My Existential Dev Mind

Failure!!!

… has become one of my favorite words (or at least in regards to it’s relevance). We all fail, and we’re all constantly fail-ing. Okay okay, it’s not all that bad, we’re not completely hopeless (optimism preamble complete). That state of screwing things up, muddying the waters, that’s where the good stuff is; heck, that’s where the genius is. The technological world is growing exponentially around us, which gives us many opportunities for, dare I say, (healthy?) failure and (inspiring?) entropy. This is the existential mindset I have as a new kid on the block, in terms of technology and software development.

If you’re a millennial like me, or generation X, you’re likely familiar with the all-consuming existentialism we grew up in. I personally attribute a lot of this to our minds trying to keep up with the technological framework we appear to be building around us. Let me provide an example: Quantum Computers.

I will over-generalize and cross my fingers I don’t step on any toes. Essentially quantum computers are the ultimate optimization in computing by using the qubit in place of the classic binary representation from electrical pulses. The qubit is far superior because it can represent more than 2 states, far beyond its binary predecessor. How does this work you ask? There are a few ways to do this, but the principal remains the same, a qubit is a recording of quantum behavior, such as the multiple positions of an electron at a single point in time.

HOLD THE PHONE. Did you catch that? Electrons in the same place at the same time? sooooooo… Does that mean the fabric of our reality (atoms, protons, electrons) are embedded in parallel universes? Many are convinced this is the case, but it’s also possible we don’t yet have a model for describing this discrepancy in the behavior of electrons. Recall that the notion of parallel universes is merely our way of describing the phenomena that was first witnessed by the Double-slit experiment, given our construct of time. If you ask me, we’re just not smart enough to make sense of this yet. Hence the existential crisis of today’s minds behind technology.

Quantum computers are on the rise; and we won’t even completely understand what we’ve made. I smell failure, let’s hope it’s for the better! Not optimistic enough? Okay howsabout this – We’ll probably fail more than we expect BUUUUT will come up with some really really cool stuff that have biomedical, aerospace, and cybersecurity implications. That’s more like it!