General > General Technical Chat
An observation on homework problems
coppice:
--- Quote from: paulca on August 13, 2020, 03:52:01 pm ---Tell me and I will forget.
Show me and I will remember.
Let me do it and I will understand.
--- End quote ---
A lot of people who struggle to understand even simple things are remarkably good at pure memory activities.
paulca:
--- Quote from: coppice on August 13, 2020, 03:54:23 pm ---
--- Quote from: paulca on August 13, 2020, 03:52:01 pm ---Tell me and I will forget.
Show me and I will remember.
Let me do it and I will understand.
--- End quote ---
A lot of people who struggle to understand even simple things are remarkably good at pure memory activities.
--- End quote ---
It's funny. I take the completely opposite approach. I can't remember facts so I don't try. I only remember the logical reasoning steps to get from one bit of information to the other.... or I recall how I could find the information again when I actually need it.
Random contrived example, the statement "Cats fall". There is no point remembering anything. Cats exist and so does gravity, so the statement is useless. I literally just drop everything that comes into that category. It can be derived from other information I already have with sane reasoning.
The other category is. "Makes sense, I understand it, don't need it right now, so only going to remember it makes sense and that I can derive or find it later should I need it."
It's like you don't need to remember the road map of England to cross it in a car. You can derive it fairly easily on the fly.
Eventually of course the common nodes of this derivation tree become ingrained with use to become instant recall. Others sadly atrophy away with lack of use. The worst are when those weak atrophying paths get tangled with another and you get false recall or bullshit. Which I don't doubt will become worse as I get older and end up demented or stuck in a loop in my own bullshit tree. LOL :-DD
tggzzz:
--- Quote from: paulca on August 13, 2020, 04:10:51 pm ---
--- Quote from: coppice on August 13, 2020, 03:54:23 pm ---
--- Quote from: paulca on August 13, 2020, 03:52:01 pm ---Tell me and I will forget.
Show me and I will remember.
Let me do it and I will understand.
--- End quote ---
A lot of people who struggle to understand even simple things are remarkably good at pure memory activities.
--- End quote ---
It's funny. I take the completely opposite approach. I can't remember facts so I don't try. I only remember the logical reasoning steps to get from one bit of information to the other.... or I recall how I could find the information again when I actually need it.
Random contrived example, the statement "Cats fall". There is no point remembering anything. Cats exist and so does gravity, so the statement is useless. I literally just drop everything that comes into that category. It can be derived from other information I already have with sane reasoning.
The other category is. "Makes sense, I understand it, don't need it right now, so only going to remember it makes sense and that I can derive or find it later should I need it."
It's like you don't need to remember the road map of England to cross it in a car. You can derive it fairly easily on the fly.
Eventually of course the common nodes of this derivation tree become ingrained with use to become instant recall. Others sadly atrophy away with lack of use. The worst are when those weak atrophying paths get tangled with another and you get false recall or bullshit. Which I don't doubt will become worse as I get older and end up demented or stuck in a loop in my own bullshit tree. LOL :-DD
--- End quote ---
That's why I was never much good at languages where you have to remember arbitrary associations between two words.
Ditto street names and road numbers. Some people navigate by following familiar street name. I navigate by knowing the direction I want to go in, and finding a road to fit.
Ditto which button to push on an IDE or word processor etc.
jh15:
Remember the old joke about the technician that repaired a car by hitting it with a hammer[1]. The customer objected to the £10 invoice for one thwack. The technician agreed it was wrong, and changed it to "Thwack: £1. Knowing where and how hard to thwack: £9".
[1] I've done just that, to a starter motor :)
[/quote]
The perfect tool for that is the heel of your shoe.
coppice:
--- Quote from: tggzzz on August 13, 2020, 12:12:54 pm ---Asimov's old story "Profession" significantly shaped my career choices. The points are as true today as they were in the 50s. Hence it is still worth speed-reading it at https://www.abelard.org/asimov.php (Even though the page's style is stuck in the geocities era :) )
I've just re-read it, and come to realise it anticipates modern consultancy practices, the decline of apprenticeships, and typical training courses.
--- End quote ---
I just read it for the first time. He presents interesting ideas, in a framework reminiscent of Arthur C Clark's The City And The Stars, or Brave New World. I don't understand some of his plot choices, though. Why did he make the children learn to read as late as 8? Why did he make the number of creative people so small? Real creativity is not common, but its not as rare as that story implies. Is the implication that people have been purposefully dumbed down, so they now need to hunt for the few outliers?
I seem to remember another story where the "House for the Feeble Minded" turns out to be the "Centre for Advanced Research". Did Asimov, or others, reuse that idea?
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