Psy-Kosh comments on The Simple Math of Everything - Less Wrong

42 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 17 November 2007 10:42PM

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Comment author: Psy-Kosh 18 November 2007 12:46:27AM 2 points [-]

Pete: I was just thinking the same thing, that we ought to start a wiki to do this project. Questions do come up though like "where ought one draw the line between the simple and nonsimple"? This question relates even ti billswift's comment about the name.

For instance, in physics, ought we include Hamilton's equations/the hamiltonian? There's certainly understanding to be found by considering a system in those terms. But deriving those and so on probably is a bit deeper than what one might want to consider "easy math"... or maybe not. Those are in some ways the starting point that leads to the deep stuff.

There's probably analogous questions in other fields. So we have to decide what we're going to consider the "easy" math.

Comment author: taryneast 19 December 2010 01:49:14PM 5 points [-]

"where ought one draw the line between the simple and nonsimple"?

My suggestion would be not to draw the line... but to grade things on how hard they are (fundamental, basic, intermediate...).

That way, anybody can start, and can stop at any time they want to...