[ClintEhrlich]

I've been waiting for Scott Aaronson to put all of this into perspective since the first leaks about Google's quantum supremacy started appearing in popular media.

He has exceeded my expectations with this post, which cuts through all the hype to communicate exactly what the results of this experiment mean for the field. It's worth reading and sharing.

[ClintEhrlich]

On second reading, I have but one trivial gripe:

"Enormity" implies moral reprobation, so it's a poor way of describing the significance of a computational discovery.

[klipt]

Isn't it just

Enormous : enormity :: huge : hugeness?

[dredmorbius]

Both enormous and enormity come from the same etymological roots, enormis "irregular, huge", carrying a connotation of abnormal or irregular, in a negative or bad sense. Enormity specifically came to mean "extreme wickedness" in English, though that meaning is increasingly obscured by usage to mean simply "very big".

Most discerning usage would be that both me "very large scale", but that enormity preserves the meaning of bad at a very large scale.

That's become something of a losing battle as the synonymous usage has become an enormity.

https://www.etymonline.com/word/enormous

https://grammarist.com/usage/enormity-enormousness/

[ClintEhrlich]

Not quite.

Enormous : enormousness :: huge : hugeness.

Enormity = Immense scale of evil (e.g., the "enormity of the holocaust")

[sho]

It can be used in that way, but the neutral usage is valid too. I'd even argue the "evil" undertones of the usage you describe borders on archaic.

"Enormousness" isn't a word in common usage that I'm aware of.

[ClintEhrlich]

I have no dog in the fight, and wish "enormity" had never developed a normative undertone, but I strongly disagree that said usage is anything close to archaic.

If you Google "enormity," the dictionary definitions it displays before the results are: 1.the great or extreme scale, seriousness, or extent of something perceived as bad or morally wrong. "a thorough search disclosed the full enormity of the crime" 2. a grave crime or sin. "the enormities of the regime"

Merriam-Webster claims this is not the exclusive usage, and that enormity can mean "immensity" without normative implications when the size is unexpected. But the very example it cites, from Steinbeck, involves the "enormity" of a situation in which a fire was started.

That said, I agree that "enormousness" is an awkward word, which I do not use. I'm left to ponder the enormity of my own pedantry.

[andrewflnr]

As a native English speaker, I can't say I've found this to be the case. "Enormity" does tend to be used for dramatic effect, most often on moral issues, but I don't think that makes Scott wrong to use it here.

I don't know if I've seen "enormousness" before this thread.

[desert_boi]

Since enormous is from Latin, stems tend to be Latin. `ness` generally only is morphologically productive with Germanic roots, kindness, happiness, etc.

When I visited Iceland, I remember a sign in English that said a cliff was insafe [sic]. `in` being a Latin morpheme, and safe being Germanic.

[riffraff]

Ah, I never realized in/un would be used with corresponding Latin/Germanic words.

But then, it seems there are quite a few un+latin (unreal, unbalanced, unadulterated, uncertain etc), even if I can't think of in+Germanic.

[alanbernstein]

Thanks for the enlightening nitpick, this is one of those terrible/terrific things about English that I love/hate.