Re:The Limits of Machine Learning
by tree_of_item on Sunday September 25, 2016 @10:49PM
(#12578899)
Christopher Columbus didn't discover "an entire new world", he was just one of the first Europeans to land on a continent that had already been there, with plenty of people, for thousands of years.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Well, it was a discovery, but just for Europe. American natives discovered Europe as well.
Unless American natives knew of Europe, it was a trivial discovery. When one continent discovers another, the relevance is the new link between them, and interactions between the two economies.
If we discover aliens on a new planet, the fact that the aliens knew about themselves before that doesn't change much - first contact may be when they discover us too.
But let's not pretend this isn't slightly about political correctness, and sensitivity over colonialism, which ruins the objectivity over the subject.
Re:The Limits of Machine Learning
by katherineduh on Monday September 26, 2016 @11:57AM
(#12582896)
It wasn't even a discovery for Europe because Vikings had already been to the Americas in the 10th century.