Hacker News: samirillian

New comment by samirillian in "How do we prevent mathemathics from devolving into the Medieval Era of secrecy?"

samirillian — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 12:15:18 +0000

I do think they can happen together like malnutrition and obesity. Pursuit of recognition, intellectual property, remuneration, war machines, etc, will naturally drive new strategies for academics to compete with capital-intensive AI research. One strategy will surely be new types of silo-ing, whether that will kill the post-enlightenment spirit of math we’ve come to love is still an open question

New comment by samirillian in "Worst-case glacial lake flood scenarios in a transboundary Himalayan basin 2022"

samirillian — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 11:09:55 +0000

Source?

I remember them referencing global cooling on science Friday on NPR as late as 2005

New comment by samirillian in "Newfoundland has a hard bread shortage, but why do they eat it?"

samirillian — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:43:04 +0000

> Proper hard bread couldn’t be home baked.

New comment by samirillian in "Incentives are for losers"

samirillian — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 22:41:29 +0000

I mean, tautologically, I guess all the good parts of prosperity and none of the bad. Not a proof of correctness but a list:

1. Wealth gotten by one’s own work, or by wise management 2. A lender never a borrower 3. Desires generally satisfied 4. Leaving an inheritance for children/future generations

I tend to think of the Kulaks that Trotsky wanted to work with but that Stalin sent to Siberia

New comment by samirillian in "Incentives are for losers"

samirillian — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 13:37:02 +0000

I agree,

I also think it’s more like delayed gratification. Good incentives are for good people bad incentives are for fools. The further you can push back short-term incentives in favor of long-term, the better your life will be. Like we all “know” that love is better than coffee but in the morning many of us would/do choose coffee. Food, drugs, porn all short-term pleasures are “less good” than prosperity, but we often choose the quick dopamine hit over the long, difficult road

New comment by samirillian in "'Crush this lady': how eBay harassment campaign led to $56M payout"

samirillian — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 23:14:45 +0000

No they just loudly say “It would be a shame if an unfortunate accident should occur to these bloggers”

New comment by samirillian in "Earthquake scientists reveal how overplowing weakens soil at experimental farm"

samirillian — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 01:07:55 +0000

The one straw revolution guy planted root vegetables among fruit trees in orchards I wonder if that would make a difference

New comment by samirillian in "The Passion of Will Self"

samirillian — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 10:29:38 +0000

Such an irony/nominative determinism around his name. The self cannot will its way out of the tangled mess, cannot will to be the good Christian he dissociatively admires.

“it is not in the individual gift to will belief. Self has tried to believe – and cannot.”

New comment by samirillian in "Golden Ratio using an equilateral triangle inscribed in a circle"

samirillian — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 13:00:19 +0000

At least by analogy with sound, it doesn’t make sense to me to use the golden ratio. If you consider the tonic, the octave, the major fifth, you have 1:1, 2:1, and 3:2. It seems to me that the earliest ratios in the fibonacci sequence are more aesthetically pleasing, symmetry, 1/3s, etc. but maybe there is something “organically” pleasing about the Fibonacci sequence. But Fibonacci spirals in nature are really just general logarithmic spirals as I understand it. Would be interested to hear counterpoints.

New comment by samirillian in "Developing a food-safe finish for my wooden spoons"

samirillian — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 02:03:02 +0000

Wood is rigid and won’t melt or scratch

New comment by samirillian in "My Father's Instant Mashed Potatoes"

samirillian — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 03:49:17 +0000

I like how decades after the “Sokal Affair”, slatestarcodex is creating its own impish simulacrum of English departments in the 90s. The author would do well to note Frederic Jameson’s own definition of simulacrum: a copy of which there was never an original. Case in point: restaurant mashed potatoes (which the author blithely considers “Real”) are nothing at all like home-made, which Michelin-starred chefs like Dave Chang will readily attest. They are riced, not mashed, then mixed with as much butter as humanly possible. Restaurant mashed potatoes represent their own decadent, post-industrial, post-modern..simulacrum.

New comment by samirillian in "How Charles M Schulz created Charlie Brown and Snoopy (2024)"

samirillian — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 13:00:13 +0000

I never enjoyed peanuts but I know Bill watterson the creator of Calvin and Hobbes was a big fan, so there must be something there

New comment by samirillian in "Mixing Is the Heartbeat of Deep Lakes. At Crater Lake, It's Slowing Down"

samirillian — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 13:07:00 +0000

Common problem in man-made lakes. When you create a lake by damming a river it creates perfect conditions for lamination, deep narrow and filled with agricultural runoff. When they pull the plug on these dams all the de-oxygenated water flows out the bottom, basically just dumping unbreathable water into the river killing off the more sensitive fish, eg trout die catfish live, and smelling like a million firecrackers.

New comment by samirillian in "How Israeli actions caused famine in Gaza, visualized"

samirillian — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 23:45:24 +0000

Do you think what Israel is doing is right?

New comment by samirillian in "Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its tech in mass surveillance of Palestinians"

samirillian — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 21:20:37 +0000

Holy crap you’re totally right

New comment by samirillian in "New study shows plants and animals emit a visible light that expires at death"

samirillian — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 11:32:00 +0000

You’re all made of stars you gotta let that shit shine okay?

New comment by samirillian in "Meta exposé author faces $50k fine per breach of non-disparagement agreement"

samirillian — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 15:05:07 +0000

I don’t take a position on this because I don’t know it but I think you’re (willfully?) misunderstanding the point. I don’t think all ethical problems can be legally defined. Something may be legal and wrong or illegal and not wrong. If she was indeed forced out for reporting sexual harassment, then what ethical responsibility does she still bear towards that company, regardless of what they ask her to sign as she leaves? The point isn’t that she’s right or wrong for sure, it’s that the problem is complex and legalities cannot account for all situations.

New comment by samirillian in "Charlie Kirk killed at event in Utah"

samirillian — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 10:39:06 +0000

Oh interesting, well maybe I’m wrong. I mean the nerves thing stands but yeah maybe it is that easy

New comment by samirillian in "Charlie Kirk killed at event in Utah"

samirillian — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 22:01:18 +0000

Can you do this? Like, I’ve killed every animal I’ve shot at so far (legally, while hunting) and I know I couldn’t make that shot. The nerves alone Jesus. I’m always surprised and dubious when I hear this claim repeated. A blood vessel in a human from 200 yards. After a few trips to the range. Really.

New comment by samirillian in "Axial twist theory"

samirillian — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 11:16:36 +0000

Is it possible that lefties twisted in the opposite direction