Hangry science
May 7, 2016 3:23 AM Subscribe
When people get hungry thoughts of food can influence their work, especially in mathematics and related fields. Particularly influential foods (and related things) include cake, pie, pizza, ham sandwiches, more sandwiches, pancakes, spaghetti, cocktails, Chinese restaurants, Indian buffets, sausages, donuts, layer cake, blancmange pudding and potatoes. But in the end, there's no free lunch.
We have dubbed the associated results NFL theorems because they demonstrate that if an algorithm performs well on a certain class of problems then it necessarily pays for that with degraded performance on the set of all remaining problems.
This isn't a math answer, but I really object to the 'no free lunch' idiom. If you want a free lunch, come to the mission at 10:30am. Today it was chicken curry with rice and ice-cream. Capitalists need to lose this 'no free lunch' thing. There's enough food for everyone. Can mathematicians get to work on getting it to the hungry people? Especially since many of them seem to be them.
posted by adept256 at 3:55 AM on May 7, 2016 [7 favorites]
This isn't a math answer, but I really object to the 'no free lunch' idiom. If you want a free lunch, come to the mission at 10:30am. Today it was chicken curry with rice and ice-cream. Capitalists need to lose this 'no free lunch' thing. There's enough food for everyone. Can mathematicians get to work on getting it to the hungry people? Especially since many of them seem to be them.
posted by adept256 at 3:55 AM on May 7, 2016 [7 favorites]
One person cuts.
The other person chooses.
QED
posted by chavenet at 4:42 AM on May 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
The other person chooses.
QED
posted by chavenet at 4:42 AM on May 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Fair cake-cutting is a kind of fair division problem
The solution is well-known: "On t'a dit trois parts, Obélix !" "Eh bien j'ai coupé trois parts !"
(film version)
posted by effbot at 4:47 AM on May 7, 2016 [5 favorites]
The solution is well-known: "On t'a dit trois parts, Obélix !" "Eh bien j'ai coupé trois parts !"
(film version)
posted by effbot at 4:47 AM on May 7, 2016 [5 favorites]
A great number of my passwords involve food items. Donut#3765= Th number of donuts I would like to eat today.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:57 AM on May 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:57 AM on May 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
adept256: This isn't a math answer, but I really object to the 'no free lunch' idiom. If you want a free lunch, come to the mission at 10:30am.
Yeah, I bet their lunches just materialize out of thin air.
posted by Soi-hah at 7:10 AM on May 7, 2016
Yeah, I bet their lunches just materialize out of thin air.
posted by Soi-hah at 7:10 AM on May 7, 2016
> Yeah, I bet their lunches just materialize out of thin air.
Photosynthesis?
Most of the energy we (people) consume is gathered and concentrated for us by other entities. I guess it's not free (you have to move your jaws to break down the food), but eating a sandwich gives you an incredible return on your investment.
And speaking of sandwiches, I appreciate the dry wit of the graphic included on the ham sandwich theorem page.
posted by benito.strauss at 7:39 AM on May 7, 2016
Photosynthesis?
Most of the energy we (people) consume is gathered and concentrated for us by other entities. I guess it's not free (you have to move your jaws to break down the food), but eating a sandwich gives you an incredible return on your investment.
And speaking of sandwiches, I appreciate the dry wit of the graphic included on the ham sandwich theorem page.
posted by benito.strauss at 7:39 AM on May 7, 2016
Banach-Tarski should provide for enough free lunches (especially for foods in spherical form).
posted by Death and Gravity at 8:50 AM on May 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Death and Gravity at 8:50 AM on May 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
The only thing I understood in the Indian buffet article was "Indian buffet." I love it! Foreign language totally out of my understanding, how fascinating!
posted by yueliang at 9:24 AM on May 7, 2016
posted by yueliang at 9:24 AM on May 7, 2016
Banach-Tarski should provide for enough free lunches (especially for foods in spherical form).
My food was taken apart and reassembled to be double it's size. Can I eat it?
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:24 AM on May 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
My food was taken apart and reassembled to be double it's size. Can I eat it?
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:24 AM on May 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
> The only thing I understood in the Indian buffet article was "Indian buffet."
The Indian buffet process models something where there are an infinite number of possible choices, though you can only make use of a finite number of them. It's a pretty good analogy to some Indian buffets I've been to. [This is me trying to popularize math.]
> My food was taken apart and reassembled to be double it's size. Can I eat it?
It probably won't go down very smoothly. Heck, it's not even C0, much less C1! [This is me alienating 99% of the people reading this post.]
posted by benito.strauss at 10:20 AM on May 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
The Indian buffet process models something where there are an infinite number of possible choices, though you can only make use of a finite number of them. It's a pretty good analogy to some Indian buffets I've been to. [This is me trying to popularize math.]
> My food was taken apart and reassembled to be double it's size. Can I eat it?
It probably won't go down very smoothly. Heck, it's not even C0, much less C1! [This is me alienating 99% of the people reading this post.]
posted by benito.strauss at 10:20 AM on May 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
And speaking of sandwiches, I appreciate the dry wit of the graphic included on the ham sandwich theorem page.
Ooh, I have to dispute dry wit here. I have long suspected that many aspiring photographers use Wikipedia to get "published."
That said, I would now like to start a takeout place called "More Sandwiches."
posted by rhizome at 11:25 AM on May 7, 2016
Ooh, I have to dispute dry wit here. I have long suspected that many aspiring photographers use Wikipedia to get "published."
That said, I would now like to start a takeout place called "More Sandwiches."
posted by rhizome at 11:25 AM on May 7, 2016
This reminds me of a discussion of depictions of food in British fiction written during the war (WWII) and postwar years, when rationing was in force and real food was generally terrible.
posted by bad grammar at 11:52 AM on May 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bad grammar at 11:52 AM on May 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
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I am sure, if I drill into this, it will explain why I suck at cutting pizza.
If maths had taught this in school I may have enjoyed it more.
posted by Mezentian at 3:29 AM on May 7, 2016