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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was John von Neumann's theory on the energy cost of information?
(a) Every operation on a bit cost energy.
(b) The amount of energy spent was minimal.
(c) Operations on bits should be combined to save energy.
(d) Energy lost on bit operations cannot be recovered.

2. What is the premise of the story by Jorge Luis Borges entitled, "Library of Babel"?
(a) The library encompasses everything in the universe.
(b) The library encompasses all the energy of the universe.
(c) The library has the answers to all the mysteries of the universe.
(d) The library encompasses everything thing that ever lived.

3. What was Rolf Landauer's opinion of John von Neumann's theory on the energy cost of information?
(a) That it needed to be expanded.
(b) That it was incorrect.
(c) That it was accurate.
(d) That it was incomplete.

4. What are memes?
(a) Chromosomal genes.
(b) Bits of information.
(c) Self-cloning genes.
(d) Repressive genes.

5. What is the advantage of using quantum particles in the place of bits?
(a) A quantum computer would be more efficient.
(b) A quantum computer could store more information.
(c) A quantum computer could process data much faster.
(d) A quantum computer that can have many states at once.

6. Recognizing a famous painting like the Mona Lisa is attributed to what factor?
(a) The meme.
(b) Memory.
(c) Bits.
(d) Education.

7. How did Landauer disprove von Neumann's theory on the energy cost of information?
(a) He was supported by others who agreed with him.
(b) Flipping a bit from one state to another did not change entropy..
(c) There was no lost of vitality.
(d) Through extensive experiments.

8. What results when a closed system's temperature evens out?
(a) More work can be accomplished.
(b) The system fails.
(c) No work could be done.
(d) There is no change.

9. Is quantum computing a real possibility?
(a) It is a solid theory.
(b) It is just a dream.
(c) The theory has not been proven yet.
(d) It is not likely.

10. What comment did IBM researcher Charles Bennet make about the amount of information in a message?
(a) Is not a good measurement of its meaningfulness.
(b) Is not a good measurement of its capacity.
(c) Is not a good measurement of its importance.
(d) Is not a good measure of its ability for computation.

11. What does the author compare the famous library to?
(a) Search engines.
(b) The Encyclopedia Brittanica.
(c) The online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
(d) Quantum data storage.

12. What library once helped writing from all over the known world?
(a) The famous library at Oxford.
(b) The famous library in Sparta.
(c) The famous library of the Roman Empire.
(d) The famous library at Alexandria.

13. What is the most probable state for an arrangement of molecules in a system?
(a) Constantly and randomly movement.
(b) In a jumble.
(c) In an organized line.
(d) In an arc.

14. How did Gregory Chaitin define random numbers?
(a) As numbers that could not be defined.
(b) As numbers that could not be calculated.
(c) As numbers that could not be identified.
(d) As numbers that could not be computed.

15. According to Psychologist George Miller, what type of process takes place in the mind relative to the information it receives?
(a) The ranking of important to less important information.
(b) The selection of relevant information.
(c) The rejection of too much information.
(d) The simplification of information.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the modern meaning of "entropy"? "Entropy was not a kind of energy or an amount of energy," Gleick writes (p. 271). It was instead an abstract measurement of the unavailability of energy.

2. Memes are messages that are independent of what other element?

3. Why is the belief in God an enduring one?

4. What type of information is contained in DNA?

5. How do scientists categorize catchphrases like "Survival of the fittest" and "Read my lips"?

(see the answer keys)

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