Ask HN: What content/knowledge is most important? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What content/knowledge is most important?

#71

Post by uxcolumbo » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 5:53 AM UTC

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #70

uxcolumbo wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you support all the barbaric teachings in it, like stoning your daughter when she lost her virginity before marriage? Is that a truth we should blindly follow? It’s better to come up with a new book which teaches ppl how to live in harmony and working together without instilling fear, guidelines based on science and using simple language. You could say the human brain and the scientific process is God’s gift… use…

> Do you support all the barbaric teachings in it, like stoning your daughter when she lost her virginity before marriage? Is that a truth we should blindly follow? John 8:7 pretty clearly obsoletes that. So yeah, I'm still happy to follow what the Bible actually says.

That was just one example of harmful content, there is plenty more.

Why follow a book with contradicting messages?

Why not create a new book with clear positive messages only that doesn’t confuse ppl or doesn’t encourage them to kill or oppress others.

Re: Ask HN: What content/knowledge is most important?

#72

Post by t0bia_s » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 7:00 AM UTC

I would get rid of idea that something is universaly most important.

Everything and nothing is important. It depends on how, whey and who knows that knowledge.

Re: Ask HN: What content/knowledge is most important?

#73

Post by dozgon » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 3:10 PM UTC

- Geometry (Euclidean Geometry)

- Algebra (Linear Algebra)

- Calculus & Analysis

- Physics

Many university curricula include linear algebra and vector calculus. Physics is mandatory for all engineering disciplines.

Therefore, my suggestion would be to preserve the language of our universe and abstract thinking patterns (i.e. mathematics) and the rules of our universe (i.e., physics).

Those 2 are the absolute minimum, I would say, to rebuild modern civilization from scratch.

MATHEMATICS

- Linear Algebra by Friedberg, Insel and Spence.

- Linear Algebra Done Right by Sheldon Axler

- Linear Algebra Done Wrong by Sergei Treil

- An Illustrative Guide to Multivariable and Vector Calculus

- Vector Calculus by Tromba & Marsden

- Vector Calculus by Colley

PHYSICS

- Fundamentals of Physics by Jearl Walker

- The Theoretical Mimimum by Susskind

EXTRAS

- Measurement by Lockhart

- Code by Petzold

- Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

- Books by the ancient Greeks

Re: Ask HN: What content/knowledge is most important?

#74

Post by dozgon » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 3:20 PM UTC

uxcolumbo wrote: post #69

bananarchist wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Religious texts contain many lessons, fables, morals and parables about collaboration and cooperation, especially in contexts of extreme poverty, low tech scarcity, etc, the likes of which one would certainly be facing under this scenario. Don't blame the tools for how people have historically used them. I do, however, agree that it makes sense to include more than just the bible, as almost every sacred text is rich…

Yes, but there is a lot garbage and harmful stuff included… it adds too much noise. Take all the good stuff from those religions texts and create a new book using plain language.

How about ancient Greek philosophies (e.g., Aristotle, stoicism)?

Re: Ask HN: What content/knowledge is most important?

#75

Post by uxcolumbo » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 9:43 PM UTC

dozgon wrote: post #74

uxcolumbo wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but there is a lot garbage and harmful stuff included… it adds too much noise. Take all the good stuff from those religions texts and create a new book using plain language.

How about ancient Greek philosophies (e.g., Aristotle, stoicism)?

Yes, I think those are important… understanding the origins of democracy and the concept of eudaimonia etc.

Re: Ask HN: What content/knowledge is most important?

#76

Post by waste_monk » Mon, Oct 10, 2022, 5:32 AM UTC

ASalazarMX wrote: post #64

michelb wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have to make room for plenty of kitten videos though.

I hear kittens are always ready to make more kitten videos, as long as kittens survive we can rebuild those from scratch.

I recall reading somewhere in the event of an apocalypse you'd need at least ~150 breeding pairs of humans to be able to recover (I think that's with no safety margin either), and it would take generations of careful management to prevent inbreeding and genetic weirdness.

I wonder how many cats you'd need? I would think it would be much higher as I assume superfecundation would drastically increase the risk of inbreeding.

Re: Ask HN: What content/knowledge is most important?

#77

Post by v-erne » Mon, Oct 10, 2022, 7:54 AM UTC

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #67

uxcolumbo wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the bible and not other religious text? Why include religion at all, which to me did more harm than good. Why not include books about how to cooperate and collaborate with other ppl and why it’s necessary for societies to survive.

> Why the bible and not other religious text? > Why include religion at all, which to me did more harm than good. Well, The Bible has the small advantage of being true. > Why not include books about how to cooperate and collaborate with other ppl and why it’s necessary for societies to survive. ...like The Bible? I defy you to actually follow the teachings of the NT at least and not get cooperation and collaboration…

>> Well, The Bible has the small advantage of being true

What does it even mean its true? It's so convoluted and inprecise that most of the texts require interpretation and works only as high level metaphors. This claim is as meaningless as calling it the good book.

Re: Ask HN: What content/knowledge is most important?

#78

Post by lcordier » Mon, Oct 10, 2022, 12:14 PM UTC

How about some books about retro computing. Simple computing might be the only thing you'll have after a solar/EMP event.

"The Art of Electronics" "ARRL Handbook" "Digital Logic and Computer Design" but you might want these in paper format.

The various PDF specs, so that you can construct a PDF viewer if you have to for your other books.

A simpler Linux (source/(cross)compiler/tool-chain) everything that you need to bootstrap a new system. All your favorite apps + source like a PDF/Epub viewers. https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

Maybe CPU gets destroyed and all you got left are bulkier Micro-controllers. http://collapseos.org/

Programming languages code/specs for things like ASM/Forth/C/Lisp/Scheme (Python, please let Python survive ;)

I would opt for a curated list of books, quality over quantity.

Survival + Prepper books could also come in handy. https://theprepared.com/prepping-basics/reviews/best-prepper...

There is also other organizations that compile lists, but I cannot quickly find them now.

Hope you find it helpful.

Re: Ask HN: What content/knowledge is most important?

#79

Post by map_enthusiast » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 8:04 AM UTC

folli wrote: post #13

arisbe__ wrote: post #4

Well if I could just impart one idea or concept it would be similar to Feynman's quote: >“If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generations of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is the atomic hypothesis (or the atomic fact, or whatever you wish to call it) that all things are made…

That naturally shows Feynman's bias as a physicists. A biologist would very likely answer that the concept of evolution should be first on the list of ideas to preserve. A mathematician will yet have another answer...

Hi I just saw that you created https://cubetrek.com/, have you tried fatmap.com? I tried to answer on your topic but it was already locked. So I thought about dropping a message here, if you want to create another thread we can also talk about maps there.