msiyer

I like long-form writing. However, it takes a lot of effort. So, I end up not writing often.

It is a hot topic especially among polyglots who have to deal with the same word meaning different in different languages.

The ideal solution: Avoid having five different services all write to the same table.

If five different services have to write to the same table, there is a major overlap of logic too. Are the five services really different or one would suffice?

Taking practical realities into consideration, we can do what the author says. However, we risk implementing a lot of orchestration logic. We introduce a whole new layer of problems. Is that time not better spent refactoring the services: either give them their own DB tables or merge them into one servic?

- the way pain-killers work tells you a lot about how keyloggers or man-in-the-middle attacks work

- look at how DNA "syntax checking" happens during mitosis to learn about compiling in general

- a puppy swallows whatever it sees; this gives the immune system enough test data about the surroundings etc. (similar to ML)

- a huge amount of cyber-security concepts can be understood by learning biology

i think the single-click navigation or opening of files was done to mimic how hyperlinks on the internet work. some people are wired that way.

on the other hand, some people have a completely different brain configuration: they think that a single-click should select whereas a double-click should open a file.

there are people who do not agree with both these options. maybe, they want everything to work via audio commands.

how do we decide what the default behavior should be? the answer is: leave it to the user.

Attack the Type System first. Do not read PhD research papers, just the practical aspects of it:

- Why is it that integers I am working with are 8-bit (or 16-bit or 32-bit ...)?

- What is "int x = 7;" translated into by the compiler?

- How is basic arithmetic implemented in the hardware? Integers, floating point etc.

- If my system has 16-bit integers, for example, how can I deal with larger numbers than what 16 bits can accommodate? Some SW implementation to hide HW limitations?

Then go on to understand how more complex types are implemented etc.

From there go on to things like Stack Frames and Heaps and Application Binary Interfaces.

From there go on to memory clean up and why we need Garbage Collectors etc.

...

To me, a Programming Language is a set of rules (enforced by a compiler or interpreter) for deterministic bits manipulation. The Type System is the core set of rules around which everything else revolves. Even lack of a Type System in a language is a Type System.

The "set of premises and goals" we currently operate upon are not ours, but planted by someone else (parents, teachers, media...).

Add to all this the fact that world may run however it wants, but the emotions are ours. If we alter the "set of premises and goals" we can alter our emotional response.

>> It runs on emotion

So, I think, you are right.

Given the current state of information technology, I agree that we are most efficient at processing text. However, that can change pretty quickly. Storage mechanisms similar to DNA can make the difference between text and multimedia irrelevant. It will happen because nature already does that.

Eventually, it is the same user who gave away his data for free that pays too. Double taxation.

'genius' is just a particular configuration out of millions or billions in which a brain can form. Brain's real estate is malleable like a city's. So, no reason why one cannot configure it to one's liking. Now, the procedure to do so might not be as easy.

I also think that there is not much difference between an alcoholic (any addiction for that matter) and a workaholic genius. The reason is that both do not know what drives them.

A simple example to understand how perspective can alter reality is to imagine being a point floating in a 3-D space where you are able to see the X-Y-Z axes. Now, imagine tracing (0,0,0) when you are at (500,500,500). Trivial.

Now, trace (0,0,10^100). That is a huge Z-line you would say. This is the side view.

Now, move to (0,0,10^100) from (500,500,500). This is the top view. What do you see?

Another example: When viewed from perpendicular to X-Y plane, a circular motion on X-Y plane looks properly circular.

When the same motion is viewed standing far away on the X-axis, the motion resembles an oscillation.

Same motion, different perspectives, seemingly different results.

Say a novice practices to catch a ball on a windless day. He gets better. What exactly is he getting better at? He is getting better at guessing the trajectory of the ball based on past 3D positions of the ball.

This guesswork has its limits. He learns the limits on a windy day. He gets better with more practice on a windy day.

This new knowledge too has its limits. He learns that on a windy day at the beach.

The brain tries to guess the future based on a sequence of events. This is why detaching from senses is an experience like no other. Meditation, irrespective of the modality, is a way to detach from senses. We do not live in the past.

If our brains were not capable of holding memories and only of detecting one event at a time, two cars moving at vastly different speeds would look separated in space, but nothing more than that. I think, our senses, our ability to hold on to memories (past sensor data) of events and our ability to compare two past events combined makes the world animated. This also seems to give birth to the sense of passage of time. Which also could mean that time does not exist?

People were commenting that the idea that every cell is replaced in a living organism is 'laughable'. Brain cells and osteocytes were cited as examples of cells that are never replaced.

However, I still think, and more strongly than ever, that brain cells and osteocytes can be examples of unchanging cells if an only if it is proven beyond a shadow of doubt that every single atom constituting such cells remains intact during the lifetime of such cells.

Since the human body is subjected to a lot of physical stress and damage and repair is continuous, it is possible that damaged brain cells or osteocytes get replaced with new ones. Need to read more about this, though.

Adult neurogenesis or brain plasticity is a fact. Skin cells, blood cells and all types of cells have a finite lifespan - a few days to a few months.

EDIT: Agreed, a few types of brain cells do not get replaced, but everything else does. My point still stands. Physically, we are not what we were a few months ago.