The Institute for the Advanced Study of Automated Reasoning, Cognition, Science, Music, and Lots of Other Stuff

Mission

People

Research Projects

• General Artificial Intelligence: We are working on a system with general artificial intelligence based on high school trigonometry. We have proven that trigonometry is the optimal way of thinking about angles. The law of sines is much underappreciated in the AI literature. We have a working prototype that can carry out elementary versions of story understanding, bipedal motion, and singing Karaoke, and we expect to have a complete GAI system working in a few months.
• God: We're trying to figure out whether, academic fashions being what they are, there is more cachet at the moment to proving that God exists or that he doesn't. Meanwhile, we're stockpilings lots of great arguments, with lots of trigonometry, on both sides of the question.
• Music and Math: This multi-year project aims at establishing all the superficial similarities between music and math that occur to anyone who thinks about it for five minutes.
  • Brahms: So my first idea was I was going to write something about the relation of math to Bach. But it turns out that every half-wit who can add two fractions and can turn on a CD player has written something about the relation of math to Bach; and Mozart and Chopin are almost as bad. There's Schönberg, but then I might get caught having to admit that the only thing I've listened to is Verklärte Nacht.

    So I settled on Brahms, who I figure is sufficiently uncool and stodgy that I won't have any competition. Plus there are a dozen or so pieces by Brahms that I really do like. Here for example is the YouTube video of