Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 286 posts

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#51

Post by cuddlybacon »

ted0_2021 wrote: post #47
cuddlybacon wrote: post #41

Could it be that your over 30? There is a problem known as the multi-armed bandit problem[0]. The problem deals with situations where you have to chose between different options you could take, but you don't start off with full knowledge of the options. You can spend time learning the options (exploring) or you can spend time using the best option you already know of (exploit). Importantly, you can't do both at the s…

Is there a source or research around humans following this pattern?

I first encountered it via this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-to-Live-By-audiobook/dp/B0...

The wikipedia article also briefly mentions that it is observed in animals.

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#52

Post by rootsudo »

ted0_2021 wrote: post #47
cuddlybacon wrote: post #41

Could it be that your over 30? There is a problem known as the multi-armed bandit problem[0]. The problem deals with situations where you have to chose between different options you could take, but you don't start off with full knowledge of the options. You can spend time learning the options (exploring) or you can spend time using the best option you already know of (exploit). Importantly, you can't do both at the s…

Is there a source or research around humans following this pattern?

Tons, the book "Algorithms to live by" go head first into this - https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Live-Computer-Science-Deci...

It can sound a bit simple at first, but the human - algo stories are terrific.

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#53

Post by rootsudo »

dash2 wrote: post #27

Counterpoint to all the gloom. Most interesting content is indeed either (a) on 5 or 6 sites, or linked from there (b) on professional news or media websites This is because only a tiny proportion of people have the skills, or need, to build their own website with their own domain. 99% of people - including 99% of people with interesting things to say - will say them on Facebook, Twitter, Medium or Substack. Then the…

This also is revealing - maybe it is time to create a blog after all.

Many people do give up on computer problems if they take longer than a few minutes to solve, or do not want to spend time piecing together fragments together, domain, hosting, dns, email, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#54

Post by marginalia_nu »

bmer wrote: post #50
kkoncevicius wrote: post #15

Recently I began "exploring the internet" again with the help of a niche search engine that was posted here on HN not that long ago [1]. Seems like it returns lesser known, interesting, contrarian websites where the authors speak their mind. For example I found websites that: speculate that milk and lactose might be a hidden cause for several chronic conditions [2]; try to re-explain evolution by re-positioning the r…

A lot of this was painful. I'll comment on bwo.life, since it is somewhat close to some of the things I know a little bit more about. > Despite all this life and death, I doubt whether anyone would be tempted to describe the embryo’s cells as “red in tooth and claw”. Nor do I think anyone would appeal to “survival of the fittest” or natural selection as the fundamental principle governing what goes on during normal d…

Well what do you propose, should search engines be arbiters of truth? That would give them a terrifying power over society at large.

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#55

Post by marginalia_nu »

rootsudo wrote: post #52
ted0_2021 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a source or research around humans following this pattern?

Tons, the book "Algorithms to live by" go head first into this - https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Live-Computer-Science-Deci... It can sound a bit simple at first, but the human - algo stories are terrific.

Are there examples that aren't that book (or derived from that book)?

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#56

Post by dang »

Sorry that this is offtopic, but please don't use celebrity names for your username. It's distracting and basically mildly trolls every thread you post to.

If you want to email hn@ycombinator.com to change your username we'll be happy to do that for you. (Same offer for anyone of course.) Until then, I'm going to ban the account for the time being since it's the only way to take care of this short of renaming.

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#57

Post by strikelaserclaw »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #11

I've put some thought on this topic, and I think the driving force between the Internet seeming so small nowadays is a combination of changes to how search engines work, as well a move from forums to big social media which has meant a shift from organic community discovery to being drip-fed content from based on what an algorithm thinks will be engaging. The Internet, as you remember it, still very much exists. Some…

people always go towards laziness and convenience, that seems to be a axiom of life.

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#58

Post by woodruffw »

I read a lot of personal blogs. Bloggers tend to link to other blogs, so it's somewhat self sustaining. I've seen modern approaches to webrings and other reinventions of Web 1.0 sharing tricks, but none have really adhered to my habits.

All of that to say: I think it's more about habits (and breaking out of the search engine hole) than anything else. It's still very possible (and easy) to explore the World Wide Web; you just need to overcome the gravity of the big sites.

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#59

Post by kradeelav »

It's still out there, especially when you find webrings that are still alive and kicking. I have a links page on my art/personal site that links to easily 200+ other artists, organizations, webrings, and interesting finds. May you find something fascinating enough to click on. :)

http://www.kradeelav.com/link.html

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#60

Post by silisili »

cuddlybacon wrote: post #41

Could it be that your over 30? There is a problem known as the multi-armed bandit problem[0]. The problem deals with situations where you have to chose between different options you could take, but you don't start off with full knowledge of the options. You can spend time learning the options (exploring) or you can spend time using the best option you already know of (exploit). Importantly, you can't do both at the s…

I'm guessing there's a more general name for the concept, but drawing a blank.

This is essentially the reason advertisers tend to target the young - those over a certain age are more set in their ways and not looking for new options.

Post reply on HN