Quantum Computing

Today I was browsing the Internet and came across an article I believed had much relevance to what we are currently studying in class. Most likely we will be going into this topic further, especially since the next chapter deals with quantum technology, but I have found an article that deals with the use of quantum computing. Specifically, it discusses that the world’s first quantum computer has been created and that a demo will take place on Tuesday. Whether or not this is simply a bunch of hype is to be debated; however, if it were true, it would have drastic consequences for the world in which we now live. The website is here: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/dwave-quantum-computer-to-span-multiple-universes-next-tuesday-235300.php . Using the power of quantum mechanics, this computer will be able to process much faster than today’s computers can. Every bit will be able to be both a one and zero at the same time, allowing for 64,000 processes to occur at once. This will completely change the abilities of current computers.
There is much talk of the change that will occur in encryption. If so many processes can occur at once, the current methods of encryption are obsolete. It would be easy for a computer of this ability to figure out the encryption. If anyone could have a quantum computer, the security of anything that has any connections to computers would be at risk. I am sure that, despite this, with the creation of quantum computing, new forms of encryption will also emerge to protect against the use of quantum computers to decode information.
Earlier this week, when I first began to grasp the concept of quantum mechanics, I was slightly skeptical of what I had been told. I could not completely grasp the quantum nature of the universe and thus doubted it. Nevertheless, if the applications of quantum physics are real, such as its use in technology, then I have no choice but to accept it. If it were not the true nature of the universe then it would not have practical applications. I questioned, originally, whether quantum mechanics was real or just the result of problems with our measurements in terms of use being unable at this moment to see a certain force that exists. Perhaps in a different dimension there would be a force that would explain all quantum mechanics. If quantum mechanics does work when applied to technology one can follow with the belief that quantum mechanics is most likely the correct way of looking at the universe.
An interesting concept came up in my philosophy of science class. The name of the subject is underdetermination, and it changed the way that I view science. Undertermination states that the explanations held to be true are no more valid and may in fact be less valid than other theories. What makes it more valid in our view is its practicality or use. We adopt the theories that work best for our purposes. The other theories, however, could be just as valid or more valid; they just simply do not have practical applications. It is impossible to deny this argument because it covers every form of denial. One could counter this by saying other theories don’t work, but one who believes in underdetermination would say that it’s use and ability to function don’t mean that it is the correct theory, it only means that it is more useful. It is views such as this, as well as quantum mechanics, that are continuing to shatter the way that I look at the universe. Science has become a much more pliable term to me this term than it had previously been. I no longer look at it simply in terms of everything being able to be reduced, but I’ve attached more philosophical beliefs to the meaning of science. I am sure that if I went back to high school and told my biology teacher, who thought of me as his star biology student, these new meanings I’ve found in science as a result of this class and my philosophy class, he would be shocked and probably disappointed. The realm of biology looks at science through a completely different lens.