
A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011) - Tomte
http://blog.tanyakhovanova.com/2011/06/a-nerds-way-to-walk-up-the-stairs/
======
teddyh
“ _‘You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example,
you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.’_

 _‘Frequently.’_

 _‘How often?’_

 _‘Well, some hundreds of times.’_

 _‘Then how many are there?’_

 _‘How many! I don’t know.’_

 _‘Quite so. You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my
point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen
and observed.’_ ”

Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson, _A Scandal In Bohemia_ , 1891

~~~
albertgoeswoof
While good fiction, this is pretty dumb. Did Sherlock count the number of
tiles on the wall as well? What about the colour of the carpet or the number
of cracks in the ceiling?

Knowing how many steps there are is useless information and wasteful to
retain.

~~~
ethbro
The essence of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock stories (and what makes them
clever and recommended reading) is that the answer lies in plain sight.

Holmes does not succeed because he is superhuman (although the stories are not
without their action bits), but because he applies himself more fully than
others, and prepares and experiments more thoroughly.

Is the number of steps important?

Well, it would be if one were attempting to decide between two suspects, one
on crutches and one a runner, and the time of path traversal was known.

But by then, others (notably the ever-mystified Scotland Yard) would have
already dismissed stair count as unimportant.

Seemingly insignificant facts in aggregate, my dear albertgoeswoof, a case do
build.

~~~
Semiapies
Yes, but Sherlock Holmes also always magically knows which trivia is
important, because he's written that way. He doesn't bother with the count of
stairs on every staircase he's ever walked on. And he lives in a world where
the trivia he notices always reflects accurately on hidden truths, instead of
being simply useless details that reveal nothing of consequence.

~~~
j9461701
For example in one story Sherlock deduces that the person sending a ransom
note is an educated man attempting to appear stupid, because although the note
is grammatically incorrect the newspaper the letters are cut out from was The
Times. And only educated men read The Times.

Except....what if that's just coincidence? I mean The Times costs the same
amount at a news stand as any paper right? So what if the kidnapper, who is so
barely literate he doesn't read any daily paper at all, went to a news stand
to buy something to cut the letters from and happened to pick The Times?

~~~
graeme
George Macdonald Fraser did a funny sendup of this in Flashman and the Tiger,
where Holmes creates a completely wrong narrative of Flashman using true facts
he observed about him.

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chippy
13 is the standard amount of steps in stairs in houses (in the UK at least).
So statistically, you should just go with 13 instead of counting them and you
will get it right almost all of the time.

~~~
edanm
Fascinating! Why is that the standard?

~~~
Swenrekcah
I guess if you divide the standard ceiling height with a comfortable step size
you get 13

~~~
alexfoo
The ceiling height is not the same as the floor height of the next storey up.

~~~
saagarjha
Generally it's pretty close, though.

------
js2
Yes, but do you start at 0 or 1? Also, is the last step you take onto the
floor/landing counted?

And when going down, do you use negative numbers?

So many questions left unanswered. I feel you aren't a true stair counting
nerd afterall.

:-)

~~~
CydeWeys
I know you're joking, but the number of steps is well defined and doesn't vary
as it's essentially a difference. The difference between two numbers is always
the same regardless of whether you're using a 0-indexed or a 1-indexed base
system. E.g. regardless of whether you call an element in an array [1] or [2],
it's still two elements away from whatever is [3] or [4] -- the number of
stairs climbed is the same.

So you're free to use either top-stepian or bottom-stepian notation when
counting stairs and you'll get to the same answer either way. So it's just an
implementation detail that's left undefined in the spec.

~~~
jacobolus
0-indexing steps is clearly the only reasonable choice. Who in their right
mind would call the ground the “first step”?

~~~
davchana
Ground is never a step; zero or one; not. Because while we are on ground; we
are on same level, stairs have not started yet. As soon as we put our foot on
upper level than the other foot, stairs have started & that upper foot marks
the / lands on "first" step.

~~~
DougBTX
Following the principle that array indexes are “between” the elements, the
bottom of the first step is 0, and the top of the first step is 1. Then the
ground, which is equal in elevation to the bottom of the first step, is at 0,
and the floor after the last step is N, one past the index of the last valid
step, N-1.

Half open zero based ranges are quite satisfying :-)

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aninteger
Bonus points for doing this while going down. Taking public transportation as
part of my daily commute involves a lot of stair climbing and descending. I
always find it fascinating to watch the people who rush from bus to train
platform and watch them descend 2 stairs at a time (basically always doing
long long long) the whole way down. I've never been brave enough to try this
method of descending though.

~~~
Judgmentality
Honest question, why are you afraid of trying skipping steps on the way down?
I ask because I've always done this, and when I'm with company they comment
incredulously how quickly I descend the stairs. It never even occurred to me
it was difficult or special before.

~~~
dsr_
Perhaps because the penalty for failure rapidly escalates to twisting an ankle
and goes up to death, with more likely results of bruises or broken bones?

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acranox
[https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=tanyakhovanova.com](https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=tanyakhovanova.com)

Do you just post this every 3 months?

~~~
Reedx
Sixth time's the charm!

Looks like they're running an experiment to see the effect of timing.

~~~
jypepin
interesting. That gives a good idea for some HN popular thread-related data
mining and analysis!

------
Jugurtha
Busted. I count the number of stairs of buildings I visit, but know the number
of stairs per flight (not always the same) in the buildings I frequent.

At one place, it's (4-7-8-7-7-4-7-5-12) to get to the top. It's useful if you
don't want to turn on the light and wake people up.

Most of the time, when the number of stairs is odd, I'll go one, then two-two-
two-two. When it's even, it'll be either two-two-two, or one-two-two-one..

I might be having a conversation with someone while going up or down the
stairs, but the process in my head with the count and the fun I'm having is
nice.

~~~
tunap
The info also comes in handy when carrying large loads that obscure vision or
being the backward carrier in a tandem load. I do it when walking across flat
surfaces, too, but have found no usable value besides logging distances
walked.

------
tvanantwerp
I'm the type of person who quantifies a lot of information from my everyday
life, but it has never occurred to me to count the number of steps on flights
of stairs that I climb. Quantification isn't a costless activity, and knowing
numbers of steps just doesn't seem useful. I'm content to remain ignorant of
these data.

~~~
ken
As a musician (i.e., someone who frequently carries large objects up and down
stairs), knowing the count is extremely useful to me. A significant portion of
the time, I cannot see the ground. Instead of getting close and then feeling
around with my foot one step at a time, I can just count to 14 (or whatever it
is) and know I'm on the floor.

Even in a new building, it's common to walk the stairs at least once before
hauling heavy equipment (to see where it's going to go), so I almost always
have a count before I start.

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whatsstolat
I just used this method in my house with great success!

Turns out i have zero stairs.

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still_grokking
I don't count them. But from long experience I know the most staircase have an
odd number of stairs.

My first step is "short" and whenever possible all following "long". That
usually works.

But to the current day I don't know whether there is a real reason to this
observation. Maybe it's pure coincidence. Or maybe something typical to may
country. Or after all it has indeed some real (maybe even wired) reason.

------
modells
Also, a nerd’s way to walk on the plane is to ignore sidewalk or other
markings and cut a straight of a line to the destination as possible.

Depending on jurisdictions and “no cops, no stops,” ignore traffic signals
while focusing on actual traffic. Waiting for a crosswalk signal is like
waiting for Godot... giving autonomy over to a machine and a waste of life.

~~~
salutonmundo
Heh, there are plenty of places in my area that require crossing a street to
get to a sidewalk. I usually end up walking down the wrong side of the street
until traffic clears enough for me to cross. Efficiency!

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mettamage
My nerds way is to run upstairs. I skip a step. I don’t care what other people
think. It’s just faster.

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whatever_dude
Funny, I've been a bit obsessed with counting the number of steps on stairs at
home, at work, and all subway stations I pass through. Haven't thought of this
before. Will have to try, but I'm afraid it'll look really weird.

------
AndrewKemendo
_he reminded me that a nerd’s goal in climbing the steps is to establish the
number of steps at the end of the flight._

I thought I was the only one who did this. I'll definitely be trying this
method next time I find a novel flight of stairs.

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chiph
17 steps at home[0] and 17 each for two flights per floor at work, since
commercial buildings have taller ceilings.

[0] This applies both in North Carolina and the apartment in Texas, which had
two flights of stairs (3-story townhouse)

~~~
nazri1
Mine is 16 each for two flights per floor at work, 19 floors. I do it 5 days a
week, only for going up, so far. I’ve yet to do the same for when going down.

------
elif
I visually count backwards in sets of four, and take an initial step of 1-4 so
that I can subsequently take only 4's to the next landing. The momentum seems
to make this climb more efficient.

------
DoreenMichele
A nerd mom's lesson to her toddler on how to take the stairs: Scoot down the
stairs on your butt, little one. It's easier and safer at your size.

And this is why I found him at the bottom of the stairwell eyeing the
fascinating cornfield next door the day he got tall enough to open the front
door, instead of in a bloody heap with a cracked skull on the first landing.

------
avcdsuia
I have counted steps. Knowing the numbers is extremely useful when walking
stairs in the dark.

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srean
Was holding off on the Fibonacci connection. Its kind of simple, obvious and
by now cliche, but can hold my breath for only so long.

Was asked this in a phone interview, I had no clue that Fibonacci would so
delightfully turn up on the staircase.

------
thomastjeffery
> Thus, you will cover five stairs in one short-long-long cycle. In addition,
> you should always start the first cycle on the same foot. Suppose you start
> on the left foot, then after two cycles you are back on the left foot,
> having covered ten stairs. While you are walking the stairs in this way, it
> is clear where you are in the cycle. By the end of the staircase, you will
> know the number of stairs modulo ten

Yet another example why decimal is not an ideal base for counting.

