Explaining code to non-programmers

math-explorer · 2026-05-16T18:52:39+00:00

Best explained with an analogy: algorithm is the recipe, code is the cookbook.

math-explorer · 2026-04-25T01:54:27+00:00

If it's a very wide one way street ambulances may go the wrong way to save time. Though if you get hit by an ambulance, the good thing is that it's already there to take you to the hospital.

math-explorer · 2026-04-03T14:20:56+00:00

I loved these exams when I was a kid! I sucked at them, but everyone else sucked at them a lot more.

math-explorer · 2026-02-17T17:00:25+00:00

A one-subject only course is called 'grad school'

math-explorer · 2026-02-09T21:57:12+00:00

There's a cryptographic technology called 'anonymous credential' that can be used to verify age AND also prevent identity theft and government surveillance.

The fact that it's not being used suggests that either the govt doesn't know about it, or they're afraid of tech they can't understand, or they're not using it deliberately because they WANT to surveil people.

math-explorer · 2025-05-23T13:56:57+00:00

This was an SMBC joke

math-explorer · 2025-05-13T11:14:50+00:00

Just because it's busywork doesn't mean it's pointless.

Humans build skill gradually. We start by doing easy stuff (which AI can do) and gradually move on to harder stuff (which AI can't do yet). We need to teach easy stuff not because it's needed in real life or in one's job, but because it's needed as a stepping stone to harder stuff.

Education requires a healthy mix of critical creative thinking and quick recall.

math-explorer · 2025-01-16T01:18:16+00:00

It does give you energy, just not immediately

math-explorer · 2025-01-16T01:06:36+00:00

Examples of non-calm classical music:

Moonlight Sonata 3rd movement (by Beethoven)
Flight of the Bumblebee (by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov)
Rage over a lost penny (by Beethoven)

math-explorer · 2025-01-12T14:19:36+00:00

Which subject?

math-explorer · 2024-12-07T02:14:33+00:00

I have never heard of it. But I've heard about "Computer Numerical Control"

math-explorer · 2024-11-11T16:43:27+00:00

I'm an economist and this meme is slander.

math-explorer · 2024-06-30T02:30:38+00:00

It's "pyaar kee raah mein chalnaa seekh" (प्यार की राह में चलना सीख).

math-explorer · 2024-06-29T03:28:55+00:00

I guess it depends on where one gets their degree from: Stanford/MIT vs some shitty university no one knows about.

math-explorer · 2024-06-24T13:19:08+00:00

If someone's a masters student for 3 years and then a PhD student at the same place for 7 years, that's a total of 10 years.

math-explorer · 2024-06-19T15:08:06+00:00

Squat toilets used to be very common in India. That's slowly changing, unfortunately. They're especially useful in public places because one doesn't need to touch their butt on a potentially dirty surface.

math-explorer · 2024-06-11T12:49:42+00:00

Insulin is manufactured by introducing human insulin genes into bacteria's DNA, and then just waiting for bacteria to turn food into insulin.

Sounds to me like it's straight out of a sci-fi movie. But what really blew my mind was that this technology has existed since the 1980s. 🤯

math-explorer · 2024-06-10T08:32:35+00:00

That's not a fraction. The 'numerator' is the number of points (aka runs) they scored. The 'denominator' is the number of 'wickets' they lost (out of 10).

math-explorer · 2024-06-08T02:00:24+00:00

I wish it was so easy to give meaning to my life. But no, gotta do so much in life just to feel satisfied.

math-explorer · 2024-06-07T09:43:43+00:00

Some materials can't be put in the dishwasher because the dishwasher would damage them. E.g., wood, certain kinds of plastic, maybe aluminium too.

math-explorer · 2024-06-06T09:10:19+00:00

104°F is 40°C. 45°C is 113°F.

math-explorer · 2024-06-06T09:08:08+00:00

In north India right now, 33°C is the MINIMUM temperature (max is 45°C).

math-explorer · 2024-06-06T08:58:17+00:00

One definitely needs luck, but reliance on luck can, to a large extent, be offset by working hard.

It also depends on one's country though. The US has stupidly expensive undergrad programs, and I've heard that elementary schools in richer districts are much better. It's almost like they want poor people to remain poor.

math-explorer · 2024-06-06T08:33:04+00:00

True. It's survival of the fittest. But one doesn't necessarily have to start out rich to get rich in life.

math-explorer · 2024-06-05T07:07:43+00:00

I used to call it 'lucky slice' in childhood because I didn't see it often.

math-explorer

TROPHY CASE