Hacker News with Generative AI: Metaphors

Component Simplicity (jerf.org)
There is a common metaphor for hyperspace travel in science fiction, where some scientist type explains how the FTL works by taking a piece of paper, drawing a line on it to demonstrate “normal” travel, then folding the paper to bring the origin and destination together.

Software Development, Metaphors, Science Fiction

58 points by todsacerdoti 17 days ago | 10 comments

Breaching the trust thermocline is the biggest hidden risk in business (every.to)
In large bodies of water, the temperature drops slowly the deeper one dives. That change can, if the descent is slow enough, feel almost imperceptible. Yet at a certain point, the water temperature drops sharply and alarmingly. This point is the thermocline—a near-physical barrier where warm water meets cold. The shift between the two is sudden and dramatic.

Business, Risk, Metaphors

4 points by exar0815 63 days ago | 0 comments

The origin of the cargo cult metaphor (righto.com)
The cargo cult metaphor is commonly used by programmers. This metaphor was popularized by Richard Feynman's "cargo cult science" talk with a vivid description of South Seas cargo cults. However, this metaphor has three major problems.

Programming, History, Metaphors, Science

291 points by zdw 81 days ago | 677 comments

Ohmaps: your image montage is a resistor network (hunsley.io)
Occasionally there’s a lovely moment when I’m working on a problem and I realise I’m also looking at some other thing that seems completely unrelated. It’s like a metaphor made flesh.

Image Manipulation, Art, Programming, Metaphors

78 points by occular 143 days ago | 28 comments

Electric chainsaws and the gorge of misery (lcamtuf.substack.com)

Electric Chainsaws, Metaphors, Writing

39 points by zdw 240 days ago | 71 comments

We need new metaphors that put life at the centre of biology Essays (aeon.co)

Biology, Philosophy, Metaphors, Science

9 points by rbanffy 266 days ago | 1 comments

'It's like I drew a door and disappeared through it' (2021) (meduza.io)

Metaphors, Art, Personal Experiences, 2021, Russia

105 points by NaOH 270 days ago | 13 comments

The Internet Is Like a City (But Not in the Way You'd Think) (novum.substack.com)

Internet, Metaphors, Social Interaction

10 points by thunderbong 335 days ago | 1 comments

Why the Higgs Field Is Nothing Like Molasses, Soup, or a Crowd (profmattstrassler.com)