Two Puzzles About Computation

Abstract

The purpose of this note is to raise two different questions, which are rarely if ever considered, and to which, it seems, we lack convincing, systematic answers. These questions can be posed as: - Why do we compute? - What do we compute? The point is not so much that we have no answers to these puzzles, as that we have no established body of theory which gives satisfying, systematic answers, as part of a broader understanding. By raising these questions, we hope to stimulate some thinking in this direction.