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From Nordan Symposia
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Gregory Chaitin, a noted computer scientist, propounds a view that comprehension is a kind of data compression[1]. In his essay [http://www.umcs.maine.edu/~chaitin/sciamer3.html ''The Limits of Reason''], he argues that 'understanding' something means being able to figure out a simple set of rules that explains it. For example, we 'understand' why day and night exist because we have a simple [[model]] - the rotation of the [[earth]] - that explains a tremendous amount of [[data]] - changes in brightness, temperature, and atmospheric composition of the earth. We have 'compressed' a large amount of information by using a simple model that predicts it. Similarly, we 'understand' the number 0.33333... by [[thinking]] of it as one-third. The first way of representing the [[number]] requires an [[infinite]] amount of [[memory]]; but the second way can produce all the data of the first representation, but uses much less information. Chaitin argues that 'comprehension' is this ability to compress data.
Gregory Chaitin, a noted computer scientist, propounds a view that comprehension is a kind of data compression[1]. In his essay [http://www.umcs.maine.edu/~chaitin/sciamer3.html ''The Limits of Reason''], he argues that 'understanding' something means being able to figure out a simple set of rules that explains it. For example, we 'understand' why day and night exist because we have a simple [[model]] - the rotation of the [[earth]] - that explains a tremendous amount of [[data]] - changes in brightness, temperature, and atmospheric composition of the earth. We have 'compressed' a large amount of information by using a simple model that predicts it. Similarly, we 'understand' the number 0.33333... by [[thinking]] of it as one-third. The first way of representing the [[number]] requires an [[infinite]] amount of [[memory]]; but the second way can produce all the data of the first representation, but uses much less information. Chaitin argues that 'comprehension' is this ability to compress data.
==Quote==
Throughout this [[glorious]] age the chief pursuit of the ever-advancing [[mortals]] is the quest for a better '''understanding''' and a fuller [[realization]] of the comprehensible elements of [[Deity]]--[[truth]], [[beauty]], and [[goodness]]. This represents man's effort to discern [[God]] in [[mind]], [[matter]], and [[spirit]]. And as the mortal pursues this quest, he finds himself increasingly absorbed in the experiential study of [[philosophy]], [[cosmology]], and [[divinity]].
==In programming==
==In programming==
In a Thesis Book called "A study of Quality Improvements By [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refactoring Refactoring]" made at the University of Antwerp on 2006 by Bart Du Bois (Phd) and promoted by many notable professors, the [[author]] explains that for a programmer to understand how to work with a new piece of code or a new system, five levels of abstraction have to be understood.
In a Thesis Book called "A study of Quality Improvements By [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refactoring Refactoring]" made at the University of Antwerp on 2006 by Bart Du Bois (Phd) and promoted by many notable professors, the [[author]] explains that for a programmer to understand how to work with a new piece of code or a new system, five levels of abstraction have to be understood.
