Hacker News: throwaway384034

New comment by throwaway384034 in "Will it be a golden age or a dark age for mathematics (and science)?"

throwaway384034 — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:35:54 +0000

Nice source. Transhumanism and believing in AI consciousness does not mix well. We are already being told how we should and shouldn't treat AI. Someone who wants to use AI to boost the abilities of people, puts people first and treats AI as a tool.

New comment by throwaway384034 in "Will it be a golden age or a dark age for mathematics (and science)?"

throwaway384034 — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:32:26 +0000

Recursive self-improvement, which is underway will crush anything that is verifiable. The only place people have for now is non-verifiable work which is harder to find in maths than other domains.

New comment by throwaway384034 in "Will it be a golden age or a dark age for mathematics (and science)?"

throwaway384034 — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:27:50 +0000

It is a largely romanticised idea that pops up here now and then. Meanwhile Anthropic just put up a post saying they are getting closer to replacing people in their own company. That's the objective.

I wonder how many mathematicians even truly understand any of the latest research which is only going to increase in output. It will be impossible to keep up unless you slow AI down (not happening).

Edit: Anthropic blog https://www.anthropic.com/research/employment-at-anthropic

New comment by throwaway384034 in "Suicide rates highest ever among middle-aged men"

throwaway384034 — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 22:16:55 +0000

> I'm ~50% percentile on strengthlevel.com

That's not the population. It is the average among other weightlifters which is where you would expect to be. Most of the population can't do a pull up.

New comment by throwaway384034 in "Harold and George Destroy the World"

throwaway384034 — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 14:42:34 +0000

>Some children are innately motivated to learn. Some are motivated so strongly you could give them a smartphone and watch them learn all they need to learn in life. But those children aren't the norm - they're the freaky 1 in 1000 outliers. And education has to work with everyone.

I worked as a teacher for a year. Children are innately motivated and curious (this is not just a cliche). If there was any laziness it usually stemmed from fear of not being good enough but they definitely all tried, even students that didn't know their 5 times table by age 10. Some students have greater self-perseverance than others though, some can't handle being wrong and fear being seen as less-then their peers. Others like to challenge themselves without such fear.