{"id":604,"date":"2025-11-08T20:21:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T20:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haptonstahl.org\/polimath\/?p=604"},"modified":"2025-11-10T15:41:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T15:41:00","slug":"get-someone-else-to-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haptonstahl.org\/polimath\/get-someone-else-to-do-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Get someone else to do it"},"content":{"rendered":"\nThe easiest way to get something done is to get someone else to do it.\n\n\n\n

Thanksgiving dinner<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dad is about to put the turkey in the oven. There’s a lot of food yet to prepare. Three guests wander into the kitchen and ask how they can help. The last thing Dad needs is a distraction!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dad figures it will take him an hour to finish preparing the meal. The guests don’t know the kitchen, so they can only do what is needed half as fast, and Dad won’t be able to do anything at all if he’s showing them what to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dad’s choices:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Do it himself.
    60 minutes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Step away from the knives and focus entirely on showing them what to do. The guests do the work.
    40 minutes. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Bonus: Dad gets to tell sea stories while they prepare the feast, making it a social activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Platforms and User-Generated Content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Jack Musckerberg wants to start a website where they can sell ads. The problem: He needs content to attract visitors, and he needs new content continually to keep them coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Jack’s choice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Hire content creators to generate content.
      Marginal cost per page of content: $25.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Create a platform where the users themselves post pictures of cats.
      Marginal cost per page of content: < $0.01.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Bonus: Safe Harbor (17 U.S. Code \u00a7 512<\/a>) means he’s less liable for some problematic content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Software and plugins\/extensions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      The new application FaceHugger is a tool for aliens using machine learning models. ML moves fast, and it’s difficult to keep the software up-to-date with the latest algorithms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The proprietor from another world has to choose:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Bring the entire hive to Earth to implement new models.
        Cost per model: One         meal<\/a> for the alien modeler.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Make the software support plugins and give credit to hooman contributors.
        Cost per model: < $0.01.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Moving Mt. Honeycrisp<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Shia is interviewing at Aleph, a startup in search. Aleph hires strictly based on IQ, so their interview process asks some interesting questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        “How would you move Mt. Honeycrisp?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        (Two of) Shia’s choices:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        1. Bulldozers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. Start a religion, where the highest ritual is a pilgrimage to Mt. Honeycrisp. Adherents are to take a piece of the mountain home with them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Bonus: Shia doesn’t have to worry about where to put the mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Assorted sorting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

          Sally is applying for a job as a machine learning engineer. Having met with the charismatic and empathetic hiring manager, the next step is the Python test. The examiner directs, “Write code to sort this DataFrame on the second column.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          She could:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n
          1. Implement a sorting algorithm from scratch. This is<\/em> a coding test, right? She can show off her familiarity with bubble sort.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          2. Use a provided library: df_sorted = df.sort_values(by=1)<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Bonuses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n