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That's an unfair sweeping generalization about "smart people like computer scientists". Far more fair to say they enjoy thinking about, discussing, and attempti
by tchaffee 7y ago
That's an unfair sweeping generalization about "smart people like computer scientists". Far more fair to say they enjoy thinking about, discussing, and attempting to solve problems. Trying to solve problems is a passion for all the good programmers I know.
And predicting / guessing at solutions without having done the "deep academic literature" reading is actually an excellent learning technique that connects you more deeply to the reading if you decide to go down that path. Or do the predicting in a blog post and get free answers from the experts correcting you.
I've "invented" a few things in my life only to later find the existing patents. I had so much fun doing it and learned so much, I'm glad I didn't know about the patents ahead of time.
- Matticus_Rex 7y agoI mean, great that you had that experience, and thankfully you didn't make a blog post talking about how you solved ______. It's fine to come up with ideas on your own, but if you don't know enough about the field to know whether you're on the right track, don't announce to the internet that you've found the solution.
- tchaffee 7y agoThat's a strawman. Author's own words, right in the intro: "I might be wrong but would love some feedback. It’s an exceedingly complicated topic which has been researched for hundreds of years so it might be that this observation has been made before." And that very important word "might", right in the headline too.