Ask HN: What would you work on if you couldn't fail?

#1

Post by rblion » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 10:36 PM UTC

I've been sprinting 10-16 hours a day for almost a month now. I feel cool, calm, and collected though.

A lot is happening in the world and in our industry but I am doing all I can to be part of the cure, not the cancer.

This gives me peace of mind and helps me adapt regardless of if YC backs me or not. I'm moving to Palo Alto regardless, just being in the zip code alone will be enough at this point.

Re: Ask HN: What would you work on if you couldn't fail?

#2

Post by bell-cot » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 11:39 PM UTC

Time travel.

Re: Ask HN: What would you work on if you couldn't fail?

#3

Post by mikewarot » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 1:02 AM UTC

I strongly believe the von Neumann architecture is a premature optimization. I want to bring bit level systolic array chips into reality and democratize access to petaflops.

Re: Ask HN: What would you work on if you couldn't fail?

#4

Post by chistev » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 3:18 AM UTC

A personal blog that ends up becoming the biggest in the world.

Re: Ask HN: What would you work on if you couldn't fail?

#5

Post by sslayer » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 3:52 AM UTC

bell-cot wrote: post #2

Time travel.

Perpetual energy, Zero point energy, warp drive, gravity manipulation, teleportation

Re: Ask HN: What would you work on if you couldn't fail?

#6

Post by throwaway843 » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 4:12 AM UTC

Ascension。

Re: Ask HN: What would you work on if you couldn't fail?

#7

Post by bitbasher » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 5:51 AM UTC

Prevent cancer?

Re: Ask HN: What would you work on if you couldn't fail?

#8

Post by muzani » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 7:20 AM UTC

bitbasher wrote: post #7

Prevent cancer?

Why cancer specifically? Why not say, diabetes or heart disease?

Re: Ask HN: What would you work on if you couldn't fail?

#9

Post by fuzzfactor » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 8:53 AM UTC

I'd be working on the same old things, but with a whole lot better luck :)

Re: Ask HN: What would you work on if you couldn't fail?

#10

Post by hiAndrewQuinn » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 11:48 AM UTC

Existential risk from superintelligent AI, naturally. Even if it turns out to not be a risk I'd sleep a lot easier at night with an ironclad mathematical proof of why exactly it isn't on the presses. And if it is a risk, it's almost certainly the most important thing anyone could work on right now.

I'm interpreting "can't fail" as "guaranteed to succeed one way or another", here.