The limitations of technology
In this age of technology, this era of digital revolutions, the question becomes more and more relevant how far technology can get us and what its limitations are. Surprisingly enough, already one century ago, even before the first computers existed, these limits have been settled. These had been found by Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing. They proved that so-called “self-reference” was always inevitably leading to logical paradoxes destroying the rigorous foundations of both mathematics and computer science. Self-reference is the ability to completely describe yourself - stepping back and reflect on yourself. Their proofs are ingenious, both simple on the high level as complicated on the detailed level. But let’s take some time to step back and reflect ourselves; bear with me and try the following thought-experiment to better understand what Gödel and Turing were saying. Suppose I would offer you the perfect VR device, that is one where you cannot not tell the difference between the "...