Ask HN: Algorithms and data structures for humans and physical objects?

Re:Ask HN: Algorithms and data structures for humans and phy... by logicalmonster on Wednesday July 06, 2022 @10:11AM (#32001229)

> For example, a sorting algorithm for a human to sort a pile of books or papers, or a structure for someone to manage a large bookshelf so that they can find a book quickly given its name.

Are we assuming that the human actually remembers the name of a book? If you go stand next to a big physical bookstore's help desk for an hour or even hang out at the library, you'll see a bunch of people go by there and ask for help finding a book they can sort of describe, but can't really remember the exact name of.

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Re:Ask HN: Algorithms and data structures for humans and phy... by lynzrand on Wednesday July 06, 2022 @11:13AM (#32002215)

Maybe changing it into finding an archive file given its ID (not an auto-incrementing key, but something like its owner's national identification number) is better? They both belong to the category of creating a sorted dictionary structure in the physical world.

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Re:Ask HN: Algorithms and data structures for humans and phy... by logicalmonster on Wednesday July 06, 2022 @11:28AM (#32002391)

I'm not sure I fully understand your response, but I'd say this to illustrate my perspective on the problem. Go hang out in a bookstore or library for a while and eavesdrop on the help desk.

You'll see a number of interactions take this sort of form.

"Hey I'm looking for this book my friend showed me last month. It's a big book with a cover that's got some white letters. It's a love story set in England and it has a great action scene at a farm. I don't remember the author's name, but one of his other books was a movie that had a dog in it."

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