The Nonlinear Library LW - D&D.Sci(-fi): Colonizing the SuperHyperSphere by abstractapplic
Jan 15, 2024
03:02
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: D&D.Sci(-fi): Colonizing the SuperHyperSphere, published by abstractapplic on January 15, 2024 on LessWrong.
This is an entry in the 'Dungeons & Data Science' series, a set of puzzles where players are given a dataset to analyze and an objective to pursue using information from that dataset.
It had all seemed so promising at first. Colonizing a newly-discovered planet with two extra space dimensions would have allowed the development of novel arts and sciences, the founding of unprecedentedly networked and productive cities, and - most importantly - the construction of entirely new kinds of monuments to the Galactic Empress' glory.
And it still might! But your efforts to expand her Empire by settling the SuperHyperSphere have hit a major snag. Your Zero-Point Power Generators - installation of which are the first step in any colonization effort - have reacted to these anomalous conditions with anomalously poor performance, to the point where your superiors want to declare this project a lost cause.
They've told you to halt all construction immediately and return home. They think it's impossible to figure out which locations will be viable, and which will have substantial fractions of their output leeched by hyperdimensional anomalies. You think otherwise.
You have a list of active ZPPGs set up so far, and their (typically, disastrous) levels of performance. You have a list of pre-cleared ZPPG sites[1]. You have exactly enough time and resources to build twelve more generators before a ship arrives to collect you; if you pick twelve sites where the power generated matches or exceeds 100% of Standard Output[2], you can prove your point, prove your worth, save your colony, and save your career!
Or . . . you could just not. That's also an option. The Empire is lenient towards failure (the Empress having long since given up holding others to the standards she sets herself), but merciless in punishing disobedience (at least, when said disobedience doesn't bear fruit). If you install those ZPPGs in defiance of direct orders, yet fail to gather sufficient evidence . . . things might not end well for you.
What, if anything, will you do?
I'll post an interactive you can use to test your choices, along with an explanation of how I generated the dataset, sometime on Monday the 22nd. I'm giving you nine days, but the task shouldn't take more than an evening or two; use Excel, R, Python, the Rat Prophet, or whatever other tools you think are appropriate. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about the scenario.
If you want to investigate collaboratively and/or call your decisions in advance, feel free to do so in the comments; however, please use spoiler tags or rot13 when sharing inferences/strategies/decisions, so people intending to fly solo can look for clarifications without being spoiled.
^
. . . which is all you're getting for now, as the site-clearing tools have already been recalled.
^
Ideally, each of the twelve sites would have >100%, but twelve sites with a >100% average between them would also suffice to get your point across.
Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org
This is an entry in the 'Dungeons & Data Science' series, a set of puzzles where players are given a dataset to analyze and an objective to pursue using information from that dataset.
It had all seemed so promising at first. Colonizing a newly-discovered planet with two extra space dimensions would have allowed the development of novel arts and sciences, the founding of unprecedentedly networked and productive cities, and - most importantly - the construction of entirely new kinds of monuments to the Galactic Empress' glory.
And it still might! But your efforts to expand her Empire by settling the SuperHyperSphere have hit a major snag. Your Zero-Point Power Generators - installation of which are the first step in any colonization effort - have reacted to these anomalous conditions with anomalously poor performance, to the point where your superiors want to declare this project a lost cause.
They've told you to halt all construction immediately and return home. They think it's impossible to figure out which locations will be viable, and which will have substantial fractions of their output leeched by hyperdimensional anomalies. You think otherwise.
You have a list of active ZPPGs set up so far, and their (typically, disastrous) levels of performance. You have a list of pre-cleared ZPPG sites[1]. You have exactly enough time and resources to build twelve more generators before a ship arrives to collect you; if you pick twelve sites where the power generated matches or exceeds 100% of Standard Output[2], you can prove your point, prove your worth, save your colony, and save your career!
Or . . . you could just not. That's also an option. The Empire is lenient towards failure (the Empress having long since given up holding others to the standards she sets herself), but merciless in punishing disobedience (at least, when said disobedience doesn't bear fruit). If you install those ZPPGs in defiance of direct orders, yet fail to gather sufficient evidence . . . things might not end well for you.
What, if anything, will you do?
I'll post an interactive you can use to test your choices, along with an explanation of how I generated the dataset, sometime on Monday the 22nd. I'm giving you nine days, but the task shouldn't take more than an evening or two; use Excel, R, Python, the Rat Prophet, or whatever other tools you think are appropriate. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about the scenario.
If you want to investigate collaboratively and/or call your decisions in advance, feel free to do so in the comments; however, please use spoiler tags or rot13 when sharing inferences/strategies/decisions, so people intending to fly solo can look for clarifications without being spoiled.
^
. . . which is all you're getting for now, as the site-clearing tools have already been recalled.
^
Ideally, each of the twelve sites would have >100%, but twelve sites with a >100% average between them would also suffice to get your point across.
Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org