Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

by Brian Christian

“To try and fail is at least to learn; to fail to try is to suffer the inestimable loss of what might have been.”

In the long run, optimism is the best prevention for regret.

Programmers don’t talk because they must not be interrupted.… To synchronize with other people (or their representation in telephones, buzzers and doorbells) can only mean interrupting the thought train. Interruptions mean certain bugs. You must not get off the train.

One of the simplest forms of relaxation in computer science is known as Constraint Relaxation. In this technique, researchers remove some of the problem’s constraints and set about solving the problem they wish they had. Then, after they’ve made a certain amount of headway, they try to add the constraints back in. That is, they make the problem temporarily easier to handle before bringing it back to reality.