https://ginojc.com/writing Essays, notes, and half-formed thoughts by Gino Chiaranaipanich. en-us https://ginojc.com/writing/excerpts-from-a-mathematicians-apology https://ginojc.com/writing/excerpts-from-a-mathematicians-apology Sat, 11 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT the justification for mathematics Hardy opens with the melancholy of writing about mathematics instead of doing mathematics, and a criticism of those who expound. The function of a mathematician is to do something, to prove new theorems, to add to mathematics, and not to talk… https://hrdlabs.org/research/interactive-world-models/ https://hrdlabs.org/research/interactive-world-models/ Sun, 05 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://ginojc.com/writing/understanding-is-the-goal https://ginojc.com/writing/understanding-is-the-goal Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT More than ever, it is easier to pass a class without understanding its content. And even if you spend time with the content, it is much easier to convince yourself you have learned the content than to really learn it. When I came to Stanford, one of the nicest things I learned… https://ginojc.com/writing/ereader https://ginojc.com/writing/ereader Sun, 31 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT I use Matter for almost all of my reading, besides papers and books. I keep papers in Zotero, while my books are distributed across Zotero, the real world, my Kindle, and Apple Books. I have found Matter incredibly useful for collating newspaper articles, blogs, pdfs, and… https://ginojc.com/writing/genius https://ginojc.com/writing/genius Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT My concise pet theory for what makes a genius goes something like this: A degree of aptitude. Doesn't have to be Neumann-level. Beyond a certain threshold (+1 SD?) more things are in reach than most people assume. I believe you can get most people to pass Calc 3, given the time… https://ginojc.com/writing/reasoning https://ginojc.com/writing/reasoning Wed, 25 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT While this isn't as impressive as recent formalization results, this struck closer to home. It tries so hard, and tries so many things. User: ae toieatb; ;aesa;vefio fa;javenfjeosafve;asfv decode this Response: That looks like keyboard mashing rather than any standard encoding… https://ginojc.com/writing/stanford-hacks https://ginojc.com/writing/stanford-hacks Sat, 10 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT A working document of things I wish I knew earlier. To be updated! If you're a person who hates having your phone with you, you can create a passkey for Duo Push from your laptop such that you won't ever have to use the Duo Push app again. You can do this with TouchID or do it… https://ginojc.com/writing/thinkingwild https://ginojc.com/writing/thinkingwild Sun, 30 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT What I appreciated most from the olympiads I did was a type of thinking I had never learned before. System 1 thinking is fast, instinctive, and emotional. System 2 thinking is slow, deliberative, and more logical. I think the type of thinking you practice in olympiads is… https://ginojc.com/writing/competitive-programming-in-thailand https://ginojc.com/writing/competitive-programming-in-thailand Tue, 03 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT This post documents the competitive programming scene in Thailand and IOI team selection process. Selection Process Qualify to take the POSN 1 Entrance exam through TOI-Zero (before mid-June) Pass the POSN 1 Entrance Exam (signup by late-July, exam is late-August) Pass the POSN…