Live data from Hacker News

“Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

english.stackexchange.com

61–70 of 166 posts

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#61
post #53
post #34

The top answer is a picture of the use of Yxa in a Swedish alphabet learning book, yet there's still people here clinging to the yellow paint tube theory. Incredible. Not sure what cognitive bias is at play here (or more charitably: perhaps they didn't scroll down). EDIT: Some say these are pictures of a paint tube and some yellow paint: https://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com/2014/01/08/my-carving... The fact that an…

That top answer is hardly conclusive - it's definitely a possibility, but given the weird choices in the art for the "axe" (bendy handle, not a defined edge at the bottom) - I buy it could have been a yellow paint tube. Nouns beginning with Y are not exactly easy to come across (the official "Yo-Yo" is hardly as common as the other words on the ball), and as has been pointed out, it's entirely possible the art was wo…

> Nouns beginning with Y are not exactly easy to come across

There are a lot of animals on this ball. How about "Yak"?

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#62
post #52
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a shame that the internet devolved into cat pictures, pervasive advertisements, and political shouting matches. On the other hand, there are still some great communities out there for great discussion. I consider HN to be one of them.

It didn't devolve - it expanded. There is still plenty of great content out there, it's just mixed with a lot of other content of varying quality.

Maybe "diluted" is a fitting word.

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

another example that there is not enough work to go around is that if you go into any downtown anywhere in the world at 7 pm to 8 p.m. you will see people drinking beer in bars. These same people could still be working, since there is no reason they shouldn't be in an office, factory, etc, for a full 14-hour workday. Clearly there is just not enough work to go around, which manifests itself as people sitting around d…

Children are the same way. All that time they spend playing could be spent in a factory making sneakers.

I don't know about your kids, but mine would make some shitty sneakers :-)

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#65
post #34

The top answer is a picture of the use of Yxa in a Swedish alphabet learning book, yet there's still people here clinging to the yellow paint tube theory. Incredible. Not sure what cognitive bias is at play here (or more charitably: perhaps they didn't scroll down). EDIT: Some say these are pictures of a paint tube and some yellow paint: https://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com/2014/01/08/my-carving... The fact that an…

Probably people trying to come up with different answers for the points.

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#66
post #34

The top answer is a picture of the use of Yxa in a Swedish alphabet learning book, yet there's still people here clinging to the yellow paint tube theory. Incredible. Not sure what cognitive bias is at play here (or more charitably: perhaps they didn't scroll down). EDIT: Some say these are pictures of a paint tube and some yellow paint: https://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com/2014/01/08/my-carving... The fact that an…

Probably people trying to come up with different answers for the points.

I get that they do on the linked page, as they are working through the problem.

What I don't understand is they do it here, with the benefit of having all the information laid out before them.

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#67
post #53
post #34

The top answer is a picture of the use of Yxa in a Swedish alphabet learning book, yet there's still people here clinging to the yellow paint tube theory. Incredible. Not sure what cognitive bias is at play here (or more charitably: perhaps they didn't scroll down). EDIT: Some say these are pictures of a paint tube and some yellow paint: https://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com/2014/01/08/my-carving... The fact that an…

That top answer is hardly conclusive - it's definitely a possibility, but given the weird choices in the art for the "axe" (bendy handle, not a defined edge at the bottom) - I buy it could have been a yellow paint tube. Nouns beginning with Y are not exactly easy to come across (the official "Yo-Yo" is hardly as common as the other words on the ball), and as has been pointed out, it's entirely possible the art was wo…

I mean they managed to get xylophone.

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#68

This reminds me of the scene in Silicon Valley where Peter Gregory notices the popularity of Burger King, the number of sesame seeds they use, and remembers that sesame seeds only grow in Myanmar, Brazil, and Indonesia - the former two of which have large Cicada populations that emerge at different times. After some research, he finds that this is about to occur simultaneously in both countries for the first time in…

i certainly have to agree entirely with what you said. i just recently got into watching silicon valley and have been binge watching it, and you definitely have a point with how the analysis in the top answer is very reminiscent of the mentality that Peter Gregory would so frequently display.

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#70
post #23

This is the kind of deep investigation of a super specific issue I always enjoy reading. This is what I thought the internet would be, 20 years ago.

It's a sign of a "cognitive surplus", because we have more educated people now than we have jobs for them to do. Also it's a sign of how these sites get people to work for them for free, and concentrate huge amounts of other people's work for their own benefit. This poster got nothing for all that work, but SE still gets advertising revenue driven by interest in the content.

And then there's a community discussing the work and it's motivations. Maybe people is driven more by curiosity than money.
Post reply on HN