by the computer. As well, I used AIn't in 2019 after determining that choices were being made that were not to best of anyone's interest, in the longer term. Also, I argue that there is no "critter" involved. We see applied mathematics being exercised on heated circuits in order to have various side effects that might be interesting. But, after the two years, we all see the failings. Where there is hype, one can still see disturbing acceptance of failed results.  

Okay, Planck represents the early science days when not much was known, intuition wsa a heavy hitter, lots of worldviews were extant and forceful, and such. Same conditions as now. Except one big thing. We have students learning almost as if their subject matter was deus ex machina. How did this  happen? Too, we have seen a decline in responsibility, a complete evacuation of the idea of quality, and more that represent a type of decline, yet the tools and resources are there to do better. 

Long term is the only thing that's true right now, for purposeful activity. But, it is not that bad. Before too long, we can start to lay out the model that looks to be interesting, albeit nothing of this matter is as simple as some would like. 

Brief biographical sketch

Remarks: Modified: 12/14/2024

12/14/2024 --

Back to work

We will be posting on a regular basis as we research and write about the basis for technology as it manifests in computational phenomena. And, that same dynamic gave us GenAI two years ago. We have been writing on the subject of machine learning (ML) masquerading as artificial intelligence (AI) for some time now. 

But, there will be a change. Our intent is to raise the discussion to pinpoint the mathematics involved, how it developed within the mathematical community, the aspects of the applied part that evolved within the scientific world, with the focus, now and then, to engineering and then the domain aspects which is where the myriad types of users live and work. 

It may be complicated, but we can turn the computer back on itself in order to force the emergence of a proper tool. That type of effort is now several decades ago. Let us remember the long slough while trying to keep ourselves on even keel when the world is super-excited about a sham, essentially. 

For now, we'll point to some recents posts elsewhere which deal with truth engineering. 
  • TGSoc.org/papers - at this location are papers by two individuals: Larry Walker (former Director of the Knowlege Systems Center - KSC - for Sperry Univac); and John (the author of this post). 
  • Science of Technology - recent post at the TGSoc.org blog. This organziation has picked up "truth engineering" as a focus and will be managing activity related to future work. 
  • Maxwell and Gibbs - this is an article at LinkedIn (Ln) which is the FB for adults. Some of the papers for the KSC work were published at Ln. Generally, detailed work will not be pushed there; rather, this blog will handle that task and then summarize in the Ln environment. 
  • Type A? (at Quora/Switlik/Psychether) - first thing is that "psychether" is an old concept of John's that pre-dated truth engineering. Basically, it hypotheses an operational ability of nature that was lost due to choices made for promoting thermodynamics. This particular post looks at Maxwell's effort at doing a 3D model of Gibb's entropy surface of something water-like. As such, it is remarkable for the detailed approach of Maxwell plus his result which was sculpted in clay. Wait? Not of importance? Consider Maxwell's work on this. Then, leap to now when mere pushing of buttons might get a 3D printer to do something similar. Now, with that gap shown, let us then get into understanding and its importance. A crucial topic this will be. Just wait and see. 
  • TruthEng (Truth Engineering) - many of the TGSoc.org papers referred to above are published at this site. This link goes to a bio sketch of John M. Switlik (author of this post) with respect to his career and continuing interest in computational truth. This site will be kept in sync with this one on blogger offering the same meaning in a different context. 
  • This site - will cover the wide basis for truth engineering. However, the particular experiences that led to the subject were in the context of Boeing Commercial Aircraft, engineering support using Knowledge Based Engineering. In particular, work with metals scientist David Jakstis set the operational foundation. 
  • ...
Technology will not be the sole focus of the effort at managing the untethered GenAI which is how the AI performed by ML has become known. People are the concern for many reasons. There are other blogs under this ID: Fedaerated; 7'Oops7. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/14/2024

12/14/2024 --

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Theoretical computing

Finally, something to write about. Truth engineering dates back to the 2000/1 timeframe. It came about over the holiday break of 1999/2000 when Y2K was looking for trouble that didn't come. Too, I was working KBE which experience is being written. 

Then, there was the long grind of studying life and truth, from all angles. I retired and had time todo this. Around 2010, found some phenomenal matter to look at dealing with humans and their families. This was tempered by the experiences of the U.S. over 250 years and that of the colonies of America (basically, there were three biggies: Spain; France; England). 

Two years ago GenAI came on the scene. This was something that I had not anticipated to be done in the fashion that we saw. So, last year was more studying until things became clear since millions had used GenAI and the obvious was there. One of the players had been fairly regular and talking about their accomplishments, one of which was AlphaFold. 

I looked at this with a colleague. My only resolution from that was to tout that theoretical chemistry would be a the center of the debate and work. And, then, the past two days happened. I will point to another blog in order to set the stage for future discussions. 

1st - We heard that two machine learning fellows got the Nobel Prize. Our reaction: Machine Learning. To us, this means that the tone will change. AIn't is the reality. But, something is there? Yes, applied mathematics finally getting a grip on computational events as it has from the beginning. The effort of many has come home to roost. 

2nd - There were other Prizes yesterday which I did not pay attention to. Until this am, when I saw that Chemistry had three Lauretes. And, this work used that of the 1st bullet. In this case, though, AI was prevalent. Perhaps, it's the commercial influence. Our reaction: Computational Chemistry

Those two events set the stage for the future. Expect people to dig deeper now as they see that the top-level of Science starts to look at the phenomena related to AIn't.  

I have been expecting this and will stay involved. 

 Remarks: Modified: 10/09/2024

10/09/2024 --

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Newco as motivator 1

Note, on FB, I am laying down notes with regard to an event that occured 19 years ago. I had to make a choice. And, I am using a 29-day span in 2024 starting a few days ago, to write my memories of what happened. I have written of this before, sparsely and briefly. 

See this page: https://www.facebook.com/jmswtlk 

A huge factor? Truth engineering. 

Remarks: Modified: 07/01/2024

07/01/2024 -- I didn't go very far and quit the recap. Will get back to it. For one thing, I heard that discussions were taking place that were resolved, as follows: 

  • Boeing, on June 30, announced that it was buying back Spirit Aerosystems for several reasons. 

We'll go into all of this as there is time and such. 

It was July 1, 2005, when I had my first day of retirement from Boeing. That was the day that NewCo began its independent life albeit for a longer while than anticipated, NewCo was reliant heavily upon Boeing infrastrucure, inlcuding computing.  

Lots to discuss about this. 

Note: A little later after digging into the details beyond the headlines. Several sites have a good recap of the interchange for over a year. What happened yesterday and today is that Spirit's Board agreed to having Boeing pay stockholders a certain amount. That would move Boeing into ownership of those parts of Spirit doing Boeing work. One wrinkle is that Spirit had contracts with Airbus and another firm. Airbus wants those facilities that has their proprietary stamp on the work. So, things to unravel will make the next few months interesting. Too, the expected close date of all of this is mid-2025 which is a long way away. The nitty-gritty? A mere choice indicating movement toward one end. But, lots can happen. In the meantime, where will Spirit's stock go? It was in the 20s here recently. I'll say this, not many made a bundle on the deal of 2005. In the equity sense, the stock has been below water more than above. There was a bubble from 2017 to 2020. But, the real deal is how will this improve Boeing's lot? They're about to go to "junk" in one arena. 


Sunday, March 24, 2024

HyperPhysics

Our usual first stop in research is Google and then the Wikipedia link that they provide if no other link shows up. Wikipedia then branches off. Or, scanning the information allows formation of a better prompt. 

Prompt? Yes, there's a new field with a title of "prompt engineering" which pertains to controlling output from a GenAI process (or session). At first, it seemed rather facetious. However, as the concept took hold, there are studies being done with using this method some of which are technical in nature. 

On the other hand, "prompt' from outside will not overcome deficiencies latent in the learning process. So, that will become more obvious as these studies go on. Essentially, "crap" cannot be trained out. Preprocess, in the old sense of "a priori" is a necessity (was and will be, as well). 

But, we're not tracking down that path. We're looking content and configuration which was our favorite topic for a while and has not gone away. 

So, we were searching on Navier-Stokes and solenoid. The first was prompted (pun) by a paper that discussed Einstein's PhD thesis. It's at a paid site, so we only saw glimmers of the topic and will look further. But, the other prompt was that Einstein and Infeld's look at the evolution of physics touches upon the device in their discussion of the "rise of the mechanical' view. The interest has to do with the fact that this work is 100 years old, plus or minus. As 1905 was the year that people became aware of Einstein's thinking. 

HyperPhysics
Too, AIn't and such plus things relating to ourselves will be understood better with an updated grasp of what Einstein was trying to show. Movies, such as Oppenheimer, bring out some of the notions and concepts and problems related to technology and its advances. 

So, to today's theme. One of the links from Wikipedia went to a site at Georgia State which is using an older format to demonstrate ideas with interactive demonstrations via Java and Javascript. To me, that's a great find. Have seen it before. I have pointed to my favorite site which dealt with findings in the realm of mathematical physics and which still is there in a 1995 format. There has been an update which references back to the classical site. 

Like we're doing. Here is the site and its graphic. The site was set up for teachers of High School Physics and is available as an app. 

Einstein
experiment
At the same time, they have a HyperMath site that is very good.

Staying with the theme, there is a new site that represents changes over the past decade with respect to what I call configuration. 

HyperPhysics was featured in PhysicsWorld which offers current information. Their site has a more modern look and configuration. There isn't the same level of interaction. But, we're considering look and feel. Consider that the topic would not be comparison directly but concerns for managing information going forward. 

As a side note, Geertruida de Haas-Lorentz provided an experiment to a French museum. It had been done by her husband and Einstein in 1915 and showed a connection between magnetism and "angular-momentum of electrons" using a simple device.    

Remarks: Modified: 03/24/2024

03/24/2024 -- Tied to to the TGS, Inc. focus on technology: Geertruid de Hass-Lorentz


Thursday, March 21, 2024

Albert and his boys

As in, Albert Einstein and the guys (and gals) of Physics. His ideas were central to the development of truth engineering. The trouble is, what are his ideas? He, himself, complained that once the mathematicians got hold of his model, he didn't understand it. Too, he covered a lot of bases over his time. So, in truth, we will have to track through all of that, over time. 

And space? Look at GenAI (which is really is AIn't as I have mentioned many times since 2021) and how it represents unwarranted "search" through hyper/multi-dimensional spaces. We will look at that closely. This recent work is dabbling with heterogenous stuff and assuming that transforms will bring in homogeneity. But, the work of Einstein dealt with things that were more amenable to being handled in the "canonical" fashion that homogeneity brings. 

Note: That last paragraph points to the essence of the main issue of the cloud which we can (and will) go into in detail (over time and space). However, when we look at the foundational issues being addressed by Einstein, we will see a close stepping forth (dance like) of mathematics and the operational so as to become problematic to the extreme. GenAI is a mere symptom of a huge problem. Time to start to grapple with that. 

All of this plus more is on the table as we bring truth engineering to bear using knowledge based engineering as an initial framework. Let's look at one book that will be of use for this work. It's his book with Infeld (so, E&I) with the title of The Evolution of Physics using archive.org's copy. The authors briefly start with the briefs and come through the usual trek of Galileo and Newton on down the pike. They look at the rise and fall of the mechanical view after which, of course, we get the introduction of "field and matter" that comes from the advent of relativity. They go through the ideas of (and which contributed to) special and general and finally end with a view of the quantum work that somewhat merges (interlaces) with relativity. 

Okay, we all know of the visual arguments that Einstein used (train, elevator, and others). The book has no mathematics, so the authors grunge out explanations using words. It works. On the other hand, there is something to what Feynemann mentioned with respect to not being able to understand quantumness without mathematics. 

I say, mathematics drove the development of the thoughts. We will spend a lot of time there. BTW, if there seems to be a different tone to these posts, that's quite observant. If not, that's okay, too. But, the work to date was mostly surveying all of the thoughts, as expressed over the past few centuries that relate to the themes associated with deciding what's true. That issue became imperative as the computer evolved, but we did not. 

Want an opinion? We have bent over backwards over the past few decades to make the computer look good. Oh yes. The biggest argument for this? The descent brought by misguided development of the web and its muddy cloud which was then fed into ML (machine learning) in order to become some sort of omni presence or know-it-all or what have you. How about overall jerk (3rd derivative, if you're an engineer)? 

But, back to E&I. I have been through the book several times. Why? I had it for some time and mostly dabbled (as Koestler mentioned with respect to library angels). Of late (blame GenAI's rise and verge toward a fall), I took the time to step through E&I's logic. Plus, having used GenAI to probe somewhat into the workings that were hidden, the imperative nature became apparent. So, we'll get through the whole of it. 

For now, I just realized that E&I mentioned television. The book is about 1938 in emergence to public access. E died in the 1950s. The book was republished. I said that he looked to make changes to bring it up to date and only did a few. So, the book stands as a point in time reference to needed discussion. 

See pgs 189 and 190 for the discussion of an inertial frame and its clock. E&I lay out how to pick some central position and try to synchronize. Remember, this was from the 1930s. But, there were rudimentary sets which showed the concept. Now, jump ahead. We have the internet with its cloud and more. Too, we have sophisticated clocks that can sync across the country. When we watch a game in the U.S., everyone seems to consider that the variability is minor with respect to delays and such. After all, consider the work put into supporting real-time streaming. 

It was good enough for on-line (say Zoom) meetings during the pandemic. People walk with phones to their ears (some drive, too) and seem to think that they're having a real conversation with little delay in the signals. Oh yes, for those who may want to know, we'll include some technical sidelines. 

For instance, the cloud? It's a bunch of services that are provided via distributed (some very much far apart) servers running synchronized  algorithms using high-speed connections. Oh wait? Everyone knows of Nvidia and its $trillions evaluation according to the ca-pital-sino (my neologism - see Fedareated). Right? That whole affair handles the relativity issue quite well, at least ostensibly. You know, we could be picky (and might due to the importance of the topic) and point out issues.  

But, that's later. People need their games even if it's like gambling and pulls money from the pocket and one's family needs. Same goes for GenAI which was done without due concern for things that are important. Don't worry, we'll get there. 

No, remember, E&I are not the only players in truth engineering. We're targeting that due to the interest in things quantum on the part of the computer people who like the ca-pital-sino and seem to want to have control more than is necessary. 

People's rights are being trampled with insidious algorithms. But, then, it's early yet. Will there be improvement or further decline. 

So, with that digress, let's put this off until tomorrow or after. 

Remarks: Modified: 03/21/2024

03/21/2024 -- 

Saturday, February 3, 2024

Assessments, in general

We have done this blog, in concert with 7'oops7, since 2007. We started Fedaerated in 2009. Then, in 2010, we started the TGS blog (last post, Technology assessments ...). For the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. (TGS), as well, we had some publications (Gardner's Beacon). In 2015, we went over to Quora and have been there since. Various excursions were related to using other modes, such as WordPress. 

But, we're back to Google and its Blogger. Why? Of all of the xnn/LLM systems that we looked at (granted, the survey was not exhaustive), we liked Bard the best. So, we'll work in that environment. At the same time, we'll touch all of the to other resources on a regular basis. It's just that we'll use this for publishing where we want to support mobile devices. 

Of late, we have tried LinkedIn's approach which we look at below. There we published the first of a series. We just completed the third piece what is expected to be five pieces. What we call AIn't is the motive. Truth engineering has been on our table for a long while but was problematic. What did it mean and for what motive is it necessary and why just this? 

2023 brought the answer to the questions. Answers have been embedded within these posts all of this time. So, the effort was right on. Let's just say that I was being exhaustive in a way that can only be understood in the academic sense as being highly multidisciplinary. I was retired and had the time and the interest and the ability. 

There is no hubris in that comment; rather, it's a nod to a continuation of what I was doing anyway - advanced computional systems - without having the time to be thorough. So, it's time to pull all of the factors together so that we can analyze and perhaps predict and propose changes. For me, being successful at the complete survey of the western civilization's influence on the world is enough of a motive. However, the world is large, so we need to bring into the discussion all other cultures. 

Notice that the TGS is based upon the history of the U.S. as an offshoot of the U.K. Be that as it may, we know that New England was not alone. Too, we know the prior history of these regions. Albeit, lessons learned or not over 400 years require attention. BTW, the U.S. started 250 years ago, almost, so that event will get regular mention. 

Okay, after seeing ChapGPT and noting the issues, I began discussion with Larry Walker who had run the Knowledge Systems Center for Sperry Univac for which I worked. The focus on "knowledge" was strong for both of us. That was not what we were seeing with the machine learning systems being pushed out. We can discuss that at any level. For now, these posts will be setting the stage for discussions that are pending and necessary. 

I became aware of ChatGPT in February of 2023 which was late. I wrote several posts on it and its cohorts and other topics that relate. But, in December, I published on LinkedIn the 1st of a series. It was also presented in PDF and at WordPress. The title: Artificial intelligence, not solely machine learning (AI, not solely ML). The 2nd of the series continued the theme: Knowlege and truth. 

Neither of these seemed to be of importance of the work that went into xNN/LLM. Why say that? It's been by career to work with these issues operationally (real time, industrial environments); at the same time, my private work (autodidact, by nature) covered the bases with respect to what's at play and of scope. Essentially, "theoretical" is my middle name. 

I just finished the 3rd of the series: Physicalness and mathematics. There will be one more (4th) that deals with the emergence, and surgence, of machine learning during the past two decades. As well, we have to look at data and decisions as a key topic with regard to computing and technology. That is, people, in general, need to know. Experts? We'll address their issues, too. After the 4th, we'll do a 5th which will deal with "What's next?" with all of this stuff. 

The series is based upon experience in KBE as it functioned as the basis for truth engineering. So, it's more oriented toward those operationally involved with engineering and science. I'll turn around and write this series (condensed) for the general public. 

So, here is the series: 

Notes: 

* "truth engineering" coined by David E. Jakstis in discussion of a white paper by John M. Switlik on their joint work with computational modeling for fabrication of forgings and castings. 

** This is open to public read. Some Linkedin pages may require account.       

--------------------------------

In tems of history, the U.S. D.O.D. supported early work in artificial intelligence. As well, data science was a common program. It is of interest to future discussion to point to the recent guidelines for digital enginering. We have made reference to "digital twin" which is an important concept that must be brought into the discussion related to advanced computing. We will have this document a major piece of our bibliography. 

Digital engineering

Remarks: Modified: 02/04/2024

02/04/2024 --  Linked this to 7'oops7 (AI, not ML solely) which will bear directly on the 777 project underlying KBE which relates to truth engineering as AI when it matures. Notice: Shattered dreams