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Professors Call For Abolishing Physics Term ‘Quantum Supremacy’ To Fight Racism
Breitbart ^ | 3-17-2021 | Alana Mastrangelo

Posted on 03/17/2021 7:08:16 PM PDT by blam

Two professors are calling for abolishing the physics term “quantum supremacy” because it is “uncomfortably reminiscent of ‘white supremacy.'”

In an op-ed, titled, “Physicists Need to Be More Careful with How They Name Things” for the Scientific American, St. Anselm College physics professor Ian Durham, University of Bristol math professor Karoline Wiesner, and freelance journalist Daniel Garisto call for doing away with the physics term “quantum supremacy” in an anti-racist measure.

The popular term, coined in 2012 by quantum physicist John Preskill, refers to quantum computers outperforming classical ones. It has nothing to do with racism, which the authors of the op-ed even acknowledge, but say that it is “uncomfortably reminiscent” of “white supremacy.”

“We believe that the physics community should be more careful with its language, for both social and scientific reasons,” write the authors in their op-ed. “Even in the abstruse realms of matter and energy, language matters because physics is done by people.”

They continue:

The word supremacy — having “more power, authority or status than anyone else” — is closely linked to “white supremacy.” This isn’t supposition; it’s fact. The Corpus of Contemporary American English finds “white supremacy” is 15 times more frequent than the next most commonly used two-word phrase, “judicial supremacy.”

The authors go on to say that because a very small percentage of blacks, Latinos, and women have bachelor’s degrees in physics, the term can add “insult to injury.”

“In the U.S., when only 2 percent of bachelor’s degrees in physics are awarded to black students, when Latinos comprise less than 7 percent of engineers, and women account for a mere 12 percent of full professors in physics,” the authors note. “As things stand, ‘quantum supremacy’ can come across as adding insult to injury.”

(snip)

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: danielgaristo; iandurham; karolinewiesner; literacymatters; morons; physics; professor; race; stringtheory; supremacy
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The authors did, however, go on to acknowledge that linguist Steven Pinker disagrees with banning the term, arguing that it “makes academia a laughingstock.”
1 posted on 03/17/2021 7:08:16 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam

Ah DEMAND that the “greater than” sign be abolished from all maths!

IMMEDIATELY!


2 posted on 03/17/2021 7:10:41 PM PDT by House Atreides
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To: blam

ranks right up there with YouTube banning a chess analysis with “the white pieces are in a superior position over the black pieces”. If the WOKErs have their way, black will always in in chess.


3 posted on 03/17/2021 7:10:44 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Biden/Harris - the regime our Founding fathers warned us about.)
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To: blam

how about the two professors are abolished to padded rooms?


4 posted on 03/17/2021 7:11:36 PM PDT by blueplum ("...this moment is your moment: it belongs to you... " President Donald J. Trump, Jan 20, 2017) )
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To: blam

NOT The Bee, I had to check.


5 posted on 03/17/2021 7:11:56 PM PDT by GnuThere
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To: blam

Abolish the supremacy clause. So racist. The states can decide


6 posted on 03/17/2021 7:12:15 PM PDT by grumpygresh (Civil disobedience by jury nullification. )
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To: blam

What are they going to do about the “black hole”?


7 posted on 03/17/2021 7:12:42 PM PDT by kaehurowing
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To: blam

These people have WAAAAAY too much time on their hands. They must be supremely bored.


8 posted on 03/17/2021 7:12:59 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: blam

Have we reached Peak Stupid yet?


9 posted on 03/17/2021 7:14:03 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire. Or both.)
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To: blam

Will the U.S. Supreme Court and all the state Supreme Courts change their name?


10 posted on 03/17/2021 7:14:24 PM PDT by plain talk
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To: House Atreides

Both these professors belong to the null set.
F’ing idiots neutered by BLM.


11 posted on 03/17/2021 7:14:55 PM PDT by doc maverick
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To: blam

Academia has been a laughing stock all 73 years of my life.

They’ve only gotten exponentially more bodmin as the years progress.


12 posted on 03/17/2021 7:15:11 PM PDT by Westbrook
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To: blam

Shouldn’t they be focused like a LASER on getting rid of Black Holes?


13 posted on 03/17/2021 7:15:21 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: blam
Boy, they complain about the tiniest things!
14 posted on 03/17/2021 7:15:50 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy ("I see you did something -- why you so racist?")
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To: blam

Tell the non-white students to stop being racists. White people aren’t even the majority on this planet and certainly face discrimination on some of the other continents.

We are told to not tarnish all Islamists because of the racism, slavery, and genocide caused by Islamonazi followers of a dead warlord.

So why should all white people be tarnished?


15 posted on 03/17/2021 7:16:12 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Lean on Joe Biden to follow Donald Trump's example and donate his annual salary to charity. )
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To: grumpygresh

Time to abolish the Supreme Court.

After all, they got Dred Scott and the 2020 election wrong.


16 posted on 03/17/2021 7:16:50 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Lean on Joe Biden to follow Donald Trump's example and donate his annual salary to charity. )
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To: blam

Almost as bad as the push to ban “awesome” from references to God in the Bible translations as the teens and young people in their twenties have made “awesome” into a cheap slang word.

But God and His deeds are mighty and awesome.

What do we call them now “sorta nice.?”


17 posted on 03/17/2021 7:18:09 PM PDT by frank ballenger (End vote fraud, harvesting,non-citizen voting & leftist media news censorship or we are finished.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

They should make them walk the planck.


18 posted on 03/17/2021 7:18:38 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Biden/Harris - the regime our Founding fathers warned us about.)
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To: blam
There are a good number of foods called Supreme.

And what about SCOTUS?

19 posted on 03/17/2021 7:21:19 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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To: BipolarBob
"They should make them walk the planck."

I like that

20 posted on 03/17/2021 7:23:00 PM PDT by blam
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