
Ancient data, modern math and the hunt for lost cities of the Bronze Age - Ftuuky
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/11/13/ancient-data-modern-math-and-the-hunt-for-11-lost-cities-of-the-bronze-age/?utm_term=.b1f032736e46
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KasianFranks
Cryptography and data mining/science (ML/AI) have their roots in the study of
Epigraphy
[https://www.google.com/search?q=epigraphy](https://www.google.com/search?q=epigraphy)
Combined, they enable the process of discovery, new hypothesis generation
which in turn can lead to new inventions and cures e.g. extending human
lifespan which also happens to be the only way humans will make it to other
habitable planets
[http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1736/](http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1736/)

~~~
pavel_lishin
> _extending human lifespan which also happens to be the only way humans will
> make it to other habitable planets_

[citation needed]

What about hibernation technology? Digital upload? FTL travel?

I know the last two seem vastly more fantastical than the first, or than age
extension, but it seems odd to announce flatly that something is The One And
Only Way.

~~~
KasianFranks
Got another way?

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dogruck
Wow, so interesting. TIL that we have 10s of thousands of 4,000 year old clay
tablets. What a data set!

This was the only downer of the article:

> As a final check, the authors ran the model against the location of known
> ancient cities to see whether its results matched the actual archaeological
> record.

> One (sic) two out of three of the known cities they tested against, the
> model nailed it. But it whiffed on the third.

2/3 is a bit troubling.

~~~
GalacticDomin8r
As well known, 2/3 ain't bad.

~~~
dogruck
I think of it this way:

1\. Suppose we tested on 1 datum and got 0/1\. Not good.

2\. How about just 2? 1/2\. Hmm.. coin flip.

3\. Ok, let’s do 3. 2/3\. Well, better than half but it’s easy to get 2 heads
on 3 coin flips.

4\. ....

~~~
chc
1/2 being equivalent to a coin flip is only true if we're looking at a binary
value. In reality, much fewer than one in two coin flips would accurately
pinpoint the location of an ancient city. Even if it only worked half the
time, that would still be much better than random chance.

BTW, I believe the parent comment that you're replying to is a lazy joke
referencing an old '70s song, not a serious argument.

~~~
GalacticDomin8r
> BTW, I believe the parent comment that you're replying to is a lazy joke
> referencing an old '70s song, not a serious argument.

Or your belief is a lazy attempt at understanding it, and you missed the
double entendre even though you agreed with the point...

