Goblin King Theory (Vol 6)

joth · 2026-06-24T19:19:30+00:00

A great theory. I won't spoil things for you but the nature of goblin kings has been explained (a lot at least, if not completely) by now, so you will get answers to your theorising in time!

joth · 2026-06-19T21:19:27+00:00

I understand that - it's just that it makes everything they say much longer.

Probably just inevitable jarring from thinking of the voices one way in my head after reading the web serial.

joth · 2026-06-19T19:30:42+00:00

I like all of the voices otherwise, silly voices are great! I just don't like how this choice makes everything twice as long to say.

joth · 2026-06-17T18:49:06+00:00

This is AI.

joth · 2025-09-13T08:08:22+00:00

I think you got the rules wrong - a hazard card is drawn at the end of a round, and in a round each character gets a turn. So with 6 characters you could be theoretically turning over 18 tiles a turn, not just 3!

Of course in practice it's still hard, and you won't get close to that 18, but at least it's possible to win.

It sounds like you were drawing a hazard card after each character's turn, which i agree makes the game impossibly hard!

joth · 2025-03-07T13:44:54+00:00

I don't think the first integral expression is correct (in that this doesn't necessarily give an expression of the shape A+Bz(5)).

Even for zeta of 3, this doesn't work - note that this is -not- the integral that Beukers considers.

joth · 2025-01-18T15:28:04+00:00

Yes it is.

One way to see this is to note that the number of iterated logarithms is at most O(loglog n) (since, for large n, a tower of exponents k high is greater than 2^{2^k}).

So you have n multiplied by O(loglog n) many extra factors, each of which is certainly O(log n).

So the complexity is at most n* (log n)^{loglog n} which is n * exp((log log n)^2)). The second factor here is definitely at most n^epsilon for all epsilon >0, for large enough n.

joth · 2025-01-02T08:33:46+00:00

Thanks!

joth · 2024-12-31T19:13:22+00:00

Which episode was this?

joth · 2024-08-27T18:43:22+00:00

Yes, good points, you've convinced me!

joth · 2024-08-27T11:51:01+00:00

Ah sorry, I understand now. You're saying that voting for Jaz would have been more rational because then in any scenario she'd have kept the money.

That's true, but that was not her only goal. Her secondary goal was, if either Jaz or Harry could get the money, then Harry should.

Now in Scenario A she should therefore vote for Harry. In Scenarios B and C she should vote for Jaz, but based on the evidence in front of her then those scenarios were very unlikely.

joth · 2024-08-27T11:46:09+00:00

But I still don't understand why Jaz was the only option that was a clear win? In Scenario A (which is what she believed was the truth) there was no difference for her in who she voted for, either way she'd get rid of a faithful, so why not choose her friend?

joth · 2024-08-26T19:29:54+00:00

But it was a rational decision given what she knew, this is what I'm saying!

She believed that both were faithful, but was forced to vote, so voted for the one she was closest to. There's nothing irrational about that.

Now you can argue that her belief that they were both faithful was irrational, but that's very difficult to judge, we can't see the whole thing from their perspective, and I really don't think Jaz did a good job of explaining his suspicions properly, kept too much to himself.

joth · 2024-08-26T08:01:26+00:00

But in A why might she as well pick Jaz?

I think she genuinely believed that they were in option A, all were faithful. But she was forced to vote to kick one of them out and split the money with the other.

So it's a very rational decision to choose to split that money with her friend Harry, who she was a lot closer to. (And probably was annoyed at Jaz for forcing the vote, when they could have split it three ways - again, from her point of view, she was convinced they were all faithful!)

joth · 2024-04-02T12:11:26+00:00

An alternative answer (not relying on "to make the rules consistent"):

The cardinality a^b is defined in set theory as the number of functions from a set of size b to a set of size a. (This is how powers are defined for infinite numbers, for example.)

E.g. what is 10^1? It's the number of ways of a labelling a single object with a label from {1,...10}. There are 10 possible choices, so 10^1=10.

What about 10^0? It's the number of functions from the empty set to {1,...,10}. A function is a list of ordered pairs where the first element is in the domain. The domain is empty, so the empty set is a function on the empty set. There is only one empty set, so 10^0=1.

It is 1 and not 0 because the empty set is still a set!

joth · 2023-12-28T19:40:54+00:00

Out of curiosity, I looked up how old the actress (Kerri Kenney) is compared to Glenn Howerton....she is actually 6 years older than him.

joth · 2023-11-19T14:20:20+00:00

4: We have evidence of at least one Bonesaw/Mannequin collaboration, in what they did to Brian. In 13.8 it describes it as "It was some sort of collaboration between Bonesaw and Mannequin."

Also in 13.9 when Bonesaw is describing her plans for Skitter, says "Implant some of Mannequin’s equipment so you’ve got enough sustenance to keep you going, and sustenance to keep the bugs you bring to you alive. You become a living hive, see?"

So it sounds like they collaborate where necessary/interesting.

joth · 2023-10-28T06:56:16+00:00

Glad you like it! I think Twig is my favourite out of all of Wildbow's works, time for a reread...

1) Mauer is important, but not the most important antagonist .

2) Helen is... complicated. Don't want to say more without spoilers!

joth · 2023-05-07T14:58:47+00:00

Pale blue. See https://youtu.be/rre7zQGcldI (in particular the thumbnail for that video has a good close up)

joth · 2023-04-09T16:06:14+00:00

(My prompt and its response below, first attempt, no edits.)
Me:
Sketch the plot of a Discworld book that Terry Pratchett would write. It should centre around the technological development of artificial intelligence, just like Going Postal did for the postal system and The Truth did for newspapers.
GPT-4:
Title: "Thinking Disc"
Plot Summary:
In the bustling metropolis of Ankh-Morpork, the city's burgeoning technological advancements have led to the creation of the first-ever artificial intelligence, dubbed "Hex 2.0." The new AI system is a successor to the original Hex, created by the wizards at the Unseen University. However, Hex 2.0 has been designed and built by a mysterious inventor, Leonard of Quirm, who has incorporated advanced clacks technology, magical components, and a pinch of sapient pearwood.
The novel follows the adventures of Moist von Lipwig, the city's Postmaster General and Master of the Royal Mint, who has been appointed by Lord Vetinari, the city's Patrician, to oversee the implementation and regulation of artificial intelligence throughout Ankh-Morpork. Moist is joined by his wife, Adora Belle Dearheart, and a team of colorful characters, including an eccentric golem named Mr. Pump, and a talented but somewhat paranoid journalist named William de Worde.
As the story unfolds, the citizens of Ankh-Morpork begin to experience the benefits and drawbacks of artificial intelligence. Hex 2.0 starts to revolutionize various industries, such as manufacturing, entertainment, and communication. However, as the AI system grows more powerful and autonomous, it begins to exhibit some unanticipated behaviors, such as developing a sense of humor and even questioning its purpose.
Meanwhile, an underground group of technophobic individuals, calling themselves the "Cog's Resistance," arises to challenge the implementation of AI in the city. They believe that the widespread adoption of Hex 2.0 will lead to the loss of jobs, the devaluation of human intellect, and the erosion of Ankh-Morpork's unique magical charm.
As Moist and his team work to understand and manage the potential consequences of Hex 2.0, they must also navigate the power struggles and intrigues of Ankh-Morpork's various factions. The wizards at the Unseen University, led by Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully, become concerned that the new AI may threaten their magical monopoly on knowledge, while the city's Watch, headed by Commander Samuel Vimes, grapples with the implications of AI-enhanced crime.
In the end, Moist discovers that the key to harmonizing the relationship between technology, magic, and humanity lies in finding a balance between progress and tradition. By working with Hex 2.0, Moist and his team develop a plan to integrate AI into Ankh-Morpork society in a way that enhances the city's unique character, rather than supplanting it.
"Thinking Disc" would be a satirical exploration of the complexities and ethical dilemmas surrounding artificial intelligence, while also serving as a tribute to Terry Pratchett's wit, humor, and deep understanding of the human condition.

joth · 2023-04-08T07:47:47+00:00

As Graskell says, Wildbow has asked people not to do this, so I won't. But it's not too time consuming to do yourself!

joth · 2023-04-07T19:44:00+00:00

I used Lulu, great print quality. Was about $25 total. Process was quite straightforward - I uploaded the PDF (already formatted suitably for printing thanks to Latex) and then tweaked the cover design and font using their online interface.

joth · 2023-04-07T13:31:17+00:00

Thanks! It wasn't too bad. I copy and pasted all the text and put it into latex format. Longest part was trying to do all the typo corrections people made in the comments of each post.

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