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by wkdneidbwf 1051 days ago
this is an overly cynical take. headlines are brief by necessity. nobody would read that and think that a curved line from A to B is shorter than a straight line between the same points.

the first paragraph explains it,

> these wavy walls actually use less bricks than a straight wall because they can be made just one brick thin, while a straight wall—without buttresses—would easily topple over

2 comments

I recognize the cynicism in my observation, but is it fully unmerited?

I put the following prompt in GPT4:

create a professional title and a click bait title for the following article

Then provided the article. This was the output:

Professional Title: "Crinkle Crankle Walls: The Aesthetics and Efficiency of Serpentine Wall Construction"

Click Bait Title: "You Won't Believe How These Weird, Wavy Walls Use Less Bricks Than Straight Ones!"

I think you overestimate what people would reactively think when reading this headline