westoncb

98 ms·

811.
by westoncb 9y ago
> Anyway, I'd say that reality in this context means "subjective reality", the complex of our individual beliefs of what is real. That's exactly the problem: the phrase is an attempt to identify reality with 'the
812.
by westoncb 9y ago
> ...note that in the context of Dick's novels what is constructed is actual reality My understanding is that he used that as a metaphor for getting at this social construction of reality idea. Additionally, I take no issue with Dic
813.
by westoncb 9y ago
The above is my understanding of the situation too (based on E.A. Burtt's 'The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science', in my case). Additionally, in Kuhn's book, there is an abstract argument in addition to many exa
814.
by westoncb 9y ago
Hey wjnc. That's actually part of the problem I have with it. When you say: > ...for me 'constructing reality' really drives home that reality is subjective, a construct. That is a large part of why I take issue with the p
815.
by westoncb 9y ago
TL;DR — Phillip K. Dick's writing anticipated fake news. :P Alright, that's too much of a simplification, and the article is worth a read—but I'd warn that it's plagued by the annoying (and all too common) use of 'r
816.
by westoncb 9y ago
That's fair, I think I read your initial comment too quickly. And I should know better, I think we've spoken on here in the past :)
817.
by westoncb 9y ago
>... but our knowledge of the phenomenon is exactly equivalent to our knowledge of the math. I agree with that. > Ideally we would be writing our vague physics explanations in an oligosynthetic language where we could append phenomes
818.
Ask HN: Would Feynman be nearly as well known if it weren't for his personality?
1 points by westoncb 9y ago|1 comments
819.
by westoncb 9y ago
There is a '3' here, too. Which is that the explanation is more abstract than the equations, i.e. it carries less information but is still accurate in what it says. >... physics knowledge is math This would be hard to justify i
820.
by westoncb 9y ago
The Social Brain - Michael S. Gazzaniga (Relays a bunch of super interesting experiments done on 'split brain' patients with important consequences for normally functioning brains. Not at all gimmicky, doesn't read like a p
821.
by westoncb 9y ago
That's interesting to know, thanks. Regarding the 'cooperative' aspect, though—acquisitions might be falling a bit short of the ideal imo ;) But maybe it will be enough.
822.
by westoncb 9y ago
My understanding is we got programmable computers in large part because: 1) a bunch of scientific/engineering advances we were in a position to make were bottlenecked by massive amounts of 'boring' calculations 2) Some of tho
823.
by westoncb 9y ago
> at some level of interpretation everything can be a higher-level runtime. I don't see how everything can be considered a higher-level runtime. The concept of an execution environment just doesn't map to everything, unless you
824.
by westoncb 9y ago
But physics is the 'runtime' for everything at some level of interpretation. I point out this other hypothetical system because it's possible for 'higher-level' runtimes to emerge from lower-level physicals rules, a
825.
by westoncb 9y ago
I was somewhat avoiding bringing that up just because, in theory, every physical 'system' in the universe just boils down to physics—and this question gets pretty close to the line between where it's useful to start talking a
826.
by westoncb 9y ago
> The source is elegant, but the programs are even more amazing, in my humble opinion. Makes me curious about the 'runtime' which makes their impressive execution possible—granting that the analogy has definite limitations and
827.
by westoncb 9y ago
That's been my main question about this project as well. It does seem gratifying to a certain extent to use all physical objects—but I wonder if that can make up for the tradeoff of not being able to spontaneously generate any kind of
828.
by westoncb 9y ago
Author here: I'm mostly wondering if this is a direction people have looked into before, or if it might be interesting after all, or if anyone can point out to me why it's probably nonsense :)
829.
Thoughts on how to find alternate algebra-like systems(westoncb.blogspot.com)
3 points by westoncb 9y ago|1 comments
830.
by westoncb 9y ago
> This seems like an extremely common problem in computing. I agree—I see it all over the place. It's what you get for a UI by default, if you don't take any extra measures to seek an effective design: you just expose program i
831.
by westoncb 9y ago
I think this is a commonly recognized issue—for instance, here is some research explicitly addressing the problem: https://spderosso.github.io/onward13.pdf ("What's Wrong with Git? A Conceptual Design Analysis&quo
832.
by westoncb 9y ago
At the moment I am still working as a 3d graphics programmer, as a freelancer. I probably wouldn't do that except that I have some bills I need to pay off quickly—or I'd only do it part time. What I'm trying out for now is wo
833.
by westoncb 9y ago
She clearly states that she is not a developer. For most of the article she is working in 'Customer Success,' and often distinguishes herself and her cohort from the engineers. In fact, it seems that a major theme in the article i
834.
by westoncb 9y ago
I think this is inevitable as long as what you're using your tech knowledge for does not relate to a goal you value. There can be intrinsic interestingness in ideas, but there has to be a connection back to what they might be used for.
835.
by westoncb 9y ago
Really makes me wonder how such a brilliant person spends their time once they're not preoccupied with work. The article wasn't too clear on the precise timeline, but it sounded like there was over a decade where we're told h
836.
by westoncb 9y ago
Maybe I've missed something. I'm not sure what's magical about someone shouting that their smartphone is a prison. Do you see yourself using this as an alternative to your current computer/phone? For the things I use com
837.
by westoncb 9y ago
Yep. And when you think that's bad, then you see some of the comments here which appear to be aping it for free...
838.
by westoncb 9y ago
The parent made a good point, and your comment is completely unrelated although it purports to be an argument against it.
839.
by westoncb 9y ago
I've spent a decent amount of time looking at Dynamicland-related things, and it seems consistently grandiose + vague. Maybe it's just that the material they're putting out is more for investors than other hackers. Not sure.
840.
by westoncb 9y ago
Would be cool if they projected the code onto the card rather than printing it—that way it doesn't get stale, and more re-use.

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