From: Deth (dethb0y@dethb0y.com)
Date: Sun Aug 29 2004 - 06:04:16 MDT
Daniel Radetsky wrote:
>If you prefer to talk about it in practical terms, we can just say we'll keep
>adding more memory as the computer's use of it increases. We don't have to
>actually give it infinite memory, just more than it needs at any given time. In
>this case, we're talking about getting all the possible partitions of a number
>into two numbers (I believe this is the correct terminology; someone please
>correct me if I'm wrong), and then checking the two numbers for primality. This
>is probably a "bad" algorithm, and so we could probably add storage space far
>faster than it would use it up. For practical purposes, this is infinite memory.
>
You're forgetting what is, to me, one of the most signifigant elements
of practicality: Time. Even with massive resources, time is the great
equalizer. The calculations would stop when it was no longer practical
to allow that much computing power be put to the task. So in answer to
your question: It will stop when someone says it's time to give up.
Just a thought,
Jerry
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