Father-Son Team Solves Geometry Problem with Infinite Folds | Hacker News Reader

Father-Son Team Solves Geometry Problem with Infinite Folds

quantamagazine.org

106 pointspseudolus12 comments

Congrats to them! As an aside, I first learned about the Demaines in that PBS documentary years ago, but their relationship has stuck with me as a model for parenting, especially the clear joy Martin seemed to take in learning with and from his son. This is just endlessly cool to me:

> Erik Demaine learned basic math and the visual arts from his father, but eventually taught Martin advanced math and computer science. “Now we’re both artists and both mathematicians/computer scientists,” Erik Demaine said. “We collaborate on many projects, especially those that span all of these disciplines.”

A bit of a tangent, but I recently read in an evolutionary psychology book (Moral Animal, maybe?) that there is a natural tendency for adolescents to seek distance from their primary care givers. I wonder if Erik ever felt that during his teenage years and if he did, what brought them back together.

The probability of the type of parent/child dynamic experienced by Martin and Erik seems so low from my personal experience which is a shame given it must be one of life's best experiences.

Edit: There's another vector of family dysfunction when a parent and a child have a good relationship -- sibling rivalry. I have witnessed children shun affection and interest from a parent as a preventative measure against the inevitable blowback from their siblings. Not sure if Erik had siblings, but if he did, I wonder what that experience was like.

How to flatten a cube:

https://madartlab.com/how-to-flatten-a-cube/

How to make a collapsible Origami cube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWR1VKLF2_Y

I remember folding that Origami cube as a kid - to make a paper water balloon.

Erik's lectures on youtube are incredible and I've learned so much about Data Structures and Algorithms from him. Highly recommend if you are in the market for that knowledge.

Definitely saved me on numerous occasions in algorithms class, specifically dynamic programming. Reading the headline I had a feeling it was referring to Erik.

Heh, I knew it was the demaine's. If it involves foldings it has to be them.

Reminder that Erik's lectures are still online (mit open courseware iirc)

Class list: https://erikdemaine.org/classes/

Working with your kid like this sounds incredible.

They solved how to make the relationship b/w father and son work. That in itself is great achievement

Is there any relation to space-filling curves? It feels like it is in a kind of similar domain, just in the opposite direction

life goals

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