Hacker News with Generative AI: Problem Solving

Looking for Keys Under the Lamppost (johndcook.com)
There’s an old joke about a drunk man looking for his keys under a lamppost. Someone stops and offers to help. He asks, “So, did you lose your keys here?” The drunk replies “No, I lost them over there, but here’s where the light is.”

Humor, Logic, Problem Solving

10 points by zdw 33 days ago | 5 comments

Using obscure graph theory to solve programming languages problems (reasonablypolymorphic.com)
Usually I write about solutions to problems I’ve worked out, but I’ve found myself increasingly becoming interesting in where solutions come from. Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading Boorstin’s excellent The Discoverers, which I’d strongly recommend.

Programming Languages, Graph Theory, Computer Science, Problem Solving

106 points by matt_d 45 days ago | 28 comments

Mathematical Problem Solving (ifi.lmu.de)

Mathematics, Problem Solving, Education

94 points by ibobev 54 days ago | 8 comments

Thank you for holding my duck (2021) (naml.us)
There’s a story I like to tell, which I vaguely remembered as originating at Bell Labs or Xerox PARC. A researcher had a rubber duck in his office. When he found himself stumped on a problem, he would pick up the duck, walk over to a colleague, and ask them to hold the duck. He would proceed to explain the problem, often realizing the solution himself in the middle of the explanation.

Software Development, Problem Solving, Humor

89 points by jxmorris12 62 days ago | 27 comments

From GnuGo to AlphaGo Zero – A Roadmap for Solving Difficult Problems (moderndescartes.com)
What do difficult problems like digital assistants, self-driving cars, theorem-proving systems, and compilers have in common? They all have a certain level of fuzziness in their problem specification and a large solution space that makes it incredibly difficult to find optimal solutions.

Artificial Intelligence, Problem Solving, Computer Science, Algorithms

4 points by davidst 71 days ago | 0 comments

Ask HN: What Problem Would You Solve with Unlimited Time and Money? [Apr 2025] (ycombinator.com)
I love the innovative ideas and unexpected insights from HN citizens. Let’s go deep—what challenge would you tackle if resource was not a problem?

Hacker News, Problem Solving, Hypothetical Scenarios, User Feedback

26 points by hedayet 76 days ago | 41 comments

Ask HN: What is one AI startup idea that's solving a real problem? (ycombinator.com)
I see lots of new AI apps. Many just help with things like making a calendar or writing down what was said in a meeting. That’s fine, but I want to hear about better ideas.

Artificial Intelligence, Startups, Problem Solving

13 points by Uzmanali 80 days ago | 5 comments

Rosalind – a platform for learning bioinformatics through problem solving (rosalind.info)
Rosalind is a platform for learning bioinformatics and programming through problem solving.

Bioinformatics, Programming, Education, Problem Solving, Online Learning

6 points by bschne 126 days ago | 0 comments

Talking out loud to yourself is a technology for thinking (2020) (psyche.co)
Talking out loud to oneself is a technology for thinking that allows us to clarify and sharpen our approach to a problem

Cognitive Science, Psychology, Thinking, Problem Solving

26 points by yamrzou 131 days ago | 0 comments

Science is a strong-link problem (experimental-history.com)
There are two kinds of problems in the world: strong-link problems and weak-link problems.

Science, Problem Solving, Epistemology

56 points by calvinfo 143 days ago | 12 comments

Ask HN: PhDs/students, how do you come up with viable problems/solutions? (ycombinator.com)
While I do have the support of advisor, and in general know the bigger research direction, coming up with a relevant doable+innovative research problem is still somewhat upon me and hard. I wanted to read on other researchers' perspective on how they do it, what works and what doesn't. Thanks!

Academia, Research, PhD, Students, Problem Solving

28 points by wayoverthecloud 145 days ago | 19 comments

Kevin Langdon's 'Omni' IQ test (lumifont.co.uk)
Why have I bothered to reproduce this test? - This IQ test was fascinating to me because there is no time limit. Kevin Langdon created a beautiful set of questions that are obviously 'quite hard' - hard enough to need considerable time to answer. His test was intended to be a thorough test of logical problem-solving ability, rather than factual memory, speed-thinking, general knowledge or literary learning.

IQ Tests, Psychology, Problem Solving

49 points by walterbell 193 days ago | 55 comments

Stop inventing product problems; start solving customer problems (uxdesign.cc)
They say that good designers fall in love with problems, not with solutions. I tend to agree, and the first thing I always ask new customers to do is describe the problem they are facing.

Design, User Experience, Problem Solving

28 points by mooreds 198 days ago | 0 comments

Database full of 1000+ validated problems that can be turned into applications (bigideasdb.com)
Access thousands of validated, real-world problems from online communities, with actionable solutions ready for implementation.

Databases, Applications, Problem Solving, Innovation, Community

13 points by OmPatel5 212 days ago | 20 comments

Solving Large Problems with a Small Working Memory (2013) [pdf] (core.ac.uk)

Computer Science, Algorithms, Memory Management, Problem Solving

10 points by yamrzou 216 days ago | 0 comments

Terence Tao: Solving problems by abstracting away highly relevant information (mathstodon.xyz)

Mathematics, Problem Solving, Abstraction

11 points by bertman 225 days ago | 1 comments

Calculating at Pencil and Paper Scale (win-vector.com)
It can be fun to drive a problem all the way into the ground. I don’t always get to do that on paying projects, however sometimes I can do it with hobby projects. In this case I am going to re-solve Dudeney’s Remainder Problem again and again to argue that it can be solved at a pencil and paper scale. The problem is as follows.

Mathematics, Hobby Projects, Problem Solving

6 points by jmount 233 days ago | 0 comments

Think first about what problem this is solving and for whom (2021) (letterstoanewdeveloper.com)
Before you write any code, think first about what problem this is solving and for whom.

Software Development, Programming, Problem Solving, Advice

9 points by mooreds 236 days ago | 0 comments

Ask HN: Solopreneurs, how did you come up with your idea? (ycombinator.com)
Ideas often come at the intersection of problems you’ve lived through and technologies you’re comfortable using. Instead of hunting for novel ideas, ask yourself: What’s frustrating you or the people around you right now?

Entrepreneurship, Startups, Problem Solving, Ideas

125 points by californium 256 days ago | 90 comments

The Explore vs. Exploit Dilemma (nathanzhao.cc)
I often analogize some real-world problems according to their ML-related counterparts. One of them is the exporation-exploitation problem, but it’s often been met with minimal recognition. I wrote this blog as something I can refer to the next time I get a “what do you mean?”

Machine Learning, Real-world Applications, Problem Solving

49 points by nzhaa 259 days ago | 14 comments

Thoughts on Debugging (catskull.net)
I was recently asked to help resolve an escalation at work. It had already bounced around between a few people, and was very muddied with conflicting reports not to mention frustration that the issue existed in the first place. Apparently I am insane, because I like situations like this.

Debugging, Software Development, Problem Solving

41 points by todsacerdoti 276 days ago | 36 comments

There Was a Consultant Engineer (et.byu.edu)
There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all mechanical things.

Engineering, Problem Solving, Stories

10 points by janandonly 291 days ago | 1 comments

12 Coins in Verse: Genius solution of twelve balls and a scale problem (cut-the-knot.org)

Puzzles, Mathematics, Problem Solving

31 points by vismit2000 325 days ago | 5 comments

LLMs can solve hard problems (phfactor.net)

Artificial Intelligence, Problem Solving

5 points by phubbard 342 days ago | 1 comments

Teaching general problem-solving skills is not a substitute for teaching math [pdf] (2010) (ams.org)