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by minimaxir 4258 days ago
The first comment in your previous submission is accurate: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6077395

Ideas are just ideas. Actually solving problems requires a different skillset that can't be accomplished with the "magic" of crowdsourcing. Calling this a "problem solving website" is incredibly misleading.
2 comments
aaronz8 4258 days ago
> Actually solving problems requires a different skillset that can't be accomplished with the "magic" of crowdsourcing.

Maybe so, but the first step of problem solving is identifying the problem. And problems come from people.

(from that comment you referenced) > So maybe if this were to be adjusted so that it was more of a place to talk about problems you wish people would solve. > Why not structure it as a place for people to complain about inefficiencies.

This is what "Issues" on Thinkerous are. We'll make it more clear. Thanks!

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chrisjleaf 4258 days ago
The entire point of the site is that solving issues comes first. That's why our algorithms rank ideas based on the importance of the issues they solve. This way the ideas that solve the most important problems will rise to the top of the list that is what makes Thinkerous different from other "idea list" websites: we target problems directly while idea lists don't.
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minimaxir 4258 days ago
> That's why our algorithms rank ideas based on the importance of the issues they solve.

What? Ranking by the number of likes/upvotes (which is the method I see when looking at the Hot view) is not "ranking ideas based on the importance of the issues they solve."

I know CMU teaches actual algorithms for this type of ranking, because I went there. :P

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chrisjleaf 4258 days ago
Perhaps you're underestimating the complexity of the algorithm. The linking between ideas and issues is not superficial, the ranking of an idea is based directly upon the ranking of the issues it is linked to.

Issues are a bit simpler in that they mostly are based on activity related to them. However doesn't it make sense that an issue that's popular would reflect the magnitude of it's importance?

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minimaxir 4258 days ago
> However doesn't it make sense that an issue that's popular would reflect the magnitude of it's importance?

Not exactly. You're confusing correlation with causation.

On sites with Reddit-like rankings, the number of votes which a submission receives is one of the primary causes for the subsequent number of comments/activity of those respective submissions. And "importance" is not necessarily causal to submission ranking (aggregators are weird).

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onedev 4258 days ago
Hey not sure if you're aware, but this isn't TechCrunch...heh.
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minimaxir 4258 days ago
Commenting is universal. :)
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AndrewKemendo 4258 days ago
It looks like the point is actually identifying problems first.

Nothing on the site seems to force people to implement solutions to the problems - which means it's an option not a requirement of the service and definitely doesn't "come first."

I think there is power in a "pain-point" ranking service, if that is what you guys are going for. Definitely needs to be redesigned to make that clear if that is the case.

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