Some things I read today:
Why the Number Line Freaks Me Out by Ben Orlin: The more you learn math, the more it freaks you out! Neumann saying, “In mathematics, you don’t understand things. You just get used to them.” is very real. During my electrical engineering degree, we used a lot of mathematics to the point where I couldn’t deeply understand it, but I just knew that if I did this, it would work. Funnily enough, I have used everything I learned in high school mathematics during the course of my degree; things like “Why did we bother learning trigonometry” aren’t relatable. Ever wondered why we have complex numbers? Get into electrical engineering!
A Blog, If You Can Keep It by Thomas Ptacek: I have my own theory of what works in Hacker News. My first open source project was on the front page of Hacker News before I even knew what Hacker News was. Over the years, some of my posts have made it back there (while most don’t), and writing an “EffortPost” is the most surefire way for the post to hit the numbers among Hacker News readers.