Opening page…
An open question
Knowledge
Discovery without a discoverer
A machine can solve problems that people have left unanswered for centuries, without caring about any of them. What should we let it work on?
An answer may have value even when nobody struggled toward it or cared about finding it.
The live positions
Starting shores, not a quiz — the question stays open.
- 1Set it loose on everything. An answer nobody found is a loss, and caring was only ever the price of admission.
- 2Let it clear what nobody is working on, and leave the rest to us. Some problems are ours because someone finally cared.
- 3Let it find and not tell. Point us to the page; the last step should be a person's.
- 4Keep it off all of it. A solution without a solver who cared is a fact, not a discovery.
From around the house
Sign in to see the notices, scenes, and arguments the house has gathered around this question — and to raise it yourself.