Tag: Cryptography

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God may be defined by John Norwood

God may be defined

P not equal to NP

Thus unprovable

This poem is about cryptography, which makes reference to the famous unsolved P versus NP problem of computer science. Modern cryptographic techniques rely on problems that are hard to compute (NP, or non-polynomial time) yet easy to verify (Polynomial time). If it were provable that such problems don’t exist, then any cryptography could be easily cracked. Our security is reliant upon an un-provable state and the very nature of its un-provabiity is what makes it secure. This fits my personal definition of God as the unknowable and believe the power of faith is rooted in a healthy relationship with that which cannot be known.

The P versus NP problem was first independently formulated by Stephen Cook and Leonid Levin in 1971, although the underlying ideas were considered earlier by John Nash, Kurt Godel and John von Neumann. It is one of the 7 Millennium Problems identified by the Clay Mathematics Institute with a reward of $1 million for the first to propose a solution.

John Norwood is a Mechanical Engineer working with Carbon, Inc. to revolutionize how things are made. His interests include old houses, yoga, baking, cryptography, and bluegrass music. You can follow him on Twitter under the handle @pryoga

Enjoyed this sciku? Check out some of John’s other work: Universal truth, The answer is none, With enough data, Rivers cut corners, and Squeamish ossifrage.

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Sqeamish ossifrage by John Norwood

Delectable mouse

in defiance, stands to face

sqeamish ossifrage

The ossifrage, more commonly known as the bearded vulture, prefers to feed on dead animals, feeding predominantly on the bone marrow as opposed to the meat. It will on occasion kill living animals, with its main prey being tortoises which it drops onto rocks to break them open.

This haiku celebrates a defiant mouse but was inspired by a secondary meaning. In my study of cryptography, I recently de-crypted a challenge with the solution: ‘the magic words are squeamish ossifrage’ which, as it turns out, is a phrase frequently incorporated into the solution of cryptographic puzzles since 1977.

Further reading: The Magic Words Are Squeamish Ossifrage

John Norwood is a Mechanical Engineer working with Carbon, Inc. to revolutionize how things are made. His interests include old houses, yoga, baking, cryptography, and bluegrass music. You can follow him on Twitter under the handle @pryoga

Enjoyed this sciku? Check out some of John’s other work: Universal truth, The answer is none, God may be defined, With enough data, and Rivers cut corners.