Scott Aaronson on quantum: "Will you heed my warnings NOW?"
Scott Aaronson announced his election to the US National Academy of Sciences, expressing gratitude and reflecting on the honor despite past skepticism about such institutions. He then shifted focus to the growing quantum threat to cryptocurrencies, emphasizing the urgency of preparing for fault-tolerant quantum computers that could break current cryptographic systems. Aaronson advocates for transparent, US-led development of quantum computing as a more ethical path forward, while acknowledging the self-serving risks of this argument.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Holy crap … yesterday I was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences! If you don’t believe me, click the link and keep scrolling down until you hit the name “Aaronson.” But then continue scrolling to see 144 other inductees, including my IAS postdoctoral classmate Maria Chudnovsky, my longtime friend and colleague Salil Vadhan, and even Janet Yellen. I’m humbled to be in such company. Years ago, somewhere on this blog, I mused that, if I were ever invited to join NAS, I hoped I’d follow the wisdom of Richard Feynman, who famously resigned his NAS membership, comparing it to an honor society back at his high school that spent most of its time debating who should be a member of the honor society. Feynman was also annoyed at having to pay dues.
…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Shtetl-Optimized.
Discussion
0 commentsMore from Shtetl-Optimized
