Here's a vote for an HN black bar. Dyson's work was incredible.
[deleted]
Freeman Dyson Has Died
31–40 of 267 posts
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#32Noted physicist slain by oldest foe, gravity: "Mia Dyson says her father, at the age of 96 still regularly went to his office at Princeton University. On Wednesday, on such a visit, she says he suffered a fall and died of his injuries Friday morning." TBIs and elder falling are a terrifying source of morbidity and mortality. So many old people start their terminal decline when they fall, for no particularly good reas…
Everyone dies of something. At the high end of geriatrics, with immune system decaying and bones hollowing out, nearly everything is a fatal risk.
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#33He was interesting character partially because he believed in God. This is actually quite rare at the very upper echelons of the scientific community.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson#Science_and_reli... Seems more complicated than that > I am a practicing Christian but not a believing Christian. To me, to worship God means to recognize that mind and intelligence are woven into the fabric of our universe in a way that altogether surpasses our comprehension
>To me, to worship God means to recognize that mind and intelligence are woven into the fabric of our universe in a way that altogether surpasses our comprehension
Doesn't sound very falsifiable.
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#34"When I listen to the public debates about climate change, I am impressed by the enormous gaps in our knowledge, the sparseness of our observations and the superficiality of our theories" "We have no reason to think that climate change is harmful if you look at the world as a whole. Most places, in fact, are better off being warmer than being colder. And historically, the really bad times for the environment and for…
the ridiculously hot summers in Australasia resulting in bushfires, famine and drought... seas taking over the cities are all demonstrable effects of climate change.
Did he live in UK? Yea the winter was milder I guess.
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#35Here's a vote for an HN black bar. Dyson's work was incredible.
I think prevailing opinion here is that it should be left to the admins. The black bar is not a measure of the notability of someone's contributions, but rather is about their connection or impact to YC/HN (and the HN community).
Personally I agree with that. The newspapers will have great obituaries anyway.
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#36What a loss. There's a fantastic and epic interview with him on youtube here[1]. He tells stories of famous people he knew, meeting Wittgenstein, arguing with Teller, going on a road trip across the country with Feynman etc. Solid gold stuff.
I've heard occasional attacks on him over the bombings of Dresden and Hamburg. But I think this is worth a read[2]. He speaks very frankly about what they did and his involvement. It's clear how he felt about it, but he never tries to make excuses for himself. That impressed me about his character in a way that's hard to explain.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzDA6mtmKQE...
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#37Rest in Peace. And amazing example of academic and intellectual success sans-phd.
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#38"When I listen to the public debates about climate change, I am impressed by the enormous gaps in our knowledge, the sparseness of our observations and the superficiality of our theories" "We have no reason to think that climate change is harmful if you look at the world as a whole. Most places, in fact, are better off being warmer than being colder. And historically, the really bad times for the environment and for…
the ridiculously hot summers in Australasia resulting in bushfires, famine and drought... seas taking over the cities are all demonstrable effects of climate change. Did he live in UK? Yea the winter was milder I guess.
His point is, for every place that gets worse, someplace else will get better.
Small consolation if you live in one of the former places, of course. But he's not wrong. Earth as a whole is a bit colder than it would be in the best of all possible universes.
Other effects like ocean acidification are harder to hand-wave away. I hate cold weather, myself, but it's not just about terrestrial climate.
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
the ridiculously hot summers in Australasia resulting in bushfires, famine and drought... seas taking over the cities are all demonstrable effects of climate change. Did he live in UK? Yea the winter was milder I guess.
His point is, for every place that gets worse, someplace else will get better. Small consolation if you live in one of the former places, of course. But he's not wrong. Earth as a whole is a bit colder than it would be in the best of all possible universes. Other effects like ocean acidification are harder to hand-wave away. I hate cold weather, myself, but it's not just about terrestrial climate.
His point has been debunked time and time again. "Better" is a definition for the organisms that may inhabit a certain environment.
Under no reasonable time frame for human existence is his claim even close to valid.
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#40Url changed from https://twitter.com/gbrumfiel/status/1233434046266531840 to a more substantive article (via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22444492).