dragon96

2개월 전discuss

Sending an AI response communicates more than just the response itself:

1. "I'm not entirely sure, but this is what it says to save you some time."

2. "You didn't ask the question precisely because you are not an SME, but I reworded it using the jargon that would allow the AI to answer better and here is the response."

3. "This response is AI, but in general my other ones are not"

4. "I trust the AI's response in this scenario."

dragon96

5개월 전discuss

If severity is a low cardinality enum, it still seems acceptable

dragon96

5개월 전discuss

What does a Spiel game refer to?

If you want the ultimate depth:ruleset ratio, come learn Go :) Every game is so different and exciting

dragon96

2년 전discuss

One of the values of doing your own research is it forces you to speak the "language" of what you're trying to do.

It's like the struggle that we've all had when learning our first programming language. If we weren't forced to wrestle with compilation errors, our brains wouldn't have adapted to the mindset that the computer will do whatever you tell it to do and only that.

There's a place for LLMs in learning, and I feel like it satisfies the same niche as pre-synthesized Medium tutorials. It's no replacement for reading documentation or finding answers for yourself though.

dragon96

2년 전discuss

Plus, in-game clocks didn't exist until Remastered came out

dragon96

2년 전discuss

Inconvenient truths about the big bad wolf disaster of 2027

dragon96

2년 전discuss

I keep comments committed in a separate branch.

The lack of syncing doesn't bother me, because the purpose of taking notes always falls into one of these categories:

1. I read the code to get an idea of how something works. The code is there to make examples/variable names concrete, but I don't need to know the exact implementation.

If the notes need to sit in the code, usually that's because the answer spans multiple methods (eg "what does an e2e request look like?"). A set of comments on outdated code is always good enough for me.

Otherwise, a lot of times the answer can be summarized in one line (eg "where is the state tracked?" -> in FooBarClass). These can go into personal notes.

2. I need to know the implementation and it is complex and hard to follow.

If I need to know the implementation, either it is because I'm actively working on it, or I need to make [complex idea] more concrete in my head.

If it's the former, usually I'll have memorized it by the time I read through it.

If it's the latter, by the end of it I'll have gotten the main idea and it's fine to forget the implantation details.

dragon96

2년 전discuss

Next up: Numbers every math person should know

dragon96

2년 전discuss

Genuine question: does anyone here actually want to query their database with natural language?

dragon96

2년 전discuss

Someone made a puzzle about 404 pages once:

https://2020.teammatehunt.com/puzzles/puzzle-not-found

For those who aren't sure how to get started (ROT13): Svaq gur sbhe bu sbhe cntr svefg

dragon96

3년 전discuss

> What’s deeply frustrating is that for more than a decade Sal Khan similarly said that the videos on his “Khan Academy” would revolutionize education, and they utterly failed to do so.

How does one determine whether an edtech startup like KA has succeeded or failed? As someone who has found KA useful at times, I don't understand where the author is coming from

dragon96

3년 전discuss

I recently heard someone say their favorite cure to writer's block is to read more and do research.

I found something profound about that. Writing is hard when you don't have anything to write about, and maybe there's something analogous to be said for goal setting.

dragon96

3년 전discuss

As a fellow overthinker who also struggles to articulate my goals, I find it easier to think about incremental improvements than overarching goals.

For example, I want to become a better systems programmer, but I'm not really sure what to do with that desire. Goals are hard. But when I see C++ code, I know that I tremble at the sight of syntax I'm not familiar with, and that uncertainty is much easier to act on. I still won't "know" C++ in its entirety after an afternoon Googling session, but I definitely made some progress

dragon96

3년 전discuss

Not exactly "engineering", but I might add an adjacent category of puzzle games that hurt your brain:

- Baba Is You

- Stephen's Sausage Roll

- Jelly no puzzle + Yugo puzzle (sequel)

- Braid

- Snakebird

dragon96

3년 전discuss

> He refuses to engage earnestly with the “doomer” arguments. The same type of motivated reasoning could also be attributed to himself and Meta’s financial goals - it’s not a persuasive framing.

Exactly my thoughts too.

I don't agree with the Eliezer doomsday scenario either, but it's hard to be convinced by a scientist who refuses to engage in discussion about the flagged risks and instead panders to the public's fear of fear-mongering and power-seizing.

dragon96

3년 전discuss

Though not quite as short, the Watson and Crick paper is another famously short paper:

https://dosequis.colorado.edu/Courses/MethodsLogic/papers/Wa...

dragon96

4년 전discuss

It could be obvious, but no need to be condescending about it.

There are many statements that fit into the category of "obvious once stated, but not obvious if you didn't consider the distinction to begin with".

dragon96

4년 전discuss

As another data point, I've taken about 1.5 months for Part 1 of the book, chipping away at it for 1-2 hours on weekday mornings.

dragon96

4년 전discuss

I read the beginning sections of each chapter until I understand conceptually what the chapter implements by the end. (I needed more assistance for the initial chapters not knowing what the output of scanning or parsing would be, or where to start, but by the later chapters, it becomes pretty clear what the output of implementing say, classes, is).

Then I would try to implement it on my own without reading, having Chapter 3, the language specs, open in a different tab for reference. I chose Java because (1) I wasn't very familiar with it, and (2) I wanted the option to use their code snippets.

My goal is to pass all of the edge test cases the book mentions. So finally I would read the chapter and take some notes on the different design choices and test cases I missed. The reading is quite fast once you've already implemented because you know what to look for.

dragon96

4년 전discuss

Regardless of which text you choose, I recommend writing proofs (full sentences and all) for the solutions that were harder to come by, or you feel difficulty expressing clearly. And if you can, get some feedback on the proofs. (Happy to take a look at a few if you DM me)

The process of writing will hopefully help you:

  - build awareness of when your arguments are not airtight or when you make false assumptions
  - modularize your thinking 
  - become more fluent with logical "vocabulary"

As for books, my personal favorites were Problem Solving Strategies (Engel) and Art and Craft of Problem Solving (Zeitz). They're both really approachable, have plenty of examples, and will give you a different perspective on what math can be about.

Submissions

Shannon Fellowship: $100,000 fellowship for independent intelligence researchers

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