4 ms·

Is interest in GA just a local fashion or there are objective reasons in recent revival of interest?

m4r35n357 7y ago
I never got the hang of direction of cross products, still don't know which hand rules to use for eg motors & generators (well I think I knew once but as never at ease). This looks like what I wished I had learned instead!
dktoao 7y ago
Read a little bit of the introduction. If you are familiar with using complex numbers and vector cross products, you will see the advantage pretty quickly
Koshkin 7y ago
I think it's both. Still, in the manner it's happening, the surging abundance of tutorials on Geometric Algebra somehow feels worrisome. This looks all too similar to the ever growing number of guides on what are monads and how to use them in programming. For most people - kind of makes sense, sort of interesting, sometimes inspiring, practically useless...
- virgil_disgr4ce 7y ago
  Why does it worry you?
  - Koshkin 7y ago
    This is almost like, for instance, why are there so many popular accounts on quantum mechanics (and new ones keep popping up every so often). This makes me think they are all wrong somehow (and to a significant degree they indeed are - which is quite understandable in this case, as QM is a tricky subject); looks like that's what the author of the next one should think, too.
- monoideism 7y ago
  If you're using a functional programming languages, monads are actually quite useful. It's not just a theoretical thing. I can see how you might not want to use them in JavaScript (although many folks do), but it's quite natural to use them in Scala, Haskell, or OCaml.
virgil_disgr4ce 7y ago
I also have noticed the sudden and relatively intense interest in this subject: there have been at LEAST 3-4 front-page-ranking links on HN in just the past week (that I've seen at least). An interesting spontaneous zeitgeist in the comp-sci & related communities.

I never got the hang of direction of cross products, still don't know which hand rules to use for eg motors & generators (well I think I knew once but as never at ease). This looks like what I wished I had learned instead!

dktoao 7y ago

Read a little bit of the introduction. If you are familiar with using complex numbers and vector cross products, you will see the advantage pretty quickly

Koshkin 7y ago

I think it's both. Still, in the manner it's happening, the surging abundance of tutorials on Geometric Algebra somehow feels worrisome. This looks all too similar to the ever growing number of guides on what are monads and how to use them in programming. For most people - kind of makes sense, sort of interesting, sometimes inspiring, practically useless...

virgil_disgr4ce 7y ago
Why does it worry you?
- Koshkin 7y ago
  This is almost like, for instance, why are there so many popular accounts on quantum mechanics (and new ones keep popping up every so often). This makes me think they are all wrong somehow (and to a significant degree they indeed are - which is quite understandable in this case, as QM is a tricky subject); looks like that's what the author of the next one should think, too.
monoideism 7y ago
If you're using a functional programming languages, monads are actually quite useful. It's not just a theoretical thing. I can see how you might not want to use them in JavaScript (although many folks do), but it's quite natural to use them in Scala, Haskell, or OCaml.

virgil_disgr4ce 7y ago

I also have noticed the sudden and relatively intense interest in this subject: there have been at LEAST 3-4 front-page-ranking links on HN in just the past week (that I've seen at least). An interesting spontaneous zeitgeist in the comp-sci & related communities.