[HN Gopher] Unbounded Recursion
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       Unbounded Recursion
        
       Author : 082349872349872
       Score  : 59 points
       Date   : 2024-03-20 09:29 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (wiki.secretgeek.net)
 (TXT) w3m dump (wiki.secretgeek.net)
        
       | bmacho wrote:
       | They mentioned the Droste effect, but not the fact that by
       | Brouwer fixed-point theorem[0], there is a fixed-point, a point
       | that every image contains.
       | 
       | Similar with mirrors, or cameras that capture their own images
       | (although there is a delay (there is a delay with mirrors too)),
       | or in the cases of maps. Did you know that if there is a map of
       | an area in the depicted area, then there is a fixed point, which
       | is in the case of maps a 'You are Here' point, that is, it is
       | above its location?
       | 
       | [0] : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brouwer_fixed-
       | point_theorem#Il...
        
         | alpinisme wrote:
         | It would be pretty alarming if I could hold a map of the state
         | I'm in and not see my own location anywhere on it!
        
           | YeGoblynQueenne wrote:
           | Conversely, it would pretty alarming if you could see
           | yourself in that location on the map.
        
             | 48864w6ui wrote:
             | Not so alarming if the map comes equipped with a suitable
             | adjoint (best approximation to inverse) map with which it
             | may be composed; it's by pulling back that "taste
             | classifies, and it classifies those who classify."
        
           | Izkata wrote:
           | Maps of Chicago typically don't have a way to include lower
           | Wacker, and plenty of people haven't even heard of lower
           | lower Wacker.
           | 
           | Even Google Maps struggles with this, bouncing between upper
           | and lower on street view, and pickups with Uber and Lyft are
           | iffy on that street (at least back when I first installed
           | them, gave up on it after a while).
        
       | saurik wrote:
       | > This is funny because "recursion" and "condescension" are two
       | words that rhyme...
       | 
       | "lol"? :(
        
         | KineticLensman wrote:
         | 'Aversion' also rhymes with 'recursion, as does 'version',
         | 'Persian, 'subversion', 'introversion' and 'King James Version'
         | amongst others
        
           | n_plus_1_acc wrote:
           | https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rhymes:English/%C9%9C%CB%90.
           | ..
        
           | mikojan wrote:
           | Very thoughtful
        
       | layer8 wrote:
       | If I really wanted to look up the discussion of recursion or
       | infinite loops in a book index, I would be rather annoyed if a
       | cute joke would cause the actual reference to be absent.
        
         | KineticLensman wrote:
         | In my 1990 copy of Steele's Common Lisp The Language (2nd
         | edition), the index definitions of iteration and recursion
         | cross reference each other, but do point at the actual
         | definitions as well.
         | 
         | However, the joke that he _does_ use in the index is that the
         | entries for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (who are used an
         | example of a list somewhere) also includes the dates of the
         | renaissance artists (Michelangelo, etc) they were named after.
         | 
         | I'm not sure which is the more worrying: that I noticed this in
         | the first place, found it really funny, or that I remembered it
         | 30 years later.
        
           | 082349872349872 wrote:
           | https://books.google.ch/books?id=V3ByEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA590&lpg=P.
           | ..                   Oxford           professorial
           | appointments, 505           stories, 481           breakaway
           | technical college somewhere             in the fens (see
           | Cambridge)
           | 
           | elsewhere on that page are many other means by which we may
           | guess Prof. Korner's aesthetic theory of indices.
        
       | ergonaught wrote:
       | An extended and elaborate demonstration of the "if you have to
       | explain the joke" principle.
        
         | YeGoblynQueenne wrote:
         | What do you mean? What joke is explained? Explained how? Can
         | you please explain?
        
           | taneq wrote:
           | It's discussed in more detail here:
           | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39799743
        
       | dunham wrote:
       | I also enjoyed the last "Next Steps" reference at the end of
       | "Functional Programming in Lean":
       | 
       | - Functional Programming in Lean may be interesting to readers
       | who enjoy jokes about recursion.
        
       | dimask wrote:
       | See also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39764360
        
         | taneq wrote:
         | I was just about comment that I'm a little afraid to start
         | reading the article at this time of night. Apparently the
         | comments aren't safe either! ;)
        
       | jrh3 wrote:
       | Disappointed that scrolling to the bottom did not lead to the
       | content at the top of the page.
        
         | 1letterunixname wrote:
         | Yes. I was expecting a Mobius strip page too.
        
       | Nevermark wrote:
       | [0] Canonical proof that HN comments are Recursive Complete [0]
        
       | btilly wrote:
       | The most unbounded recursive time travel paradox story has to be
       | _All You Zombies_ by Robert A. Heinlein. You can find it at
       | https://gist.github.com/defunkt/759182/ad44c6135d168ae54503a....
        
       | Loic wrote:
       | After so many years, this title made me really catch the name
       | "Unbound" for the recursive DNS resolver...
        
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