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d4ng

45 karma · joined April 6, 2026

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d4ng··on The lattice of sets of natural numbers is rich (2021)
I got this example from an LLM:

  1. Fix a formal system S. In the LLM example, it uses first-order arithmetic, but I don't see why we wouldn't be able to use ZFC.
  2. Let D be the set of subsets of the natural numbers N which are definable by a finite formula in S.
  3. There are countably many finite formulas, so |D| <= |N|.
  4. Cantor's theorem says that the size of the power set of N is greater than |N|.
  5. Therefore there must be subsets of N which are not definable by a finite formula in S.
If you disagree with this, I would be interested to know.
d4ng··on Count Binface receives over a quarter of votes in Clacton by-election
Take into public ownership.
d4ng··on Count Binface receives over a quarter of votes in Clacton by-election
Do we have any English lawyers here who can comment on whether it may actually be legal to nationalise Adele (the person) under English law? ChatGPT says it may be possible through an act of parliament, but I’m unsure whether I can trust ChatGPT in this case.
d4ng··on How art invented humanity
Do conceptual frameworks exist outside of language? If so, where do they exist, and how do you define existence in this context?

If facts have truth independent from common language, where do those facts exist, and how do you define existence in this context?

As an example, are you hinting at the existence of facts and truths that are somehow different from the easier definition of formal truths which hold in an assumed axiomatic framework, as happens in mathematics, which itself is a framework of language?

d4ng··on The lattice of sets of natural numbers is rich (2021)
There exist subsets of the natural numbers which are infinite, but which are not finitely definable in first-order arithmetic.
d4ng··on How art invented humanity
That answers a different question. The empirical success of the equation in question is strong evidence that the theory captures something about the universe, however it does not prove that the proposition exists, or is true, independently of any language or conceptual framework.

Technologies working can test physical predictions. They cannot test the metaphysical claim that facts have truth independent from common language. Simply asserting that they do is the realism that I am disputing.

Also, the proposition in question is made in a certain language, and is not true in all possible languages.

d4ng··on How art invented humanity
How can we prove that?
d4ng··on How art invented humanity
“The basic realism of science, then, rests upon the following claim: the Universe is such that facts can be plainly stated within it, even though the facts themselves need not be plain.”

What facts can plainly be stated within this universe? Can facts exist outside the common language within which they are expressed?

d4ng··on Show HN: Scroll through all 43252003274489856000 Rubik's Cube states
Value and usefulness are again subjective. For instance, what value would you have put on a can of Piero Manzoni’s Artist’s Shit? After all, we could all take a shit in a can. One can was sold for 124k EUR.

Many people lost some money. Maybe they gained from the experience. Many people made money. Maybe they lost some on other things. Many people got their knickers in a twist over things with such perceived (by themselves) low value selling for high value. Maybe they forgot that fiat money is a construction as well. Conversely, maybe they gained something intangible from the whole experience.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist's_Shit?wprov=sfti1

d4ng··on Show HN: Scroll through all 43252003274489856000 Rubik's Cube states
Let’s say I bought an NFT for X and later sold it for Y profit. I bought a house with Y. The person who received X bought a car with it, or maybe long in oil futures with X before the Iran war, made Z, and bought a field with the profit. Or maybe he put Z in a couple of bonds and used the resulting return later.
d4ng··on Show HN: Scroll through all 43252003274489856000 Rubik's Cube states
Define useful in a measurable way that does not depend on any specific human’s subjective estimation.
d4ng··on Show HN: Scroll through all 43252003274489856000 Rubik's Cube states
Define intrinsic value in a measurable way that does not depend on any specific human’s subjective estimation.
d4ng··on Crickets as pets
I feel sad about keeping animals in small confines, away from their natural habitat, but on the other hand, I have come to the subjective conclusion that rights are also subjective.
d4ng··on Why MySpace fans want it back as relaunch hinted
I wonder what will follow TikTok and Instagram, and how people in twenty years will be reminiscing over the good old days surrounding these services.
d4ng··on Banksy works cost public almost £150k
Have you considered that the public may be gaining something from the conversations and awareness that arise from the performance of this art? I invite you to move away from evaluating a piece of art simply in terms of the monetary cost to the tax payer.
d4ng··on Don't use your phone while you poop
I still do this. The ingredient list of my hand soap is a page-turner. In The Netherlands, I found it quite common for there to be books or comics in the toilet. Mostly humorous. I never got a tummy bug from partaking in this.
d4ng··on Why Estonians invite strangers into their back gardens each summer
Here’s a nice video:

https://youtu.be/bV-hSgL1R74?si=Ei3EUfrIKvgAO3bw

d4ng··on Ask HN: What art would you like to express?
Set my body free.
d4ng··on Ask HN: What art would you like to express?
Any interesting links?
d4ng··on Ask HN: What art would you like to express?
What’s the theme?
d4ng··on Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak
So why does Starbucks coffee still consistently taste like shit?
d4ng··on You're not uncool. Making friends as an adult is just hard (2021)
There is a number of centralised places for finding music events in London. None of them allow you to find people to go with. Regarding being bought out by Match: I wouldn't complain.
d4ng··on You're not uncool. Making friends as an adult is just hard (2021)
There are multiple websites that list events in London. I have quite niche music tastes, and would pay a few quid per month for the opportunity to get in contact with people who want to go to the events I'm interested in.
d4ng··on You're not uncool. Making friends as an adult is just hard (2021)
Well, that’s good to know. Thanks.
d4ng··on You're not uncool. Making friends as an adult is just hard (2021)
For people into music: Would you be interested in an app that lists music events in your area, where you can register yourself as going, and where people can apply to go with you?

What do you think would work well? What do you think the pitfalls might be?

d4ng··on The Absurdity of Albert Camus
What are your disagreements with Absurdism?
d4ng··on The Fabled Flatbreads of Uzbekistan (2015)
Worth bathing the decently sliced eggplant in whipped egg and then in flour, and frying in a decent amount of oil. Add herbs. Simple. This is common in the Mediterranean.

When cooking over gas, it is nice to remove the skin in cold water, chop up coarsely, and add yoghurt, garlic, olive oil, salt and herbs, with a good whizzing up following, to make a decent dip for flatbread or anything else.

d4ng··on How real are real numbers? (2004)
What numbers in R would not be possible to express in an infinite universe?
d4ng··on Apple Will 'Watch Everything Burn' When the AI Bubble Bursts
Not quite. You could buy a long-dated put if implied vol and current rates are amenable. This protects you against the underlying going up significantly. You might also predict that it won’t go up too much, and just short the underlying with a stop loss.
d4ng··on Apple Will 'Watch Everything Burn' When the AI Bubble Bursts
Why is on-device AI the future? What is your reasoning behind this? Look at the proportion of things we compute on someone else’s computer relative to what we compute on our own device. Why would this change for LLMs?
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