All the World’s Polygons
Key topics
The article "All the world's polygons" has sparked a lively debate about its writing quality, with commenters accusing the author of producing "slop" - though some disagree on whether it's AI-generated or a human trying to be overly clever. Criticisms range from poorly researched historical claims, such as the funding of Spacewar!, to misuses of technical terms like "billboarding". Despite the harsh critiques, one commenter dryly noted a minor inaccuracy without elaborating further, highlighting the planet Vulcan in Star Trek, not Star Wars. The discussion feels relevant now as it touches on the ongoing concerns about the quality of online content and the blurred lines between human and AI-generated writing.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
1d
Peak period
3
36-48h
Avg / period
1.5
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Aug 25, 2025 at 8:35 AM EDT
4 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Aug 26, 2025 at 5:09 PM EDT
1d after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
3 comments in 36-48h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Sep 2, 2025 at 7:55 PM EDT
4 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
"Wherever the camera’s gaze turns, reality sprouts. Curiously, this representational tactic has overlaps with Medieval theories of vision, which philosophers believed to emanate outwards from human eyes, a concept known as “emission theory”. In a sense, this camera-centric computation of the game engine interface also mirrors the essentialist origins of ecosystem science. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a centralized technique for tracking and monitoring forest ecologies was introduced by the timber economy."
mixed with random blunders (e.g. "...the planet Vulcan in Star Wars...").
Yeah, so poorly researched - Spacewar! was not funded by the Pentagon. <eyeroll> And as for military use - maybe they (or an AI) are confusing this with Battlezone...
At least read the wiki page.
No, billboarding is a technique in three-dimensional graphics in which a sprite is rendered perpendicular to the camera without respect to camera movement. Commonly used in early 3D racing games to display background details such as trees, people, and... billboards. It looks ok when driving normally, but the illusion fails when you stop driving and face the side of the road.
Level of detail is a separate concept.
That's interesting...