wrapupandkeepit (u/wrapupandkeepit)

wrapupandkeepit commented on How I think when I think about programming alicemaz.com/writing/prog... · Posted by u/_Microft

gmassman · 4 years ago

maybe it's pedantic but I don't want to read an article that can't properly capitalize sentences.

wrapupandkeepit · 4 years ago

This writing actually resonated with me. I, like the author, stumbled into programming, and I've been enjoying the journey so far. In a way, it feels like reading my future self a couple years from now. I think this article would be best for those who have an intermediate understanding of programming in a single high-level language but want to "look under the hood" so to speak. (I think this just means learning C). So it may not be for you, but it was for me.

wrapupandkeepit commented on I found that college fails to live up to being “The Great Equalizer” visaalambalam.com/the-inv... · Posted by u/visaals

Foobar8568 · 4 years ago

Because the required level is shit. And it has been downhill since the implementation of modern math and the rejection of math in the modern era or elitist path at school. We see it everywhere and especially in France or Switzerland. 10 years old native kids who can't read fluently. 15 years old who would write 1/2+1/3=2/5. They will keep this level of skills through the end of high school and master degree thanks to grade inflation and/or curve notation.

Public school is at at least 2 levels if not more. Elite will remain in their own world. Rich will just pour money on their kids education, middle class and the poor are fucked.

In France, most 18 years old would fail the brevet (end of middle school degree) as it was given in 1950s/60s. All the exams are pure jokes, and we see it in international education survey (PISA or even better TIMMS, level are dropping beside for the top 5%)

wrapupandkeepit · 4 years ago

Was curious so looked it up in PISA[1] and TIMMS[2]. I agree the bottom deciles are being left behind educationally, but I disagree with the implicit sentiment that employers are able to objectively evaluate the intellectual achievement level of their applicants. That would be attributing the labor market with more meritocracy than it has.

[1] https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/PISA2018_CN_FRA.pdf [2] https://nces.ed.gov/timss/results19/index.asp#/math/trends

wrapupandkeepit commented on I found that college fails to live up to being “The Great Equalizer” visaalambalam.com/the-inv... · Posted by u/visaals

wrapupandkeepit · 4 years ago

I think we believe (implicitly or explicitly) that "signaling" and "credential gaming[1]" are all the name of the game. I believe the best thing a college can do is place you in a community of people trying to learn together. A college fails this when you just have a bunch of people trying to past tests in solitude.

I want self-taught to be viable. I consider myself self-taught. I am one of those liberal arts majors that made my way into a data engineering career. I don't regret taking liberal arts but that's more due to a combination of luck, privilege, and personality.

[1] https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/degrees-of-anxiety/

wrapupandkeepit commented on I read a book that blew my mind a little twitter.com/awilkinson/st... · Posted by u/lxm

ramblerman · 4 years ago

any book, or entry point you can recommend to start with?

wrapupandkeepit · 4 years ago

Start with some online summaries. Girard's theories span multiple essays and books. Instead of jumping straight into one of his books, it will help to get some overall context.

I personally read "The Scapegoat" but Girard is doing literary critique which, like philosophy, can be dense and difficult to read if one isn't used to such texts. Personally, I would like to read "Deceit, Desire and the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure" sometime in the future.

wrapupandkeepit commented on I read a book that blew my mind a little twitter.com/awilkinson/st... · Posted by u/lxm

wrapupandkeepit · 4 years ago

I'm honestly tired of seeing mimesis and mimetic desire associated with Peter Thiel. Why is Thiel even mentioned?... To get twitter tech bro clicks?

Girard was a literary scholar who focused on myths and mimetic desire was just one part of his analysis of mythical or narrative texts. The other large part of his analysis is related to the scapegoat and how it is the "mortar" for building communal and religious social structures. Certainly read some of his essay collections or even one of his longer books. At the very least read a summary online.

wrapupandkeepit commented on Happy birthday Vim (2020) groups.google.com/g/vim_a... · Posted by u/lockjawh

wrapupandkeepit · 4 years ago

Vim is what got me into using terminal emulators, the shell, and linux. I started trying to use it because a mentor of mine said "it makes coding fun again." It's the reason I moved from Windows to WSL, and from WSL to Linux. It's the reason why I started learning about core utils. When using vim, it feels natural (and even inevitable) to use the shell and cli tools.

wrapupandkeepit commented on Ask HN: What you up to? (Who doesn't want to be hired?) · Posted by u/capableweb

wrapupandkeepit · 4 years ago

Learning violin and music theory as an adult after putting it down in middle school. Brewing korean rice wine and other similar fermentation projects. Trying to learn linear algebra by applying concepts to solve advent of code problems with julia.