https://bulrushlabs.com/articles/tag/theory/Recent content in Theory on Bulrush Labs — Richard TibbettsHugoen-usSun, 02 May 2010 21:30:00 +0000https://bulrushlabs.com/articles/2010/05/02/end-of-the-world-insurance-the-financial-halting-problem/Sun, 02 May 2010 21:30:00 +0000https://bulrushlabs.com/articles/2010/05/02/end-of-the-world-insurance-the-financial-halting-problem/<p>In computer science, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem">halting problem</a> is very well known. The problem states that it is impossible to build a software program that can analyze other software programs to determine if they will eventually terminate, or halt. This is a useful problem to understand, because many software problems that look possible at first can be reduced to the halting problem and thus demonstrated to be impossible. It’s common to hear someone say “actually, that seems like a halting problem” when discussing compiler optimization, program analysis, and related problems in computer science. This is much like a physicist might say “but that’s perpetual motion.”</p>