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Comment by wolf550e | Hacker News Reader

for whoever downvoted 'pjc50:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Billion_Names_of_God

Just because something was a valid reference doesn't mean it shouldn't be downvoted. I fail to see how it's relevant to the article.

The article's author's point was the feasibility and reasonableness of testing 4 Billion entities (full 32-bit range). The linked sci-fi story is about testing 9 Billion entities (names of god in a given alphabet).

The relevancy is that a sci-fi author thought about applying this method over 60 years ago, and at the time it seemed like an insurmountable task for humans that could be solved with massive computers. With the unexpected consequence of ending the universe. And now anyone can do this on their desktop.

Often humorous and witty comments are my favorite parts of HN. They are far better than posts on a topic where people seem not to have read the article.

Sure, most people enjoy humor or wit, but most people aren't as funny as they think, and I think even you'd agree the luster tends to wear off once the top thread on every post is a chain of memes, in-jokes, and stupid puns nested too deep to fit comfortably on any screen.

That is the natural entropic end-state of all large social news sites. HN has anti-bodies against that by downvoting a bit more aggressively than might seem warranted at first glance, but all in all I think it's a wise choice.

"Often humorous and witty comments are my favorite parts of HN"

Then you'll find far better on Slashdot where free speech seems to actually happen, as opposed to here where you're not allowed to joke about anything.

That was an excellent read. Kind of a reverse of the short story "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov.

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