--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Computation, after all, implied a problem…" description: "\"“Computation, after all, implied a problem not yet solved, insights not yet achieved. There was really only one sort of program for which foreknowledge..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/peter-watts-4020_computation_computation-after-all-implied-a-problem_1940189.png" --- # Computation, after all, implied a problem not yet solved… ![“Computation, after all, implied a problem not yet solved, insights not yet achieved. There was really only one sort of program for which foreknowledge of the outcome didn't diminish the point of exercise, and Brüks had never been able to find any religious orders that described God as a porn addict.” quote by Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/peter-watts-4020_computation_computation-after-all-implied-a-problem_1940189.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/peter-watts-4020_computation_computation-after-all-implied-a-problem_1940189.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/peter-watts-4020_computation_computation-after-all-implied-a-problem_1940189.png) > ““Computation, after all, implied a problem not yet solved, insights not yet achieved. There was really only one sort of program for which foreknowledge of the outcome didn't diminish the point of exercise, and Brüks had never been able to find any religious orders that described God as a porn addict.”” [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unsolved problems drive curiosity; knowing outcomes can diminish the value of exploration, yet some mysteries remain beyond conventional frameworks. **In simple terms:** Unsolved problems fuel curiosity, but knowing answers can reduce the challenge. Key Takeaway Seek unknowns to keep learning alive. Themes curiosity knowledge limits Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - research - problem solving - creative writing - theological debate Key Concepts epistemology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to pursue unsolvable problems? - How does knowing an outcome affect motivation? A Different Perspective Some mysteries may be inherently unsolvable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computation/) [Computation Implied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computation-implied-3086814/) [Described God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/described-god-2431289/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [God Porn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-porn-3086813/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Solved Insights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solved-insights-3086815/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [The word ezer is used only twenty other places in the entire Old Testament. And in every other instance the person being described is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stasi-eldredge/the-word-ezer-is-used-only-twenty-other-places-in-the-entire-old/) [Stasi Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stasi-eldredge/) > [“If any human concious able to define the God then he exactly don't know about the God. If willing to describe then he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kunal-jajal/if-any-human-concious-able-to-define-the-god-then-he-exactly-don-t/) [kunal jajal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kunal-jajal/) > [“Whew, this might be getting a bit confusing. I hope you are following me so far. This is the point in every Theory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-mitchell/whew-this-might-be-getting-a-bit-confusing-i-hope-you-are-following/) [Melanie Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-mitchell/) > [The Old Testament contains over 300 references to the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Computations using the science of probability on just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-ridenour/the-old-testament-contains-over-300-references-to-the-messiah-that/) [Fritz Ridenour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-ridenour/) > [I have tried to avoid long numerical computations, thereby following Riemann's postulate that proofs should be given through ideas and not voluminous computations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/i-have-tried-to-avoid-long-numerical-computations-thereby-following/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) > [To me quantum computation is a new and deeper and better way to understand the laws of physics, and hence understanding physical reality as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-deutsch/to-me-quantum-computation-is-a-new-and-deeper-and-better-way-to/) [David Deutsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-deutsch/) > [There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-is-something-going-on-in-time-and-space-and-beyond-time-and/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Some things, like the orbits of the planets, can be calculated far into the future. But that's atypical. In most contexts, there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/some-things-like-the-orbits-of-the-planets-can-be-calculated-far-into/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [The term, information at your fingertips, is to remind people what a broad role the personal computer will be playing. It's not a computation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-term-information-at-your-fingertips-is-to-remind-people-what-a/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [If we suppose that many natural phenomena are in effect computations, the study of computer science can tell us about the kinds of natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-rucker/if-we-suppose-that-many-natural-phenomena-are-in-effect-computations/) [Rudy Rucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-rucker/) > [If you roll dice, you know that the odds are one in six that the dice will come up on a particular side. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-roll-dice-you-know-that-the-odds-are-one-in-six-that-the-dice/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Can you make fancy patterns of water that actually have some computation power? I'm betting that fluids are complex enough to do this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-tao/can-you-make-fancy-patterns-of-water-that-actually-have-some/) [Terence Tao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-tao/) > [ALGEBRA is a general Method of Computation by certain Signs and Symbols which have been contrived for this Purpose, and found convenient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-maclaurin/algebra-is-a-general-method-of-computation-by-certain-signs-and/) [Colin Maclaurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-maclaurin/) > [Calculators can only calculate - they cannot do mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-van-de-walle/calculators-can-only-calculate-they-cannot-do-mathematics/) [John A. Van de Walle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-a-van-de-walle/) > [Fantastic truths perish slower... Sappho's moon will survive the moon of Armstrong. Different computations are necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odysseas-elytis/fantastic-truths-perish-slower-sappho-s-moon-will-survive-the-moon-of/) [Odysseas Elytis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odysseas-elytis/) ## More by Peter Watts > [People aren't rational. We're not thinking machines, we're - we're feeling machines that happen to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/people-aren-t-rational-we-re-not-thinking-machines-we-re-we-re/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“You are all sleepwalkers, whether climbing creative peaks or slogging through some mundane routine for the thousandth time. You are all sleepwalkers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/you-are-all-sleepwalkers-whether-climbing-creative-peaks-or-slogging/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“Evolution has no foresight. Complex machinery develops its own agendas. Brains — cheat. Feedback loops evolve to promote stable heartbeats and then stumble upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/evolution-has-no-foresight-complex-machinery-develops-its-own-agendas/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“The Zodiac had rearranged itself into a precise grid of bright points with luminous tails. It was as though the whole planet had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/the-zodiac-had-rearranged-itself-into-a-precise-grid-of-bright-points/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [There's no such things as survival of the fittest. Survival of the most adequate, maybe. It doesn't matter whether a solution's optimal. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/there-s-no-such-things-as-survival-of-the-fittest-survival-of-the/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“So much anger in here. So much hate. So much to take out on someone. This time it's going to count. She's adrift in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/so-much-anger-in-here-so-much-hate-so-much-to-take-out-on-someone/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [The most altruistic and sustainable philosophies fail before the brute brain stem imperative of self-interest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/the-most-altruistic-and-sustainable-philosophies-fail-before-the/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“I brought her flowers one dusky Tuesday evening when the light was perfect. I pointed out the irony of that romantic old tradition— the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/i-brought-her-flowers-one-dusky-tuesday-evening-when-the-light-was/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“Ludzie naprawdę nie walczą o odcień skóry czy ideologię – to tylko wygodne wskazówki do identyfikacji „swoich”. Wyszystko zawsze sprowadza się do więzów krwi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/ludzie-naprawd-nie-walcz-o-odcie-sk-ry-czy-ideologi-to-tylko-wygodne/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [I really wanted to talk to her. I just couldn't find an algorithm that fit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/i-really-wanted-to-talk-to-her-i-just-couldn-t-find-an-algorithm-that/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“I know your race and mine are never on the best of terms." There was a cold smile in his voice if not on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/i-know-your-race-and-mine-are-never-on-the-best-of-terms-there-was-a/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [If believing absurd falsehoods increase the odds of getting laid or avoiding predators, your brain will believe those falsehoods with all its metaphorical little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/if-believing-absurd-falsehoods-increase-the-odds-of-getting-laid-or/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [We are not thinking machines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/we-are-not-thinking-machines/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“The math was irrefutable: The one winning strategy was concealment. Only fools revealed their birthdays.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/the-math-was-irrefutable-the-one-winning-strategy-was-concealment/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“Hey, chaotic trajectories are just as deterministic as any other kind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/hey-chaotic-trajectories-are-just-as-deterministic-as-any-other-kind/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) [Explore all 112 Peter Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) ## More Computation quotes > [Fantastic truths perish slower... Sappho's moon will survive the moon of Armstrong. Different computations are necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odysseas-elytis/fantastic-truths-perish-slower-sappho-s-moon-will-survive-the-moon-of/) [Odysseas Elytis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odysseas-elytis/) > [Calculators can only calculate - they cannot do mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-van-de-walle/calculators-can-only-calculate-they-cannot-do-mathematics/) [John A. Van de Walle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-a-van-de-walle/) > [ALGEBRA is a general Method of Computation by certain Signs and Symbols which have been contrived for this Purpose, and found convenient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-maclaurin/algebra-is-a-general-method-of-computation-by-certain-signs-and/) [Colin Maclaurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-maclaurin/) > [Can you make fancy patterns of water that actually have some computation power? I'm betting that fluids are complex enough to do this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-tao/can-you-make-fancy-patterns-of-water-that-actually-have-some/) [Terence Tao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-tao/) > [If you roll dice, you know that the odds are one in six that the dice will come up on a particular side. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-roll-dice-you-know-that-the-odds-are-one-in-six-that-the-dice/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [If we suppose that many natural phenomena are in effect computations, the study of computer science can tell us about the kinds of natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-rucker/if-we-suppose-that-many-natural-phenomena-are-in-effect-computations/) [Rudy Rucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-rucker/) > [The term, information at your fingertips, is to remind people what a broad role the personal computer will be playing. It's not a computation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-term-information-at-your-fingertips-is-to-remind-people-what-a/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Some things, like the orbits of the planets, can be calculated far into the future. But that's atypical. In most contexts, there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/some-things-like-the-orbits-of-the-planets-can-be-calculated-far-into/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-is-something-going-on-in-time-and-space-and-beyond-time-and/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [To me quantum computation is a new and deeper and better way to understand the laws of physics, and hence understanding physical reality as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-deutsch/to-me-quantum-computation-is-a-new-and-deeper-and-better-way-to/) [David Deutsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-deutsch/) > [I have tried to avoid long numerical computations, thereby following Riemann's postulate that proofs should be given through ideas and not voluminous computations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/i-have-tried-to-avoid-long-numerical-computations-thereby-following/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) > [The Old Testament contains over 300 references to the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Computations using the science of probability on just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-ridenour/the-old-testament-contains-over-300-references-to-the-messiah-that/) [Fritz Ridenour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-ridenour/) > [“Whew, this might be getting a bit confusing. I hope you are following me so far. This is the point in every Theory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-mitchell/whew-this-might-be-getting-a-bit-confusing-i-hope-you-are-following/) [Melanie Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-mitchell/) > [“Mathematics is not about numbers, equations, computations, or algorithms: it is about understanding”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mathematics-is-not-about-numbers-equations-computations-or-algorithms/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People know, or dimly feel, that if thinking is not kept pure and keen, and if respect for the world of mind is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/people-know-or-dimly-feel-that-if-thinking-is-not-kept-pure-and-keen/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) [Browse all 88 Computation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Computation, after all, implied a problem not yet solved, insights not yet achieved. 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