4 ms·

So they shouldn't be interested in learning about it?

by vecter 16y ago

amichail 16y ago
But why this as opposed to a whole host of other things that they might learn instead? I think people should think more carefully about how they spend their time.
- mquander 16y ago
  If you're being sincere, I suggest that this is the generally-held position on this thread of discussion: A) A lot of people are immensely fascinated by questions in theoretical science and mathematics, including P=NP. B) A lot of people enjoy learning about things regardless of obvious utility. Personally, my choice of topics to spend time studying has nothing to do with whether it will pay off for me at some point. It's a pleasant luxury of modern life that many people can afford to do that. C) If you are in camps A and B, it seems extremely arrogant and insulting when you suggest "Why this?" and "I think people should think more carefully about how they spend their time." Since you seem to have no perception of why anyone is fascinated by this work, it appears completely nonsensical to suggest these things to communities populated with a bunch of people who are clearly interested in it, or to readers of a big blog post discussing it. If you really have something to say about points A or B, or something else, I wish you would say it instead of wrapping it in these bizarre, judgemental insults.
  - amichail 16y ago
    Basically this interest in P!=NP is like yielding to authority. I would like to decide for myself what's worth studying -- not have it dictated to me. Having said this, of course anyone who has an interest in computing should know what the P vs NP problem is about, but learning enough to be able to follow proof strategy for P vs NP is another matter.
    - mquander 16y ago
      I think the interest in P=NP specifically is for two reasons besides authority: - Anyone with a little bit of CS or programming background can understand the formulation of the problem, similar to how anyone can understand Fermat's Last Theorem. - There are only so many open problems that anyone can understand. Open problems are interesting to casual observers since they represent a boundary between the known and unknown, and since they invite the imagination to think up ways to attack them. Once you've invested yourself a little bit in the problem for these reasons, I think it's natural curiosity to want to spend twenty or thirty minutes, or more, learning about the outline of a novel proof strategy. That said, this article was a general introduction to what the problem is about, not a description of the proof.
- vecter 16y ago
  Who are you to say how I should spend my time?
- hc 16y ago
  youre so full of it -- you say this at the same time you have been karma whoring by submitting comments from liptons blog posts on P vs NP to this website, so which one is it, is the problem interesting and newsworthy or not?
- BrandonM 16y ago
  > I think people should think more carefully about how they spend their time. I'm surprised that no one has yet commented on the irony of this statement. You are implying that you thought carefully about how to spend your time and decided that a good way to spend it would be telling other people they don't think carefully enough about how to spend their time. Indeed... much better to spend your time arguing on the Internet than learning something new.

So they shouldn't be interested in learning about it?

by vecter 16y ago

So they shouldn't be interested in learning about it?

But why this as opposed to a whole host of other things that they might learn instead? I think people should think more carefully about how they spend their time.

mquander 16y ago
If you're being sincere, I suggest that this is the generally-held position on this thread of discussion: A) A lot of people are immensely fascinated by questions in theoretical science and mathematics, including P=NP. B) A lot of people enjoy learning about things regardless of obvious utility. Personally, my choice of topics to spend time studying has nothing to do with whether it will pay off for me at some point. It's a pleasant luxury of modern life that many people can afford to do that. C) If you are in camps A and B, it seems extremely arrogant and insulting when you suggest "Why this?" and "I think people should think more carefully about how they spend their time." Since you seem to have no perception of why anyone is fascinated by this work, it appears completely nonsensical to suggest these things to communities populated with a bunch of people who are clearly interested in it, or to readers of a big blog post discussing it. If you really have something to say about points A or B, or something else, I wish you would say it instead of wrapping it in these bizarre, judgemental insults.
- amichail 16y ago
  Basically this interest in P!=NP is like yielding to authority. I would like to decide for myself what's worth studying -- not have it dictated to me. Having said this, of course anyone who has an interest in computing should know what the P vs NP problem is about, but learning enough to be able to follow proof strategy for P vs NP is another matter.
  - mquander 16y ago
    I think the interest in P=NP specifically is for two reasons besides authority: - Anyone with a little bit of CS or programming background can understand the formulation of the problem, similar to how anyone can understand Fermat's Last Theorem. - There are only so many open problems that anyone can understand. Open problems are interesting to casual observers since they represent a boundary between the known and unknown, and since they invite the imagination to think up ways to attack them. Once you've invested yourself a little bit in the problem for these reasons, I think it's natural curiosity to want to spend twenty or thirty minutes, or more, learning about the outline of a novel proof strategy. That said, this article was a general introduction to what the problem is about, not a description of the proof.
vecter 16y ago
Who are you to say how I should spend my time?
hc 16y ago
youre so full of it -- you say this at the same time you have been karma whoring by submitting comments from liptons blog posts on P vs NP to this website, so which one is it, is the problem interesting and newsworthy or not?
BrandonM 16y ago
> I think people should think more carefully about how they spend their time. I'm surprised that no one has yet commented on the irony of this statement. You are implying that you thought carefully about how to spend your time and decided that a good way to spend it would be telling other people they don't think carefully enough about how to spend their time. Indeed... much better to spend your time arguing on the Internet than learning something new.