3 ms·

I think it's important to realize that you're optimizing for different things. "a, b, a, b" optimizes for, let's say, "attention span", while "B, A" optimizes f

• mcphage 8y ago
  > while "B, A" optimizes for some sort of efficiency What sort of efficiency do you think this optimizes for?
  • sverhagen 8y ago
    A perception of less time spent overall, perhaps. Or less loss/dropout from not being able to achieve A (for lack of B). I personally prefer "a, b, a", so I have to imagine.
    • cryptonector 8y ago
      On the other hand, if B-before-A is discouraging, then it may be very inefficient. It could act as a filter, but not so much for skill or any particularly useful personal attribute so much as "enjoys B-before-A well enough", which isn't particularly indicative of anything. In general I do think that B-before-A is a very useful approach, but it cannot be the only approach. For one, it doesn't scale, not as the chain of Bs grows longer over time. We teach a lot more math to students today than 100 years ago, but almost certainly we're taking shortcuts that essentially amount to a,b,a,b -- how else can we manage the otherwise ever-growing cognitive burden of the sum of our knowledge?
• cryptonector 8y ago
  If abab lets you start being productive sooner, then abab is more productive. It may or may not be more efficient than B-before-A -- I doubt we can conclude one way or the other in the general case, so I don't see the point in discussing the two approaches' efficiency.