MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by youoy | 2026-01-01 11:32:58+00:00
I quote for context:

> But what about those of us who are well into the flattening part of the curve, what can we do for ourselves? You can seek new experiences perhaps. If time goes faster because your life has fewer firsts and more routine, then it can be extended by adding firsts. You can learn new things, travel, take up hobbies, or new careers.

> This works, to a point, but there are only so many firsts for you, and chasing this exclusively seems to lead to resentment. You remember the things you had as a kid. You remember the excitement and warmth of that world, how immediate and raw everything felt, and you want to go back. You start to regret that the world has changed, even though what changed the most is you.

I like to think that life slows down once you form a stable image and story of yourself. The more you convince yourself that that image is fixed, the faster time will go by. That might justify why childhood seems longer, since that image seems to form around adolescence.

Experiencing new "firsts" but keeping that image of yourselfe fixed just works for a while. That is why it may lead to resentment, as the article says.

So dont fool yourself: some image of who you are gives you some stability, but just use it for that, so that you dont run crazy with options.

If you treat every event as something that might reshape your ego, then suddenly a big number of experiences are new, and time suddenly slows dont. It may even appear to dissapear from time to time.
by nilegreen | 2026-01-01 11:34:10+00:00
Author here. This explores how awareness emerges through
contrast, using peek-a-boo as a concrete example.

Core thesis: Awareness isn't the presence of information
it's the felt contrast between what was expected and what
occurred.

This builds on my previous essay "The Caveman Dashboard"
which some HN readers found interesting:

https:/https://omegaaxiommeta.substack.com/p/the-caveman-dashboard-...

Happy to discuss the implications for AI safety (working
on formal paper about this now).
by elias_t | 2026-01-01 11:34:41+00:00
> We feel time differently over our lives. As a toddler, an afternoon feels like an eternity. In middle age, “no matter how I try, those years just flow by, like a broken down dam.” For a 5 year old, a year was a fifth of their life, and feels like it. For a 40 year old, it is just another year.

I think this explanation is true but incomplete. I believe it's also related to Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency [0], the way I see it, if an organism is smaller it has a higher frequency, it sees more image per second, therefore perception of time is slower. (E.g. a fly sees you moving really slowly). Maybe it's related to the processing time of images, with smaller brains insect can process more of them per second.

Maybe humans process more images as children, therefore see the time time going slower.

It's been a while I didn't think about this, maybe some studies have been made in the past years.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flicker_fusion_threshold
by mark_l_watson | 2026-01-01 11:35:51+00:00
I think the author is better off self publishing, based on my personal experience:

I wrote ten tech books for big publishers (McGraw-Hill, J. Wiley, Springer Verlag, etc.) and I was so happy being a published author. However, about twenty hears ago I moved to self-publishing, finally ending up using Leanpub. I am much happier only writing self-published eBooks now because I can update my old books as needed. I still write new books from scratch (just started a book that is basically a rant against over-spend of SOTA LLMs called ‘Winning Big with Small AI’) but hardly a week goes by without an update to an older book.

Writing is great, and even better when not attatched to a conventional publisher.

Austin: if you are here, good luck, and enjoy writing!
by rr808 | 2026-01-01 11:36:40+00:00
My kids go to a stem focused magnet school. I realize different cultures value different things but its depressing to me how many kids are pushed to dedicate their whole childhood to get into top Universities. We'd go to the beach and their friends couldn't come because they were doing extra APs or science fair or Math Olympics or similar. These kids got good grades but never went on a date, couldn't drive or go anywhere by themselves.
by lumost | 2026-01-01 11:36:56+00:00
People are talking about putting a mail order catalog store online. Presumably, sears already had the catalog, shipping infrastructure - so it really should have been about digital payments, and an online storefront.

How significant their shipping catalog was in the 1990s I do not know, scaling the online storefront would have required Amazon scale investments which a dividend maximizing company was unlikely to do.
by gspr | 2026-01-01 11:37:02+00:00
Tangentially related: the opposite, Rust's borrow checker sans the compiler, is actually very useful. As far as I understand, the borrow checker is a significant part of the work of writing a Rust compiler. Therefore, having the official borrow checker available as a standalone program can make alternative compilers (e.g. for exotic hardware) feasible faster, because they won't need a borrow checker of their own from the get-go.
by josteink | 2026-01-01 11:38:09+00:00
Could this be due to how Windows vs Linux does process scheduling on CPUs with P- and E-cores?

To my knowledge Linux isn’t that capable on BIG.little architectures, and Linux power-management (as this intersects with) has always left a little to be desired - when comparing battery life to Windows.

Disclaimer: pure speculation. Possibly misinformed :-D
by busyant | 2026-01-01 11:38:11+00:00
Since we're reminiscing, I remember Sears sold a "Sears-version" of the Atari 2600. I forget what it was called, but it was identical to the 2600.

My 9 year old brain was convinced that it was somehow inferior to the Atari-branded version of the 2600 and I was sad when my parents got me the Sears version for Christmas (it was probably cheaper than the Atari, I can't remember).

It didn't take me long, however, to realize it was the same thing with a different logo.
by davidgerard | 2026-01-01 11:38:15+00:00
LLMs are for producing work that should not be done. So it can definitely comment in the style of a comment that's superfluous.

I keep testing with LLMs and it's super bad in writing convincingly in the style of a good writer. That's because good writing is driven by intent, and LLMs don't have intent.

I'm baffled by AI fans who seem sceptical that writing styles exist, and that discerning styles is just part of reading any text at all.

AI fans seem to be people who literally can't tell good from bad, and get upset when you maintain that you in fact can. They think you're having them on.
by yanivleven | 2026-01-01 11:38:32+00:00
At the beginning of the 20th century, a charismatic, highly articulate, and openly antisemitic intellectual rose to power in Vienna, then the cultural and intellectual capital of Europe. His ascent was driven largely by a popular backlash against liberal elites and established political parties.
Despite his virulent antisemitism, he surrounded himself with Jewish acquaintances who offered him legitimacy. He insisted he was “not antisemitic,” while portraying Jews, not individually, of course, only “as a group”, as corrupting, dangerous, and harmful to society. The “good Jews” were those close to him. The rest were a problem.
His rhetoric was refined, intellectual, and morally laundered by Jewish thinkers who saw themselves first as Austrians, only secondarily as Jews, convinced that enlightenment and proximity would protect them.
At the time, his policies caused no immediate catastrophe for Jewish life.
Later, in a much darker chapter of history, Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf:
“I learned a great deal from him, and I do not hesitate to call him the greatest German mayor of all times.”
Hitler did not copy him, he studied him. He refined his methods, stripped them of restraint, and weaponized them with far deadlier consequences.
What frightens me about New York today is not what will happen tomorrow, but what can happen when cultural norms shift.
The world is never short of Hitlers, Stalins, or Genghis Khans.
What restrains them is not their absence, but society’s moral immune system. When intolerance is normalized, dressed in elegant language, and excused as progress, the restraints weaken.
Maybe nothing happens now.
Maybe nothing happens here.
But somewhere, someone is watching. Learning. Adapting.
I hope I am wrong.
And if I am not wrong, then I hope we recover our moral compass quickly,
because if we fail again, it will not be out of ignorance, but out of cowardice!
out of the refusal to confront evil when it is articulate, charming, and pretending to be virtuous.
by wslh | 2026-01-01 11:40:17+00:00
I think the historical relationship between war and human societies is deeper than many like to admit. We often act as if advancing technology, and some societies well-being, have fundamentally changed human behavior, but in reality conflict and the use of force have been central to how groups have interacted for millennia. The peace utopia doesn't click.

This isn’t an endorsement of corruption or violence; it’s just a recognition that human social organization has long involved the use of force alongside diplomacy, negotiations, trade, and other political instruments. The modern/post-modern/meta-modern isms may change how we fight, but it doesn’t by itself make the underlying dynamics disappear.
by littlestymaar | 2026-01-01 11:40:28+00:00
> Who cares whether it’s vibe coded ? As long as it’s good and well maintained over time of course

Maybe 12 hours after the first commit is a bit early to be confident about that…

> Maybe there is a niche market for artisanal software engineering where real humans make holes in punchcards, but I would not bet

Or maybe there exist a world between punchcards and evening AI slop “projects”, who knows.
by JacWpthrowaway | 2026-01-01 11:41:10+00:00
Never been rich but .. who's richer, the one who has more stuff / buying power or the one who has less material needs? Anyway, I was always pretty frugal and lucked out on passive income 6 years ago but even before that I never had full time jobs and all my life I basically worked just enough to get by, never cared much about saving.

From my experience childhood felt like grinding my way to max level in an MMO. Had to be done to start playing the game but didn't really care for it. I had more freedom since I was 18 than before so I cherish those memories more.
by spectralista | 2026-01-01 11:41:26+00:00
I would agree with this from subjective experience. My non-IT based career has been highly volatile with unintended unemployment, companies going out of business, changing entire sectors and roles many times. Huge volatility in relationships and partners also.

Much downside to this but the upside is my life feels incredibly long and I haven't even reached 50 yet. I have already lived numerous lives compared to the self that would have had a very stable life the last 25 years. My working life feels vastly longer than my very stable childhood. That came and went in the blink of an eye from this perspective.
by jbaptiste | 2026-01-01 11:41:52+00:00
Fair point. And as what it is, not a nats replacement, certainly dont have the time to maintain that this way, a test/tech demo/fun side project that yielded super interesting results is probably the answer. As usual I'm probably way too enthusiast when I see some nice results like that and the goal here was to talk about that, but it shifted super fast. So yes Claude rewrote lots of parts, and that's what I love about it. Testing an idea happens in way less time than before, and I find that super cool.
by some_developer | 2026-01-01 11:42:13+00:00
Docker in docker, with opencode.

Opencode plus some scripts on host and in its container works well to run yolo and only see what it needs (via mounting). Has git tools but can't push etc. is thought how to run tests with the special container-in-container setup.

Including pre-configured MCPs, skills, etc.

The best part is that it just works for everyone on the team, big plus.
by mnky9800n | 2026-01-01 11:42:37+00:00
> Using both Frequentist and Bayesian methods, we compared the groups and explored the associations of strengths knowledge and use with outcomes across both groups

This is such a strange statement to me. If you scroll down you see they mean they calculated statistics like cramers v or Bayes factors. I think it’s so strange to differentiate things into frequentist and Bayesian buckets. Like I get it, the authors want to do some kind of group wise comparison like an ANOVA or ANCOVA. But it’s all the same data. The only thing that matters is demonstrating the differences to test the hypothesis. I am sure this is field dependent. I have published a lot in physics education research. In that field there are some people who attack anyone who doesn’t use some hierarchical Bayesian modeling or mixed effects or random effects modeling because they think that’s best. I even wrote this paper:

https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.02010...

Arguing that the type of model doesn’t matter what matters is your ability to recreate the underlying distribution. Once you have demonstrated that ability, then you can interrogate your model to see what it knows about your data.

I guess this is more of a comment than a question. And I’m trying to provide myself context as to why the authors would differentiate between frequentist and Bayesian methods to do group wise comparisons.
by lazide | 2026-01-01 11:42:37+00:00
It’s even less energy efficient gathering up plant matter at this scale and permanently sequestering it, than getting it from the atmosphere. At least with the current technology required to harvest, move and process it. It’s why biomass is still a relatively niche ‘carbon offset’ technique.

It is also highly space inefficient and time consuming to grow and store (sequester).

Even if we converted all US cropland (and the US is one of the largest and most fertile countries for growing crops!) to growing trees, for example, we’d need multiple years of growth for every year of fossil carbon we currently release. And we’d all starve.

There is also generally less carbon by weight than you might imagine - even hardwood is typically more water than carbon when harvested, which is a big part of the problem.

To make it time efficient and also stable to store (not just rot and release the carbon immediately as methane or the like), it needs to be converted to a more stable form like charcoal or coke. Which further decreases efficiency and adds costs.

Near as we can tell, it is much better to just not release it (electric cars + solar?), or geo sequester it (olivine minerals seem promising!) or capture and sequester it directly (inefficient, but hey, there are techniques that should scale like pumping back into the original fossil aquifers!).

The biggest issue is economic (and hence political) - fossil fuels are energetically the equivalent of free money. It’s pretty hard to convince people to stop getting free money and pay money instead!
by zkmon | 2026-01-01 11:43:43+00:00
Best way is, don't make up new rules, don't come up with some new analysis and new ways of living etc. None of that is needed. Human life hasn't started just yesterday. Just live the way your ancestors lived. Don't give too much importance to children. Don't spend too much attention on them. Mind your work and let children mind their observation of the world around them.
by nrhrjrjrjtntbt | 2026-01-01 11:43:46+00:00
I think you are wrong.

It cares if your smart. Hence leetcode etc. You need to be practiced for that.

It also helps to be connected to get your CV top of the pile.

Yes most of us are commodities. But in some ways we are not. Two engineers, same creds, one knows someone who works at the company for a warm positive intro. This is not fungible.
by nsoonhui | 2026-01-01 11:43:50+00:00
I assume that you are engaging in good faith, therefore I will respond.

On the meaning of Palestine will be free, don't westplain the Palestinians by reading your interpretation into their mind. Instead, listen to what they actually said.

https://youtu.be/w4iGFT9Yl9o?si=oWKWAUzlMSec4n67

A lot of misunderstanding about Israel stems from people not reading the situation as it is, ie: listening to what both sides actually say, instead, they are listening to their own projections of the Jews and the Palestinians.
by copirate | 2026-01-01 11:43:50+00:00
Mining on the hidden chain is not necessarily a head start. It would be if it was certain that this hidden chain will become the main chain. But if it doesn't, then mining on it was a waste, not a head start. Of course you don't know in advance, but that's exactly my point. If you don't know whether you're on the right track, you can't say you have a head start. And in the described situation, it's not guaranteed at all that the hidden chain will become the main chain.

The hidden chain can easily be discarded if the miner of the hidden chain doesn't find a 2nd block and if the miners on the public chain find a block and propagate it before the hidden chain is published. In that case, the public chain and hidden chains will be 2 competing heads, and other miners will decide which one wins. They will generally take the first block they saw, so most likely not the (previously) hidden chain. In that situation, mining on the hidden chain was a waste, not a head start. We could even say that the miners on the public chain had a head start. That's why I say there's no such thing as a head start.
by sokoloff | 2026-01-01 11:44:11+00:00
I was partially one of those other kids. Honestly, I loved it and definitely wouldn’t re-roll my childhood if given the chance.

Later in life, I managed to catch up in dating and other aspects, but kept a good streak of nerd pride and am totally happy about that.

If you were to have observed my childhood and got depressed about it, that interpretation would have been misguided.
by martin-t | 2026-01-01 11:45:38+00:00
> Until they've been burned

Or as someone put it: "You can't make people care".

Most western countries are democracies because people in the past got burned by dictatorships (including monarchies). Many of them died because of the dictators (whether they were forced to fight a war of conquest or imprisoned for saying the wrong thing). Many of them died to remove (kill, execute, make flee) the dictators.

There are 2 domains remaining where we still have dictatorships:

- Corporations. Not only do workers usually not have any way make decisions but they produce much more wealth than they actually capture. Cory Doctorow said that an average programmer makes $1M in profits for the company - how much does actually go into his pocket and to whom does the rest go? This is the core of rising economic inequality.

- Technology. This is what OP's article is about. There's not a clean hierarchical power structure you can point to but it's obvious companies have a huge power advantage over users.
by metalman | 2026-01-01 11:45:41+00:00
realy like the cattle analogy, and it can be extended further, Dexter cattle are dual use
cattle, and the worlds smallest breed, so increadably popular for small acerages and single family cows, so in a way the type of thing that is terrifying for big operations, as they are not monetisable at scale, but idealy suited to a distributed network that is also a peer to peer economical exchange.
by throw-qqqqq | 2026-01-01 11:45:54+00:00
> Could this be due to how Windows vs Linux does process scheduling on CPUs with P- and E-cores?

Had the same thought: I would also expect this to be an artifact of suboptimal scheduling on Linux or some otherwise unidentified issue.

Linux is usually outperforming Windows by a good margin on the same hardware.

Also, in my experience, Windows 11 does not improve performance compared to Windows 10 (I have to use both versions at my dayjob).

I would be very surprised if this isn’t an issue with drivers or scheduling.
by b112 | 2026-01-01 11:47:30+00:00
Thank you for verifying how all women behave and act, as if they are all identical.

Then, using that stereotypical behaviour to chastise others.

You also presume that "brown nosing" is the same category as "being nice". It's not. Brown nosing is a non-genuine, fabricated expression.

So is the woman faking "being nice" due to brow nosing, or faking "being nice" due to sexual interest?

The parent poster was merely wondering if this is hard to discern, and even indicated that it "doesn't make it right".

Your response is part of what is wrong with such dynamics today. Knee jerk reactions to speculation is not called for.
by mctt | 2026-01-01 11:47:48+00:00
I'll play along, so here is the counterpoint.
The article remarks on end of an era during which he transformed a failing textile mill into a global conglomerate valued at over $1 trillion.
So he never made anything? Wrong, textile mills make things.

Elsewhere in the comments someone links BuffettsAlpha.pdf
This explains that they used a 1.6-to-1 leverage refers to the estimate of the average amount of borrowed capital Warren Buffett uses to magnify the returns.
This level of leverage means that for every $1.00 of equity, Buffett manages approximately $1.60 in total assets.
It explains why Berkshire experiences high volatility (roughly 25%) despite investing in relatively stable, low-risk businesses.
A significant portion of this leverage—estimated at 36% of liabilities—comes from insurance float. This is essentially a "loan" that costs Berkshire an average of only 2.2% annually, which is more than 3 percentage points below the average T-bill rate.

So why does this matter? Unlike many investors who might face forced liquidations during market downturns, Buffett's unique access to stable, low-cost financing allows him to maintain this leverage even during significant drawdowns.

So yes, he chose the right "cronies" because during inevitable downturn the money was still there to be used to run these low risk stable business.

Do people idolise him? No need to debate that but power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Why did he continue to live a simple life while he has pledged that 99.5% of his wealth will go to philanthropic causes either during his lifetime or at the time of his death.

So I do think you "got that right", however you may have missed that he started with a factory that makes things, invested in a way that survived adversity, and then plans to deliver on the principle that his wealth belongs to society rather than to a "family empire."

I do wonder how you or I would handle running a business. To me that work does not sound easy.
by brushfoot | 2026-01-01 11:48:35+00:00
Think of the kinds of people who vie for leadership roles at established companies like Sears was at the time. Those people aren't innovators and creators. They're management types, MBAs, bureaucrats.

And fair enough: When the ship is that big and there are that many people on board, you often don't want to "move fast and break things," because the downstream effects can be extreme. Now you've just broken a company that had been working for decades. You're incentivized to take small risks with high likelihoods of reward.

Of course, the problem is, at some point that becomes fatal. A balance can be struck, but it can be hard when the original driving force is long gone.
by orleyhuxwell | 2026-01-01 11:48:46+00:00
Yeah, that's pretty much it.
The counterarguments don't address what AstroBen noted.: newbies get high gains from any kind of stimulus.
The paper has simply confirmed the common knowledge teached in universities.

The problem is, after you are no longer a newbie you may train for years with very little progress, and that's when you need to start differenting stimulus, being strategic about it - otherwise you may stay stuck.

And unfortunately the paper doesn't address or refute that, while it's coverage (or even the title of this hackernews) may suggest otherwise.