westoncb

66 ms·

601.
by westoncb 8y ago
I said it was basically the idea of 'precedents' in law—previous court decisions increase the likelihood the the court will decide the same way in the future. And I pointed out that that probably helps to prevent legal systems fro
602.
by westoncb 8y ago
Interesting. I've also considered myself on the slow end of the thinking-speed spectrum, and have the other memory traits too: not so good with precision/particulars (instead I depend on being able to go back to sources as necessa
603.
by westoncb 8y ago
I've been thinking a bit about this phenomenon recently. It seemed like a vague sort of problem I was having in various contexts (first time I noticed it was working on math problems), but there wasn't a good way of stating it wit
604.
by westoncb 8y ago
We also have this in certain corners of the U.S.: A: "'sup [man]?" B: "'sup?" (It's also stated only has like a half-question or less—the usual question lilt is deemphasized.)
605.
by westoncb 8y ago
I think a key aspect to the situation though is that you won't get faster by trying to get faster. Of all places, I learned this while working in a grocery store, but have since verified the phenomenon in other domains (for example, re
606.
by westoncb 8y ago
This used to frustrate me too, but gradually my position on the matter has shifted. There's a difference between really trying to solve some problem versus engaging in conversation with someone. I understand the temptation to insist
607.
by westoncb 8y ago
Yep, that's been a huge problem for me too. I've put lots of time into thinking deeply about interaction design issues, and implementing solutions to them (mostly in the context of developing new kinds of programming tools). I&#x2
608.
by westoncb 8y ago
Reading this reminded me of my parents sitting on their patio, complaining about the neighbor's air-conditioning unit. I wouldn't even notice the sound it was making until they said something—but for for them, being so tuned into
609.
by westoncb 8y ago
> What if animations started at a slightly slower speed, and gradually increased in speed the more you used them? That's an interesting idea. Or how about if the initiation of a new animated action forced already running animations
610.
by westoncb 8y ago
I've been wondering this for years. It seems like the most obvious way to greatly improve CLIs, yet no one seems to talk about it...
611.
by westoncb 8y ago
Well the interesting thing would be if that old lesson were violated. Of course it's sealed forever for a specific definition of 'compute,' but I'm still open to the idea that we find something which resembles computatio
612.
by westoncb 8y ago
Thanks for the replay curious_yogurt. As far as going back to primary sources, I did that initially but it seemed to me like he was making flawed arguments—either that or I just was totally failing to follow the logic. That's where I e
613.
by westoncb 8y ago
Absolutely agreed. I eventually finished a CS degree, but what I learned from it was a little speck next to what I'd learned outside of it (even measuring right after graduation). I believe the only thing of lasting value I got from th
614.
by westoncb 8y ago
I think the best way to learn architecture is to try (and initially fail) to do some projects which make demands on your architecture abilities. I'd recommend writing some frameworks or engines (without worrying about fully completing
615.
by westoncb 8y ago
That is not a book on architecture. I like the book too, but it just doesn't have anything to do with architecture.
616.
by westoncb 8y ago
> No, I'm actually saying that everything is QM I assumed that's what you're saying. I'm familiar with the viewpoint that classical physics is a pragmatic approximation to QM for macro phenomena. > About the pilot
617.
by westoncb 8y ago
That, I can totally agree with. But again, I strongly disagree that Plato is the best way of practicing, or even a good way of practicing (in comparison to the authors we now have access to, or perhaps had access to even hundreds of years
618.
by westoncb 8y ago
> Physical objects, events, and processes, and the correlations between them, are all patterns in the experiences of minds But there is no evidence of such minds, right? We have no ideas about where or what they are, or actually anything
619.
by westoncb 8y ago
> and I don't believe there are any good reasons to believe that materialism is more likely to be true than idealism. You poke someone in the brain (or drop some chemicals in there), their behavior changes. This is a pretty good rea
620.
by westoncb 8y ago
I think the tougher thing would be to find any specific ideas of something that is correct. But I'll give you an easy incorrect one: his 'tripartite theory of the soul'. See what really gets me about people still recommending
621.
by westoncb 8y ago
I've already taken in intro philosophy class. Furthermore, I've been debating philosophical points with friends since I was a kid—and since I've grown up two of my good friends who I spent multiple years talking philosophy wi
622.
by westoncb 8y ago
Sure, I agree about the history—and I have already read a decent amount of Plato, and multiple summaries. > Third, because good philosophy (including theology) is perennial, not tied to this or that era For historical relevance sure, but
623.
by westoncb 8y ago
> But this just scratches the surface. I'd be curious to hear about any others. Additionally, my understanding is that his actual argumentation is generally pretty bad and he's really just trying to convince people of things th
624.
by westoncb 8y ago
I've probably read a hundred or so pages on my own, and 'recaps' by Russel, Durant, and have spoken with practicing philosophers about him. I have enough exposure that I've been able to make much more sense of why later
625.
by westoncb 8y ago
This also called giving someone the 'benefit of the doubt.' It's clearly necessary for a fair reading. The extreme form advocated by the author, while potentially problematic, was more just a signal to me of bias. And that&#x
626.
by westoncb 8y ago
But there doesn't appear to be anything special about the 'mode of thinking', anymore . It was an extremely important innovation thousands of years ago. From my understanding it's basically habitual questioning of assum
627.
by westoncb 8y ago
> Make the assumption that Plato was a smart guy (A. N. Whitehead once wrote that all western philosophy is but a set of footnotes on Plato's dialogues...) and, if you find some place where there is a dumb way of reading the text an
628.
by westoncb 8y ago
You're statements attempt to negate the GP's claim that the macro is classical by saying that the micro is not classical. But that's the whole larger question we're trying to answer here, so asserting an answer in one di
629.
by westoncb 8y ago
I'd second this. I'm about halfway through the book right now and still being blown away. It's sort of like the version of 'Hackers' more appropriate to the version of me that has 14 more years engineering, design,
630.
by westoncb 8y ago
As a counterpoint, I have decent math chops and even do a lot of computational geometry professionally, and I really wanted to like "Geometry and the Imagination"—but for me I was till missing way too much information to figure ou

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