3 ms·

Absolutely not. Highschool was by far the least productive time of my life. I'd have shot a few teachers if I had to put up with them six days a week.

fnid2 17y ago
You and probably most people around here are the exception, not the rule. Still it will never happen in the u.s.
sketerpot 17y ago
It was during the gaps in high school that I was able to get any serious learning done. I had the equivalent of a B.S. in computer science by the time I got to college. I'm not bragging; I'm condemning a system that makes this sort of thing so unusual, when in fact it wasn't that hard. All it really took was enthusiasm and some time in which the school system left me the hell alone. That last thing was the hardest to get; thank God for study halls and weekends. Schools turn learning into a horrible grind. When was the last time you enjoyed a book that you were forced to read for an English class, even if you love reading? Or, for my fellow math-enthusiasts: it's fine to learn how to solve a quadratic equation, but do you really learn anything from doing forty identical problems instead of five? People who care about a subject will be an order of magnitude better at learning it than people who don't care. And the whole school system seems to be based on the assumption that nobody will ever care. (Oh, and this doesn't just apply to the top 10% of the class. One of the best classes in high school was a vocational thing where we built a house. We were expected to learn how to put up drywall, wire electrical outlets, use power tools without supervision, and so on, without having a teacher riding our asses the whole time. People rose to meet that expectation and enjoyed the class, even the ones who flunked remedial math and carried knives everywhere.)
- baddox 17y ago
  Do you mean you had the functional/operational equivalent of a B.S of computer science, as in you were as qualified for an entry-level job? Or did you actually study asymptotic running time, complexity theory, graph theory, computing theory, and algorithms in your spare time during high school?
  - sketerpot 17y ago
    The latter. My understanding of graph and complexity theory was a little weak, but about on par with what the average CS student actually remembers upon graduation. It's not that difficult if you actually care about it. The great tragedy is that most people who study things don't care about them. I see this all the time: in any given subject, the people who think it's interesting are the people who will learn an order of magnitude faster, and actually remember it afterward. The ones who go in with the attitude of just grinding through won't learn nearly as much. This is why I think that the best way to learn any technical subject is to start on a project you think is cool, and learn whatever becomes relevant, with enthusiasm. If you start programming, sooner or later you'll come across this "quicksort" thing and hear that it's usually "O(n lg n)", whatever that means, and the next thing you know you're reading through an algorithms textbook of your own volition. It's freaky, but it works.

fnid2 17y ago

You and probably most people around here are the exception, not the rule. Still it will never happen in the u.s.

sketerpot 17y ago

It was during the gaps in high school that I was able to get any serious learning done. I had the equivalent of a B.S. in computer science by the time I got to college. I'm not bragging; I'm condemning a system that makes this sort of thing so unusual, when in fact it wasn't that hard. All it really took was enthusiasm and some time in which the school system left me the hell alone. That last thing was the hardest to get; thank God for study halls and weekends. Schools turn learning into a horrible grind. When was the last time you enjoyed a book that you were forced to read for an English class, even if you love reading? Or, for my fellow math-enthusiasts: it's fine to learn how to solve a quadratic equation, but do you really learn anything from doing forty identical problems instead of five? People who care about a subject will be an order of magnitude better at learning it than people who don't care. And the whole school system seems to be based on the assumption that nobody will ever care. (Oh, and this doesn't just apply to the top 10% of the class. One of the best classes in high school was a vocational thing where we built a house. We were expected to learn how to put up drywall, wire electrical outlets, use power tools without supervision, and so on, without having a teacher riding our asses the whole time. People rose to meet that expectation and enjoyed the class, even the ones who flunked remedial math and carried knives everywhere.)

baddox 17y ago
Do you mean you had the functional/operational equivalent of a B.S of computer science, as in you were as qualified for an entry-level job? Or did you actually study asymptotic running time, complexity theory, graph theory, computing theory, and algorithms in your spare time during high school?
- sketerpot 17y ago
  The latter. My understanding of graph and complexity theory was a little weak, but about on par with what the average CS student actually remembers upon graduation. It's not that difficult if you actually care about it. The great tragedy is that most people who study things don't care about them. I see this all the time: in any given subject, the people who think it's interesting are the people who will learn an order of magnitude faster, and actually remember it afterward. The ones who go in with the attitude of just grinding through won't learn nearly as much. This is why I think that the best way to learn any technical subject is to start on a project you think is cool, and learn whatever becomes relevant, with enthusiasm. If you start programming, sooner or later you'll come across this "quicksort" thing and hear that it's usually "O(n lg n)", whatever that means, and the next thing you know you're reading through an algorithms textbook of your own volition. It's freaky, but it works.