Justin Trudeau explains quantum computing

[Sephiroth]

So the source video can be found here: 

 

There were a few news sites and "news" sites which had the video, but as they mostly elaborated with nonsense I figured I'd spare their excess dribble and just leave you with mine own. While I'm not sure how "news worthy" this actually is (and mods, please move it if it isn't) I think it's pretty awesome that Trudeau was, as other sites put it, able to call the journalist's bluff when asked to explain quantum computing. It is by no means a perfect explanation, but it's far more informed than your average person and I'd be willing to bet that he probably understands a lot more about it than he lets on in this brief interview. I really admire any politician who takes time away from doing politics to try to actually understand the types of research their government is funding, rather than just simply going along with whoever wrote their campaign the biggest paycheck like generally happens here in America. 

 

[TechGod]

This was beautiful. My God. 

 

[Kherm]

It's unfortunately refreshing to see a politician who actually knows their shit. 

[RagnarokDel]

I saw that yesterday and I was like, in the US, it would have been some retarded punchline.

[RexinOridle]

Nothing to be surprised people. Politicians should know things, at least the basics. You should be surprised when they don't know things.

[Misanthrope]

You wouldn't think he's so smart if you heard his thoughts on Feminism.

[GeekPower0]

32 minutes ago, RexinOridle said:

Nothing to be surprised people. Politicians should know things, at least the basics. You should be surprised when they don't know things.

 

I give you former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens, who was in charge of regulating the Internet:

 

 

 

 

[PerfectTemplar]

I don't know why he wasn't expected to have the most basic understanding of quantum mechanics possible. He would have been briefed beforehand, you can get this shit from the first paragraph on Wikipedia. It's great he has a general understanding of what it is, but it's really sad that people expected he wouldn't, it shows that no one expects their officials to ever know what they're talking about.

[Paranoid Kami]

9 minutes ago, PerfectTemplar said:

I don't know why he wasn't expected to have the most basic understanding of quantum mechanics possible. He would have been briefed beforehand, you can get this shit from the first paragraph on Wikipedia. It's great he has a general understanding of what it is, but it's really sad that people expected he wouldn't, it shows that no one expects their officials to ever know what they're talking about.

'Before going into politics, Trudeau taught at the elementary and high school level in Vancouver, studied engineering and started a master’s degree in environmental geography. On Friday morning in Waterloo, Ont., Trudeau reached into that background in dealing with a reporter’s question about quantum computing.'

 

That was in the description of the Youtube video.

[PerfectTemplar]

36 minutes ago, Paranoid Kami said:

'Before going into politics, Trudeau taught at the elementary and high school level in Vancouver, studied engineering and started a master’s degree in environmental geography. On Friday morning in Waterloo, Ont., Trudeau reached into that background in dealing with a reporter’s question about quantum computing.'

 

That was in the description of the Youtube video.

Quantum computing is different to engineering and environmental geography.

[Misanthrope]

4 minutes ago, PerfectTemplar said:

Quantum computing is different to engineering and environmental geography.

Most amateur enthusiasts here can probably describe it as eloquently, still not being "impressed". I mean sure, against W Bush or Trump he seems like a fucking genius but that's more of a reflection on the overall level of discourse and education of the Americans.

[Guest]

Justin Trudeau is not a thing.

[pinksnowmanshandle]

1 hour ago, Misanthrope said:

You wouldn't think he's so smart if you heard his thoughts on Feminism.

I mean I don't exactly think this modern version of Feminism is quite the right answer to certain issues that are actually present in today's society.

 

I think Egalitarianism (and Humanitarianism) have better solutions than Feminist.

I mean I don't totally disagree with the adage that Trudeau had on Feminism, I don't totally agree with it either.

If there are true cases of gender pay gap then those cases need to be remedied some how.

I mean I do think that paid sick leave is a good thing because that's unexpected and it's not like you chose to get sick or injured, however pregnancy and maternity leave is expected and a choice therefore shouldn't be totally covered by tax revenue or the employer. 

 

I still think Trudeau is a cool guy and I'm glad Canada went with him/his party.

I just hope the US does a similar thing and chooses Bernie.

[Castdeath97]

3 hours ago, PerfectTemplar said:

I don't know why he wasn't expected to have the most basic understanding of quantum mechanics possible. He would have been briefed beforehand, you can get this shit from the first paragraph on Wikipedia. It's great he has a general understanding of what it is, but it's really sad that people expected he wouldn't, it shows that no one expects their officials to ever know what they're talking about.

And for a good reason, in many countries they don't know what the heck they are talking about.

[Serin]

Obama even had some vague concept of highly theoretical space travel ideas when interviewed for Smarter Every Day. Yay for education.
Meanwhile in Australia "Malcom Turnbull invented the internet"

[Misanthrope]

11 hours ago, wcreek said:

I mean I don't exactly think this modern version of Feminism is quite the right answer to certain issues that are actually present in today's society.

 

I think Egalitarianism (and Humanitarianism) have better solutions than Feminist.

I mean I don't totally disagree with the adage that Trudeau had on Feminism, I don't totally agree with it either.

If there are true cases of gender pay gap then those cases need to be remedied some how.

I mean I do think that paid sick leave is a good thing because that's unexpected and it's not like you chose to get sick or injured, however pregnancy and maternity leave is expected and a choice therefore shouldn't be totally covered by tax revenue or the employer. 

 

I still think Trudeau is a cool guy and I'm glad Canada went with him/his party.

I just hope the US does a similar thing and chooses Bernie.

He believes in the myth of a wage gap and is actively sexist against men in selecting women into government not at all because of their qualifications but his main reasoning was just their type of genitalia:

He's an unapologetic collectivist who seeks to introduce the most extreme form of Feminism there is, he's a Gender Marxist. His position has absolutely nothing to do with Egalitarianism which is actually what most of us reasonable people will advocate.

[pinksnowmanshandle]

45 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

snip

Eh

Still better than Harper.

[Bsmith]

hmm, not bad, not bad at all I must say, where can we get this guy for president?

[VerticalDiscussions]

Best comment of this video :D:

 

I, too, can read Wikipedia and not understand the first paragraph.  

[Biggerboot]

Eh, while our politicians can be pretty dumb, Obama did know a little computer science too.

 

(It's not quantum computing, but yeah)

[Castdeath97]

4 hours ago, wcreek said:

Eh

Still better than Harper.

The Devil himself is better than Harper (assuming he isn't the devil).

[Kamina]

I heard he was trying to dodge a question so he gave this cheeky response. The actual question was about ISIS, not how quantum mechanics work when applied to computers.

 

This man is like any other politician. Still making arms deals with Saudi Arabia to create destabilization in the middle east by doing mass genocide in Yemen and Syria.

[Trixanity]

8 hours ago, Kamina said:

I heard he was trying to dodge a question so he gave this cheeky response. The actual question was about ISIS, not how quantum mechanics work when applied to computers.

 

This man is like any other politician. Still making arms deals with Saudi Arabia to create destabilization in the middle east by doing mass genocide in Yemen and Syria.

You heard? Did you watch the video? 

The journalist mockingly started out with a comment on his knowledge of quantum computers and transitioned into the ISIS question. 

 

Whether or not his answer was good is debatable. Probably good enough for the layman. 

 

Unless I'm misinformed, he answered the ISIS question right after jumping on the remark made. 

 

The fact that he answered both parts of the question is almost unheard of among politicians these days. They mostly dodge or answer with a prepared statement. I think most would have skipped over the quantum computing remark as if it never happened. 

 

As for the second paragraph: they all do that. Any party or politician that doesn't think of economic and political interests first is not going to come to power. Those who do think beyond economy are on the fringes and of no consequence regardless of how loudly they shout to get heard. They also get little to no support for campaigns, so they either don't get elected or get elected with no influence. 

 

That's how modern politics work. 

[sohamb98]

Well the prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong(The highest paid politician of the planet) knows programming very well and also designs Sudoku solving algorithms. 

And Obama isn't dumb.He was a lawyer and a lecturer who had worked in Harvard law School and the university of Chicago.

 

Anyway if anyone is interested to learn about quantum computers in a simplistic way, you can go here(http://operatingsystems.co.in/Quantum%20Computers/Quantum%20Computers%20Explained.html).    

[dalekphalm]

14 hours ago, Kamina said:

I heard he was trying to dodge a question so he gave this cheeky response. The actual question was about ISIS, not how quantum mechanics work when applied to computers.

 

This man is like any other politician. Still making arms deals with Saudi Arabia to create destabilization in the middle east by doing mass genocide in Yemen and Syria.

He answered the first question that the Reporter asked him - mockingly (because the Reporter figured he couldn't answer it), but as others have reported, I do believe he continued on to answer the ISIS/ISIL question afterwards - it's simply not part of this video clip.

 

As for the arms deal? He said FROM THE VERY BEGINNING that if the deal goes through, that he won't interfere - so I don't know why people are surprised about it. Plus, Saudi gets arms shipments from many of the major western powers, and they are "technically" our allies. I can't say I know how good they are on the human rights scale (not very high from what I gather), but they're better than a destabilized region of total war. Also, Canada's economy is not exactly doing awesome right now - some provinces are doing alright, but we're still trying to recover as a whole - the deal with the Saudi's is worth $15Bn CAD.

 

On Topic: I'm impressed - although Germany probably wins the cake, as Chancellor Angela Merkel has a Doctorate (PhD) in Quantum Chemistry (And no, not an honorary one, a real one).