Want to Take On An Open/Unsolved Problem?

CexpTretical writes "The accumulation and focusing of knowledge may be the noblest use or purpose of the internet. There are plenty of open or unsolved problems left for this generation. Why not spend some of your time in the dark of this winter working on one of the big problems facing humanity? Open problems exists in almost every field of study. Wikipedia maintains a small list of them and at least one international group called the Union of International Associations maintains a database of open problems." Which problem do you want to see cracked first? Are you already working on one of these big issues?

Comments

One of the problems taken from wikipedia in econ.

[antifoidulus]

What is the proper size and scope of government? Where can government intervention improve on the market? Does a market failure necessarily mean that government intervention is warranted? Can intervention make things worse? If the government intervenes in a market, how should it intervene? To what extent is public ownership of assets and businesses warranted?

Yeah, good luck using the internet discussions to solve THAT problem.....

Yes, I have a solution!

[LiquidCoooled]

I have a truly marvelous proof of this proposition however this comment is too narrow to contain.

Re:Yes, I have a solution!

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a truly marvelous proof of this proposition however this comment is too narrow to contain.

What we need here is for a troll to post one of those good old-fashioned page-widening posts.

Just solevd one!

[quakehead3]

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsolved_problems_in_ physics

Does a black hole have an internal structure, and if so, what is its nature? no!

The ultimate problems?

[TinBromide]

What questions I'd like to see answered? Where do socks go in the laundry? Why do people obsess about the incongruities in gilligan's island? Why do good things happen to people who aren't me? 42. (now find me the question)

Re:The ultimate problems?

[aborchers]

"What questions I'd like to see answered? Where do socks go in the laundry? Why do people obsess about the incongruities in gilligan's island? Why do good things happen to people who aren't me? 42. (now find me the question)"

To which I'd add, why do tornadoes only touch down in trailer parks?

BTW, the socks one I can answer: They travel through wormholes and emerge in the back of the closet as spare hangers.

Re:The ultimate problems?

[inphorm]

Well of course you have to add a few others like:

- Where do those sneezes go when they don't eventuate??
- How come only your fingers and toes get prune in the shower and nothing else does?
- Why do we say "heads up" when we actually duck?
- If a missing person sees their picture on a milk carton that offers a reward, would they get the money?

And the one that really boggles my mind..

Why are shorts, pants and underpants all referred to as pairs.. in fact they have no singular noun. You can have 1 Pair of shorts, 10 pairs of shorts.. but you can't have 1 short or 1 pant..

- paul

http://www.paulpichugin.com.au/

Re:The ultimate problems?

[danachap]

One unsolved problem that has perplexed me for years:

Why can't I fill up the entire toilet with bubbles?

really?

[macadamia_harold]

The accumulation and focusing of knowledge may be the noblest use or purpose of the internet.

That's your opinion. Midget porn afficionados would beg to differ.

First date!

[Anonymous Coward]

"Which problem do you want to see cracked first? "

How to get a date?

I read it on the internet

[macadamia_harold]

"What is the proper size and scope of government?" Yeah, good luck using the internet discussions to solve THAT problem.....

It does seem to be an out-of-control problem. According to wikipedia, the size and scope of the government has tripled in the last six months.

Re:I read it on the internet

[PresidentEnder]

Here!

Re:I read it on the internet

[Anonymous Coward]

I see the problem. You're Here. This implies you're not in Congress. :P

Which problem do you want to see cracked first?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, if someone can do something about the guy in the cubicle next to me...

Adler likes to hum as he works, not too loudly, just enough to break thru the usual office background noise. That would be distracting enough, however, Adler insists on choosing his nasal-tunes by whatever the last audible ring tone was that blared thru our locality. The ring tone/tune sticks in his head, and he hums it over and over, out load, until the next tune gets stuck in his borderline consciousness...I mean tone...I mean...urrgggg. And when Adler isn't humming, he's speed/redialing busy phone numbers via his on-hook speaker phone.

So, if someone can help Adler to find something else to do with his excess work energy, I'd be happy to focus on whatever 'world' problems are deemed most pressing.

Re:How about somebody taking on the problem of ...

[UbuntuDupe]

Also, it should give the current "closest" solutions to the problems, i.e., "Person A found that you can solve B as long as you know how to do a C on D."

Btw, I never knew there was a "Union of International Associations". Talk about bureaucracy! My friends and I used to joke about an imaginary, incompetent organication called the "Federal International Comission" (FIC), but man, did we miss the gold mine!

I swear this is not my homework

[StikyPad]

Which problem do you want to see cracked first?

The factors for x^2 + 5x + 6 please, showing work.

Re:I swear this is not my homework

[Gabrill]

(x+2)(x+3) the work was done in my head. My teacher hated that.

Easy

[camperdave]

• What is the proper size and scope of government?
  No larger than necessary
  
• Where can government intervention improve on the market?
  In places where unrestricted market forces are detrimental
  
• Does a market failure necessarily mean that government intervention is warranted?
  No
  
• Can intervention make things worse?
  Yes
  
• If the government intervenes in a market, how should it intervene?
  In a way that maximizes overall social wellbeing
  
• To what extent is public ownership of assets and businesses warranted?
  To the extent that it ceases to be harmful to the overall health of society

oh, yeah, the Riemann hypothesis

[straponego]

I was going to do that this weekend, but, with one thing and another... Tell you what, remind me Friday.

Re:What actually has to be done to solve problems?

[AuMatar]

I would start by dividing both sides by P, leaving the solution: N=1.

Re:One of the problems taken from wikipedia in eco

[Anonymous Coward]

What is the proper size and scope of government?

That's easy. It's the government that maximizes the probability of human survival.
If there is more than one maxima, it is the one that maximizes human achievement.
If there are still multiple solutions, it is the one that maximizes human happiness.
Finally, pick the smallest government that will accomplish this.

Now you only have to solve for survival, achievement, and happiness.

Re: Want to Take On An Open/Unsolved Problem?

[Anonymous Coward]

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? Could it carry a coconut?

How about an African swallow?

union of international associations

[Loconut1389]

could also be worded as "Association of International Associations". Hm. The department of redundancy department anyone?

They forgot one very very important problem needin

[3seas]

... to be solved....

How to make reliable electronic voting machines.

Re:I've been working on something similar, feedbac

[justinlee37]

Paragraphs, man, paragraphs!