I’m sure pirates knew the answer. Probably fighter pilots as well.

  • Artisian@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    8 months ago

    If it’s any consolation, you are almost certainly within ~3 years of understanding the solution and a dozen variants. It’s not a super deep area. Probably doesn’t really require calculus (you need continuous as in ‘the lion doesn’t teleport; that’s cheating’, but I think not much more).

    • Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      8 months ago

      We must always consider capability. If it requires 3 quarts of understanding and I’ve only got a 1/2 gallon container, it’s not all getting in there.

      We aren’t all the same. I am content that there are people way smarter than me. I’ve met some. They’re usually cool.

      • Artisian@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        8 months ago

        Fortunately containers can get bigger =)

        While we aren’t all the same, there’s a difference between things that require holding 8 complicated things in mind at once, and things that require a little language learning and the intelligence to solve a crossword. This is closer to the latter - like doing a crossword in Spanish. You need to know a bunch of little things, but learning them is basically all tedium and not brilliant insights. (Taking these puzzles, creating a dozen new variants, and solving all of those probably does require managing a lot of complexity. But to understand the work of others, is not so bad)

        • Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          Agreed. I think “Flowers for Algernon” hit me hard. And I had an experience in college where I accidentally took a philosophy class called “Critical Theory Since Plato” when I first realized that I’m not very smart, just a little above average, and some people live life on a while different level than I do.

          And don’t get me started on “Electromechanical Wave Theory,” a book I bought from Goodwill. I wanted to learn more about that, but I think it was written by aliens.