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Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

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Re: Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

#201

Post by marzell »

sova wrote: post #172
ShamelessC wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got a little lost when you tried to compare musical harmony to societal harmony. With regards to musical harmony, is it possible that it's more or less random? I know multiple cultures have different definitions of musical harmony. I suspect the evolution of hearing also contains random elements. Similar to language, it's not so much about an inherent universality, just a universality we can all learn and agree on.…

The human ear has an intimate relationship with the octave 2:1 and its ratios, so its very hard to believe the convergence of appreciation globally to be random. More dramatically, visualizing the harmonious ratios on objects such as Chladni plates (a field called Cymatics) reveals that there is something deeper to consonance and harmony than meets the number line.

"visualizing the harmonious ratios on objects such as Chladni plates (a field called Cymatics) reveals that there is something deeper to consonance and harmony than meets the number line"

Ok I'll bite. What does it reveal? There's nothing inherently meaningful here. We know that 'dissonant' sounds (those that create interference patterns) create wavelets that are smaller and with less contrast than the more 'coherent' patterns from ratios that are closer to whole numbers.

But in what way is this meaningful or useful?

Re: Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

#202

Post by iforiq »

ChrisHardman29 wrote: post #112

I'm trying to tackle the problem of information overload by providing a service that extracts, summarises and curates the key insights from books, articles and research: https://www.sivv.io/

Love it, subscribed. Is there a feature where we request summaries for particular books?

Re: Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

#203

Post by perfmode »

baxtr wrote: post #126
vekker wrote: post #31

Dreams. I've been journaling my dreams for years and I'm working on an app that makes it easier to (visually) map them out & find patterns: https://oneironotes.com/ I like the idea of accessing other (inner) dimensions during sleep, like an explorer (an "oneironaut"). The problems to overcome are related to capturing and recollecting experiences that only take place in the mind. You asked about the weird stuff...

Is there a proven way to remember your dreams? I’ve read that we dream every night but I usually can’t remember nothing.

meditation.

do a 10-day retreat or some other intensive period of learning with a teacher

and then from place of proficiency, continue the practice on your own.

you’re likely to begin having wild/intense/vivid dreams on days in which you meditate.

(1-2+ hours per day)

Re: Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

#204

Post by injb »

mrfusion wrote: post #190
jawns wrote: post #170

I hope this counts as weird enough ... PROBLEM: If time travelers from the future were to visit you, it would be difficult for them to quickly prove their authenticity. SOLUTION: Temporal passwords. At the start of each year, you devise a new password. You commit the password to memory, but you never write it down or divulge it to anyone until Dec. 31, when you submit it to the Temporal Password Registry, which publi…

Couldn’t they just tell you tomorrow’s stock prices? Or a future sports score.

That would probably break the rules. With the password solution, they're not telling you anything you didn't already know.

Re: Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

#205

Post by easterncalculus »

cryptoz wrote: post #171
chiefmcloud wrote: post #153

I’m working on a new way to talk online, with the goal of killing cancel culture, increasing understanding, and basically calming down current radicalization. Picture Reddit, but with the ability to anonymously share ideas with other people in your social circles. My theory is that most reasonable people stay off social media, so places like Twitter end up filled with unreasonable narcissists. At the same time, discu…

You're not going to "calm down radicalization" with phrases like "killing cancel culture" and suggesting that viewpoints you don't agree with on twitter/the platform as a whole as "unreasonable narcissists".

No one mentioned opposing viewpoints except you, and only to downplay real-world harassment as a mere difference of opinion. The radicalization occurring on Twitter is encouraging 'adults' to gang up on others (often children) and try to get their lives permanently ruined over ACTUAL differences of opinion, or for vastly disproportionate acts. So yes, we should use the word 'kill' when describing a force that destroys reasonable, well-meaning, and good people's lives every single day.

The "unreasonable" part is the the disproportionate and permanent effect of internet hatred in regards to comparatively non-permanent acts (that are still often harmful, but more often than not nowhere near to the same extent). The "narcissist" part is the need to do so for beneficial social points among those that do. Those that have the online support to keep the basic needs in life that they want to deprive others of. So yes, these people meet the definition on both counts.

It doesn't mean that those who are bombarded don't deserve to be reprimanded, just that they probably don't deserve to be bombarded with threats and harassment. You can express your opinion on Twitter without personal attacks and threats of harassment and violence. That part should not be a fringe opinion.

Re: Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

#206

Post by jawns »

mrfusion wrote: post #190
jawns wrote: post #170

I hope this counts as weird enough ... PROBLEM: If time travelers from the future were to visit you, it would be difficult for them to quickly prove their authenticity. SOLUTION: Temporal passwords. At the start of each year, you devise a new password. You commit the password to memory, but you never write it down or divulge it to anyone until Dec. 31, when you submit it to the Temporal Password Registry, which publi…

Couldn’t they just tell you tomorrow’s stock prices? Or a future sports score.

As the PROBLEM statement says:

> it would be difficult for them to quickly prove their authenticity

Yes, you could tell them something that happens tomorrow or the next day. But if time is of the essence and you can't wait until tomorrow, then the Temporal Password helps you _immediately_ demonstrate your authenticity.

Re: Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

#207

Post by wes-k »

injb wrote: post #204
mrfusion wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn’t they just tell you tomorrow’s stock prices? Or a future sports score.

That would probably break the rules. With the password solution, they're not telling you anything you didn't already know.

What rules? They’re telling you time travel is possible and happens. That’ll be news for me.

Re: Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

#208

Post by chiefmcloud »

cryptoz wrote: post #171
chiefmcloud wrote: post #153

I’m working on a new way to talk online, with the goal of killing cancel culture, increasing understanding, and basically calming down current radicalization. Picture Reddit, but with the ability to anonymously share ideas with other people in your social circles. My theory is that most reasonable people stay off social media, so places like Twitter end up filled with unreasonable narcissists. At the same time, discu…

You're not going to "calm down radicalization" with phrases like "killing cancel culture" and suggesting that viewpoints you don't agree with on twitter/the platform as a whole as "unreasonable narcissists".

“Killing” was a poorly chosen term. I think cancel culture is very dangerous in the way that it discourages reasonable discussion by picking on people whose opinions are deemed to be out of line and punishing them with mob justice. Maybe this interaction illustrated my point though. If I was talking to you in a pub and you said the same thing I’d respond in the same way. But if I’d posted about my great idea on twitter and you responded like this I can picture my ego urging me to say something more defensive and inflammatory.

I don’t mean perspectives I disagree with are narcissistic, I was honestly making an observation based on my limited understand of psychology. Some personality types like to hear themselves talk more than others, and I honk it’s clear that they are more attracted to Twitter.

Re: Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

#209

Post by slifin »

erezsh wrote: post #95

I'm trying to replace SQL by building a language that compiles to SQL. It has first-class functions, nicer syntax, better type-system, introspection, and other things you would expect from a modern language. But in the end, you still get SQL's performance, and the ability to use it with dozens of database engines.

Is there a Clojure datalog to SQL compiler out there?

Re: Ask HN: What weird or hard problems are you trying to solve?

#210

Post by megameter »

marzell wrote: post #201
sova wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The human ear has an intimate relationship with the octave 2:1 and its ratios, so its very hard to believe the convergence of appreciation globally to be random. More dramatically, visualizing the harmonious ratios on objects such as Chladni plates (a field called Cymatics) reveals that there is something deeper to consonance and harmony than meets the number line.

"visualizing the harmonious ratios on objects such as Chladni plates (a field called Cymatics) reveals that there is something deeper to consonance and harmony than meets the number line" Ok I'll bite. What does it reveal? There's nothing inherently meaningful here. We know that 'dissonant' sounds (those that create interference patterns) create wavelets that are smaller and with less contrast than the more 'coherent…

It means we find consonance pleasurable and see a distinct "signal" in it. At least, that's the information-theoretical way of looking at it.

When dealing with cosmology one often seeks to make a big deal out of a simple concept like a duality, a cycle, or a ratio. These are concepts recurring through the world, and looking for them in more places sometimes reveals knowledge.

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