From a mathematical perspective, this is actually not that surprising. Think of the act of clicking the first link in the Wikipedia article as a function that takes in the page you're on and outputs another page. If you call this function on itself over and over again (ie use the output of one step as in the input of the next step), you will eventually enter a loop. The proof of this is simple: there are only a finit…
Show HN: Most Wikipedia articles lead to the same loop
121–130 of 171 posts
Re: Show HN: Most Wikipedia articles lead to the same loop
#122This is the shortest one I've found so far - http://wikiloopr.com/monty%20python
Re: Show HN: Most Wikipedia articles lead to the same loop
#123It's funny, but it's true that everything in life ultimately leads back to philosophy. As noted by XKCD, everything is based on something else: http://xkcd.com/435/ And I think after Maths on that should come Philosophy.
Re: Show HN: Most Wikipedia articles lead to the same loop
#124Shakespeare - 28 links. My personal best.
Re: Show HN: Most Wikipedia articles lead to the same loop
#125Re: Show HN: Most Wikipedia articles lead to the same loop
#126ironically, starting at "strange loop" avoids the repetitive philosophical argument
That works because somebody is being funny, and created a self referential strange loop inside Wikipedia. That's a good find you found. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_loops
Re: Show HN: Most Wikipedia articles lead to the same loop
#127Re: Show HN: Most Wikipedia articles lead to the same loop
#128The first word I tried — jeans — and it failed to make philosophy loop :) Apparently, any articles from generated list will fail too.
Jeans made the philosophy loop for me? http://i.imgur.com/rgMkh.png
Re: Show HN: Most Wikipedia articles lead to the same loop
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
ah so thats why the degree is called Doctor of Philosophy?! Thanks for the enlightenment! I've wondered quite a lot of times why I'm a Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science, and not Doctor of Computer Science.
I get that this is tongue-in-cheek, but philosophy as in "Doctor of Philosophy" doesn't refer to the field of philosophy per se, but to the more general concept of "love of knowledge."
In the context of academic degrees, the term "philosophy" does not refer solely to the field of philosophy, but is used in a broader sense in accordance with its original Greek meaning, which is "love of wisdom". In most of Europe, all fields other than theology, law and medicine were traditionally known as philosophy. The doctorate of philosophy as it exists today originated as a doctorate in the liberal arts at the Humboldt University of Berlin, and was eventually adopted by United States universities, becoming common in large parts of the world in the 20th century.[1] In many countries, the doctorate of philosophy is still awarded only in the liberal arts, which is known as "philosophy" in continental Europe.
Re: Show HN: Most Wikipedia articles lead to the same loop
#130But please don't go editing articles to improve the loops or otherwise change them. Unless of course the change is beneficial to the article.
It's like going for a walk somewhere fascinating; enjoy the view, but leave nothing behind :)