APAD: Standing on the shoulders of giants


"Standing on the shoulders of giants" means achieving new insights or progress by building upon the knowledge, discoveries, and work of those who came before you, acknowledging that your advancements are not entirely your own but are made possible by predecessors' foundational efforts. It's a metaphor for intellectual and scientific progress to humbly credit past thinkers.

The phrase originates from medieval thinkers Bernard of Chartres, who used it to describe how dwarfs (scholars) see further by being elevated by giants (past thinkers), but it was famously popularized by Isaac Newton in a 1675 letter to Robert Hooke, stating, "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants".

- From online with editing
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Yesterday, one particular comment under a post in 投壇 about AI investment caught my eye (can be seen by clicking the comment above mine below).

That reminds me of the law of conservation of energy.  Although somewhat different, gain and loss always go hand in hand nevertheless.  But, for whatever reason, the phrase of today's APAD came to my mind (and hands) first 鬼臉

It rained the whole day yesterday, like lots of winter days here, but we went for a walk regardless. During one hour walking in the rain, it suddenly hit me: Ahhh, AI is the one who stands on the shoulders of all giants!  And it does it so much much faster than any human can. Sigh ... ...

Two things learnt:
1. Don't judge a book by its cover and don't judge a person by his/her net name, as a "mouse" can be a deep thinker 得意.   2. Walking in rain is a very good way to clear my hair and head!!! 加油

 

• 時勢已變,屬於我們的英雄機會來了 猛牛 -  給 猛牛 發送悄悄話 猛牛 的博客首頁 (52467 bytes) (11271 reads) 12/20/2025  09:13:13 (40)

• 牛司令威武,思想指導高屋建瓴! 10miDream -  給 10miDream 發送悄悄話 (0 bytes) (19 reads) 12/20/2025  09:21:15 (2)

• 感覺你這篇是AI寫的。但高屋建瓴。司令就是司令 藍山碧玉 -  給 藍山碧玉 發送悄悄話 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 12/20/2025  09:24:45

• 司令牛! wavegreen -  給 wavegreen 發送悄悄話 wavegreen 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) (4 reads) 12/20/2025  09:28:00

• 沒錯,trend的方向感, OrangeBread -  給 OrangeBread 發送悄悄話 OrangeBread 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) (14 reads) 12/20/2025  09:29:12

• 每次的勝利總有一批人犧牲,這個不是危言聳聽 偷油老鼠 -  給 偷油老鼠 發送悄悄話 (123 bytes) (271 reads) 12/20/2025  09:29:28 (4)

• +1000! 知識積累是standing on the shoulders of giants;財富爆發呢? ;-) 最西邊的島上 -  給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) (11 reads) 12/20/2025  09:43:44

• ====哎呀呀,剛在雨裏走了一大圈兒,突然明白AI為啥這樣厲害了:AI能以人類達不到的速度站在所有巨人的肩膀上!!! 最西邊的島上 -  給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) (8 reads) 12/20/2025  13:34:22

所有跟帖: 

Giants and AI talking led me to Michael Burry vs. NVDA -7grizzly- 給 7grizzly 發送悄悄話 7grizzly 的博客首頁 (112 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 10:50:28

Wow, Burry did hit Nvidia's nerve:-) Thx 4 the link (needed -最西邊的島上- 給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 11:07:05

2copy&paste 2 C). I ain't a great mind, but stand by Burry!! -最西邊的島上- 給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 11:09:46

Also I said in 財壇 2weeks ago: “人類比不過AI讀書能力,但千萬不要放棄自己讀書思考的能力。 -最西邊的島上- 給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 11:17:08

要用人的智慧來使用AI,做AI的主人,不要成為AI的奴隸!!!“ -最西邊的島上- 給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 11:17:50

tho haven't used AI myself, other than what given byGoogle~~ -最西邊的島上- 給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 11:23:07

Hold firm, fall from giant's shoulder hurts more than from -移花接木- 給 移花接木 發送悄悄話 移花接木 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 12:41:19

dwarf's shoulder -移花接木- 給 移花接木 發送悄悄話 移花接木 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 12:41:35

ROFL :-)))) Yes Sir! ~~~~~ + it also depends what AI is -最西邊的島上- 給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 12:46:49

trained on, as it can be GIGO 2 ;-)) -最西邊的島上- 給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 12:47:59

Learning new things means standing on the shoulders of giant -JoyAnna.- 給 JoyAnna. 發送悄悄話 JoyAnna. 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 15:07:11

and sometimes just Googling it. Google is one of the giants -JoyAnna.- 給 JoyAnna. 發送悄悄話 JoyAnna. 的博客首頁 (167 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 15:08:35

No, Google is standing on Giants’ shoulders 2, as all other -最西邊的島上- 給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 15:35:30

applications. It’s a tool 2 find source, not source itself -最西邊的島上- 給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 15:37:00

So can’t trust it 100%. I always go checkin source 2 b sure. -最西邊的島上- 給 最西邊的島上 發送悄悄話 最西邊的島上 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 12/21/2025 postreply 15:39:01

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