Farewell, Marvin Minsky • Hacker News Board

Re: Farewell, Marvin Minsky

#11

Post by apsec112 » Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 6:12 AM UTC

skewart wrote: post #9

daveguy wrote: post #2

30 links. 27 links to Wolfram and his products. 2 links to Minsky's work. 1 link to a mathematics geneology site (who was who's grad student). The math geneology site (not Wolfram) is pretty cool. Otherwise this is a particularly distasteful way to put out self-aggrandizing plugs. Edit: that math geneology site that shows all the students of Minsky (and their students, etc) -- http://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu…

I haven't read the post. I came here first to look for comments about Stephen Wolfram being a shameless self-promoter. Was not disappointed. [edited to change original wording which I realize was a bit over the top, and perhaps came across as closer to an attack on Wolfram than a characterization of how he is perceived by many HN commenters.] It does seem like every Wolfram-related thread here has more than a couple…

"delusional egomaniacal douche canoe"

Please don't use inflammatory rhetoric on HN. (This is not an endorsement of Wolfram.)

Re: Farewell, Marvin Minsky

#12

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 6:32 AM UTC

daveguy wrote: post #2

30 links. 27 links to Wolfram and his products. 2 links to Minsky's work. 1 link to a mathematics geneology site (who was who's grad student). The math geneology site (not Wolfram) is pretty cool. Otherwise this is a particularly distasteful way to put out self-aggrandizing plugs. Edit: that math geneology site that shows all the students of Minsky (and their students, etc) -- http://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu…

[deleted]

Re: Farewell, Marvin Minsky

#13

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 6:36 AM UTC

daveguy wrote: post #2

30 links. 27 links to Wolfram and his products. 2 links to Minsky's work. 1 link to a mathematics geneology site (who was who's grad student). The math geneology site (not Wolfram) is pretty cool. Otherwise this is a particularly distasteful way to put out self-aggrandizing plugs. Edit: that math geneology site that shows all the students of Minsky (and their students, etc) -- http://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu…

[deleted]

Re: Farewell, Marvin Minsky

#14

Post by endlessvoid94 » Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 6:51 AM UTC

daveguy wrote: post #2

30 links. 27 links to Wolfram and his products. 2 links to Minsky's work. 1 link to a mathematics geneology site (who was who's grad student). The math geneology site (not Wolfram) is pretty cool. Otherwise this is a particularly distasteful way to put out self-aggrandizing plugs. Edit: that math geneology site that shows all the students of Minsky (and their students, etc) -- http://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu…

> This picture is from one of the last times I saw Marvin. His health was failing, but he was keen to talk. Having watched more than 35 years of my life, he wanted to tell me his assessment: “You really did it, Steve.” Well, so did you, Marvin! (I’m always “Stephen”, but somehow Americans of a certain age have a habit of calling me “Steve”.)

Unreal. You're so great, Wolfram.

Re: Farewell, Marvin Minsky

#15

Post by skewart » Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 7:25 AM UTC

apsec112 wrote: post #11

skewart wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't read the post. I came here first to look for comments about Stephen Wolfram being a shameless self-promoter. Was not disappointed. [edited to change original wording which I realize was a bit over the top, and perhaps came across as closer to an attack on Wolfram than a characterization of how he is perceived by many HN commenters.] It does seem like every Wolfram-related thread here has more than a couple…

"delusional egomaniacal douche canoe" Please don't use inflammatory rhetoric on HN. (This is not an endorsement of Wolfram.)

Honestly, thanks for pointing out that what I said sounded inflammatory. The general civility and appreciation for thoughtful, measured posts is one of the best things about HN. I don't want to disturb that culture - it's all to rare.

Re: Farewell, Marvin Minsky

#16

Post by laichzeit0 » Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 8:02 AM UTC

endlessvoid94 wrote: post #14

daveguy wrote: post #2

30 links. 27 links to Wolfram and his products. 2 links to Minsky's work. 1 link to a mathematics geneology site (who was who's grad student). The math geneology site (not Wolfram) is pretty cool. Otherwise this is a particularly distasteful way to put out self-aggrandizing plugs. Edit: that math geneology site that shows all the students of Minsky (and their students, etc) -- http://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu…

> This picture is from one of the last times I saw Marvin. His health was failing, but he was keen to talk. Having watched more than 35 years of my life, he wanted to tell me his assessment: “You really did it, Steve.” Well, so did you, Marvin! (I’m always “Stephen”, but somehow Americans of a certain age have a habit of calling me “Steve”.) Unreal. You're so great, Wolfram.

Yeah this really irked me. He's reminiscing about someone who died and he really feels to need to validate his _own_ life's work. Who even knows if Minsky really said that.

Re: Farewell, Marvin Minsky

#17

Post by dang » Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 8:09 AM UTC

Hey everyone: What we can call Wolfram Derangement Syndrome—the vast indignation provoked in internet commenters by his vast self-reference—is off topic. Nothing so predictable can be interesting, and predictable rage reflexes are toxic.

The first few times this came up, years ago, it was worth noting. I laughed at the same parodies everyone else did. But by now, Wolfram's odd tic has long been commoditized, and it's our problem if we choose to dwell on it.

Wolfram has other things to say as well, and many of them—recently about Ada Lovelace, George Boole, and now Minsky—are interesting. Those are the things HN should be discussing.

It's a test for this community: can we stay focused on what's interesting? Or must we lose our shit every time the catnip is wiggled?

There are gems in this article that would stimulate a good HN discussion under normal circumstances. Let us put on our anti-troll suits and give that a try.

Re: Farewell, Marvin Minsky

#18

Post by gypsyharlot » Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 9:42 AM UTC

Wolfram is self-promoting even in goodbyes to the departed now? Yikes, I didn't think it could get any worse...

Re: Farewell, Marvin Minsky

#19

Post by throwawaymaroon » Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 10:00 AM UTC

dang wrote: post #17

Hey everyone: What we can call Wolfram Derangement Syndrome—the vast indignation provoked in internet commenters by his vast self-reference—is off topic. Nothing so predictable can be interesting, and predictable rage reflexes are toxic. The first few times this came up, years ago, it was worth noting. I laughed at the same parodies everyone else did. But by now, Wolfram's odd tic has long been commoditized, and it's…

I confess I gave up very quickly reading this and came to the comments to see my point of view espoused, which was not so much that Wolfram is a "predictable rage reflex" (a phrase I like) but that there is recognition of this reflex and there is some solace in commiseration. It is comforting somehow that it is you that is trying to cut down on that commiseration even as you are here recognizing it.

There is a mirror to your point here, which is: it's a meaningful test if we can recognize the truths of criticism even if it is expressed in a (supposedly) socially objectionable way.

Wolfram's behavior is unproductive. Yes, we all know it is a predictable tic. But it is not any less deplorable for that: shameful things must be shamed: this is the tactic of your own moderation, dang.

Re: Farewell, Marvin Minsky

#20

Post by lispm » Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 10:34 AM UTC

ericjang wrote: post #3

I wasn't aware that Danny Hillis was a student of Minsky's and that the Connection Machine mainframe series was created with brain simulation in mind. That's really cool. When thinking about implementing the network topology for a large-scale brain simulation, the network topology should reflect the 3D spatial local-ness of the real brain (to avoid redundant N x N communication between units). One seems to either arr…

Not necessarily brain simulations, but generally connectionist AI software. Put a graph into the machine and have operations on the graph be computed in a parallel fashion. Propagate information over the graph connections...

Thinking Machines as a company struggled with defining the target market: was it a machine for AI algorithms or was it a more general machine. See it's use with Fortran, doing more traditional stuff, not AI.