TE
TechEcho
Home24h TopNewestBestAskShowJobs
GitHubTwitter
Home

TechEcho

A tech news platform built with Next.js, providing global tech news and discussions.

GitHubTwitter

Home

HomeNewestBestAskShowJobs

Resources

HackerNews APIOriginal HackerNewsNext.js

© 2025 TechEcho. All rights reserved.

Ask HN: What are the three Most Important Intergers?

1 pointsby sans_souse11 months ago
This is a bit of a thought experiment I use to illustrate &#x2F; segway into a theory I&#x27;ve been working out recently; suppose you are assigned to choose exactly three integers. These are the ONLY numbers you will retain any knowledge or concept of, so you must choose wisely. I will share my answer at some point, but would love to hear from HN on this one.<p>Explain your choices, and why you believe them in some way &quot;correct&quot;<p>This basic premise has lead to extensive and thought provoking conversations for myself, personally, with ai.

2 comments

NetworkPerson11 months ago
I would favor 1, 2, and 10. I can make any combination of numbers out of 1 and 2. Adding in 10 helps simplify expressing larger numbers. And I don’t necessarily need the concept of 0 to understand that if I remove all my numbers, I have nothing left.
smarm5211 months ago
0, 1, -1.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Three-valued_logic" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Three-valued_logic</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Ternary_computer" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Ternary_computer</a>