Someone May Have Solved One Of The Hardest Math Problems On Earth, And Other Facts
Welcome to What We Learned This Week, a digest of the most curiously important facts from the past few days. This week: A man potentially solved the problem to end all problems, professional boxing reveals itself as an incredible grift and what do to when you win $759 million.
Man Potentially Solves Problem Concluding That Not All Problems Are Solvable
Motherboard reports that one man, Norbert Blum, has potentially solved the P versus NP problem, but in order to understand the significance of this, we're going to need to take several steps back.
There is a lot to know about the P versus NP problem, but the main thing you should know is that the solution dictates the potential power of computers. To the layperson, the promise of the computer seems infinite: Surely with enough processing power and time we can calculate anything, right? Not quite.
As early as 1971, computer scientists found there are two different types of problems. P problems are easy, things computers can tackle with enough computational power in a reasonable amount of time. Remember the first time you multiplied 1 million by 1 million in a calculator? That's a P problem.
NP problems are ones that cannot be solved with computation power nor time. Things like calculating perfect chess moves or protein folding are NP problems.
Being the smart people computer scientists and mathematicians are, they found that a bunch of NP problems are unsolvable in the same ways — the doors are different but all the locks are the same, and if only we could find the key. This is what they struggle with. Are all NP problems actually P problems we've yet to find the trick to, or are there some things we just will never be able to compute?
So, back to Blum. He found that P does not equal NP. According to his proof, there are just some problems we will never be able to compute. Mathematicians are scrambling to check his work, but for us — and given how 2017 has played out, it seems to past the eye-test.
Update 11:43 AM: In an update to his original paper posted on Wednesday, Blum admitted his proof was wrong. " The proof is wrong. I shall elaborate precisely what the mistake is," Blum wrote in the comment field of his paper. "For doing this, I need some time. I shall put the explanation on my homepage."
The Mayweather/McGregor Fight Proves We're All Rubes
If you're not already extremely exhausted over last weekend's fight, the one thing you should read is New York Times columnist Dan Berry wonderfully bitter encapsulation of the event.
For years, defenders of pugilistic contest have pointed to athleticism and purity to validate their sport. What more pure athletic contest is there than just two humans going at each other? There's no denying the raw attention-grabbing potency of two people punching each other — since when has anyone not rubbernecked a schoolyard fight?
But, Berry argues, Mayweather/McGregor might be the sport's downfall. In no fight has the naked capitalist ambition of either party been so apparent. Everyone, from the fighters to the promoters to even the fans knew going in that an incredible amount of money was going to be made from this. And we all watched anyway. The perfect con.
Sorority Girls All Dress The Same Just Like We All Dress The Same
You know, it'd be real easy to read Stephanie Talmadge's in-depth look at sorority style and culture and come out feeling superior. Greek life comes with its own unique set of problems, and Talmadge does an incredible job linking those issues of culture and diversity to the way dress codes are formally or informally enforced. But to pin it just on the clothes would be missing the point.
To an outsider sororities seem arbitrary and obtuse in the way they force people to look, but goddamn if that just doesn't happen everywhere else on this planet. You show up to your first big adult job and suddenly you're keenly aware of what you're wearing and how it compares with what your coworkers are wearing. Someone starts wearing a chambray shirt, and then all of a sudden one day like five people are all wearing chambray shirts with black jeans.
What I'm trying to say is that we're all just trying to fit in. Sure it's strange and alienating that Greek life has codified the dress codes to the degree they have, but we all want to look as good as those we consider our peers. If I was that sort of person I'd take a huge bong rip and just say, "We're all just wearing our own uniforms, man."
[Racked]
It's Incredible Easy To Deal With A $756 Million Jackpot
Maybe I spend far too much time on the internet, but the points Barry Ritholz makes in his primer on what one should do if they won the PowerBall jackpot seems almost canon at this point. Don't take the lump sum. Hire an accountant. Get ready for friends, family and crackpots to come out of the woodwork with their hands out.
It sounds tedious and in many cases jackpot winners go on to live miserable lives. But I've been doing some thinking, mainly what I would do if I had won the Powerball instead of Mavis Wanczyk, and this does not seem like such a hard problem. I would take the annuity. I would buy a house somewhere moderately remote where there are trees and quiet roads. I would do my best to live within the means I'm currently accustomed to. Maybe I'd by more video games or some nicer bicycles or something. And I would ride and ride and ride my bicycle.
It seems so simple. To finally be granted enough money to just stop. To stop working, stop stressing about a career path, stop stressing about what you are going to do with your life. If I was granted such an incredible windfall I would just stop. Is that so hard?
