4 ms·

> I think that most smart people underestimate the complexity of fields they aren’t in. And people deep in new technologies overestimate the potential effect o

> I think that most smart people underestimate the complexity of fields they aren’t in. And people deep in new technologies overestimate the potential effect of $new_tech_du_jour. You cannot solve a problem without understanding it and its reasons. And LLMs are not able to understand something.

pixl97 2y ago
People have solved problems for most of history without understanding them. For example problems can be brute forced.
- suddenlybananas 2y ago
  For example, "wild generalization that has no basis."
- bluefirebrand 2y ago
  You cannot brute force a problem without understanding the problem I think you have mistaken "understanding the problem" with "knowing a solution to the problem"
  - hackable_sand 2y ago
    You can brute force a problem without understanding the problem.
    - bluefirebrand 2y ago
      Would you be kind enough to give an example of this? I disagree, but I'm open to being convinced I just don't think you can solve a problem in any way without understanding it first, at least at a high level I think if you know a solution you want to reach then you can work backwards from it in a brute force way to reach the solution you want But I don't think you can take a problem where you aren't sure what the solution is and brute force the solution without understanding the problem
      - pixl97 2y ago
        What I think we have here is a problem with definitions and scope. For example does your definition of problem demand a problem only exists if a human consciously thinks of it? If no, then almost every single 'problem' that's ever existed was solved by the random walk of genetics. Nature has 'solved' some of the most difficult energy conservation optimizations in living systems with nothing but time and randomness. Think of how many problems had to be solved over time to go from an animal that swims to one that flys?

pixl97 2y ago

People have solved problems for most of history without understanding them. For example problems can be brute forced.

suddenlybananas 2y ago
For example, "wild generalization that has no basis."
bluefirebrand 2y ago
You cannot brute force a problem without understanding the problem I think you have mistaken "understanding the problem" with "knowing a solution to the problem"
- hackable_sand 2y ago
  You can brute force a problem without understanding the problem.
  - bluefirebrand 2y ago
    Would you be kind enough to give an example of this? I disagree, but I'm open to being convinced I just don't think you can solve a problem in any way without understanding it first, at least at a high level I think if you know a solution you want to reach then you can work backwards from it in a brute force way to reach the solution you want But I don't think you can take a problem where you aren't sure what the solution is and brute force the solution without understanding the problem
    - pixl97 2y ago
      What I think we have here is a problem with definitions and scope. For example does your definition of problem demand a problem only exists if a human consciously thinks of it? If no, then almost every single 'problem' that's ever existed was solved by the random walk of genetics. Nature has 'solved' some of the most difficult energy conservation optimizations in living systems with nothing but time and randomness. Think of how many problems had to be solved over time to go from an animal that swims to one that flys?