Anomaly and Error: A New Kind of Problem Solving

Currently, computers represent a technology of undeniable sophistication. We use them to solve a great number of sophisticated problems, including modelling of the worldwide climate and designing chemical reactions that have never occurred. If we open our computers or cell phones, we see a collection of components whose complex arrangement indicates that such a rigid complexity is the only way to accomplish the task of computation.

Certainly, the creation of computers that follow rules (and follow them well) has been a successful endeavor. The concept of an imprecise computer seems to be an anathema: even our rigid computers seem to run on Murphy’s Law and frustration. Nonetheless, they seem to get the job done. We can solve a great many problems, but, in order to do so, we must continue to create computers that follow rules faster and faster.

In place of creation and intelligence, we have speed. At what point does that paradigm break down? To facilitate speed, our computers must be made smaller. At some point, though, the world with which we are familiar begins to break down. Following Moore’s Law, in the not-too-near future, the imprecise nature of the quantum world will clash with the rigid nature of our computers.

Some seem to think that quantum computers represent the solution to this problem. To my limited understanding, a quantum computer is fundamentally unable to solve any new problems. We can solve certain problems faster, but we will still be limited by the rigid structure that has become so fundamentally necessary to our conception of computation.

If we examine the computer as a device to solve problems, we can examine a great many things under the definition. Further, we can ask, do other systems exhibit the same rigid structure of our friendly neighborhood problem solver? To my knowledge, in virtually all cases, the answer is no.

Presented with the problem of surviving on this unpredictable planet, the solution is evolution. In short, life could not persist without error. Error allows us to adapt, to change with a changing environment. Presented with the problem of consciousness, we understand that our brains are imprecise, our thoughts governed by the unpredictable course of electrical and chemical signals. All around, we see evidence of systems that thrive because of imperfection and error. Rigid systems do not persist for long.

What, then, will come of our technological obsession with rigidity? Certainly, that structure will persist for some time. However, I think the threads of the next technological revolution are currently visible. In addition to quantum computers, current research is being undertaken in the field of Amorphic computing. Amorphic computing relies on many imperfect simple components. Much like cellular automaton such as Conway’s Game of Life, meaningful phenomena emerges from a system that is let to run, without the influence of external guides.

At the moment, our computers are remarkably well-suited to solve our problems, but they do so in ways we wouldn't. Instead of creating increasingly complex computers, with technologies that exist solely to facilitate a perfect system of order and rules, we can embrace anomaly. In the not-too-far future, when our problem solving infrastructure begins to clash with the physical world, perhaps we must embrace the natural world—imperfection and all—to continue adapting.