Can water solve a maze? [video]

Post by mhink » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 8:09 PM UTC

chriswarbo wrote: post #100

s-macke wrote: post #4

If you are using a gas rather than a liquid, it is even simpler. Just set a high pressure at the beginning and a low pressure at the end. The gas will automatically follow the steepest part of the pressure gradient. The static solution can be calculated by solving the Poisson equation. In [1] you can see a small implementation of the idea. [1] https://simulationcorner.net/maze/

This reminds me of Collaborative Diffusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_diffusion A classic example is programming the ghosts in pacman to trap the player, which seems to require a sophisticated, collaborative strategy. Instead, a much simpler solution is to make a "pacman smell" diffuse through the maze: - The cell containing pacman has its "smell" clamped to 1 - Cells containing walls and ghosts have…

Post by frivfkg » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 8:20 PM UTC

krisoft wrote: post #81

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But even if we constrain ourselves to one entrance, one exit mazes with a single solution path you can trivially construct a maze inside a large room without connecting it to the walls. Thus creating a third piece to the maze. I would be intrigued to see that "trivial" solution - how do you prevent there being two routes (and thus solutions) around the third piece without connecting it to the wall?

I see what you are saying, yes the maze wouldn't have only a single solution after the construction of an inner maze.

Post by Georgelemental » Tue, Apr 04, 2023, 3:40 AM UTC

btilly wrote: post #115

mywacaday wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's great about this video and the discussion is that something as familiar as water can have new and non intuitive things to learn about it. Are there any other examples of common things that have non obvious behaviour from every day experience?

If you pump air through sand, it turns into a fluid. https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/royal-institution-fluid... An important example application is in getting grain to flow smoothly out of a grain silo. Some substances are "non-Newtonian fluids" meaning that they are liquid normally but turn solid under pressure. Famously, a mixture of cornstarch and water does this, which kids can have endless fun with: https:/…

Post by AltruisticGapHN » Tue, Apr 04, 2023, 8:54 AM UTC

munchbunny wrote: post #34

AltruisticGapHN wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The simulation theory simply postpones the hard problem of consciousness. It's like a magician trick, pulling wool over the eyes, moving your attention away from the real problem long enough, so that you stop thinking about it.

How so? By “hard problem” do you mean defining what consciousness is?

Post by Terretta » Tue, Apr 04, 2023, 9:18 AM UTC

pwagland wrote: post #60

pxeger1 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can make a maze with only one path (other than paths that double back on themselves), but has three pieces: https://i.imgur.io/R4j6TH3_d.png I think this is basically a flaw in the intuitive definition (or maybe only my intuitive definition) of "doubling back".

Except that this maze clearly has at least two solutions. Straight through the corridor, or via the loop. And that's assuming you don't wander around the loops n times.