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> If you don't find yourself studying 6 hours a day, you're not getting an elite education. Seems like an unhealthy attitude to me. I really dislike the perspe

> If you don't find yourself studying 6 hours a day, you're not getting an elite education. Seems like an unhealthy attitude to me. I really dislike the perspective that education is at its best when the learning is most difficult. The best teachers are the ones that make things as clear and digestible as possible. Bad teachers are the ones that want to see you sweat.

WalterBright 7y ago
It isn't about wanting to torture students. I never learned so much so fast before or since - and there was a lot to learn. I prefer teachers that expect a lot from their students. It's not fundamentally different from athletics. If you want to be a good athlete, you're going to have to work your tail off. If you want to be an incredible engineer like Kelly Johnson, that ain't going to happen if you party through school. Nor would you have any chance of working with an engineer like him. So ask yourself - do you want to design rocket engines? or cup holders? --- BTW, as for health, I came out of Caltech a far more confident person than when I entered. I knew what I could do, and was happy about it.
- theLotusGambit 7y ago
  It's wrong to treat the brain like any other muscle. It's more comparable to a neural network (pardon the tautology). You feed in data (knowledge) in hope that some of it sticks and forms new connections that you can use to better tackle new and existing problems. There's no rule of the universe that states that the process of feeding data into the brain has to be challenging. Now, I'm not arguing that hard work has no merit. Clearly, working hard can increase your rate of knowledge-consumption and get you further faster. For some people, you included it seems, that works out great. For others, the ever-present "110% or bust!" attitude can have serious mental consequences. Accepting that education can happen without rigor won't harm those that intend to push themselves anyway, but it sure would benefit the constantly stressed-out students.
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    > There's no rule of the universe that states that the process of feeding data into the brain has to be challenging. No pain, no gain. You're simply not going to become an expert in any field, mental or physical, without a lot of hard work.

WalterBright 7y ago

It isn't about wanting to torture students. I never learned so much so fast before or since - and there was a lot to learn. I prefer teachers that expect a lot from their students. It's not fundamentally different from athletics. If you want to be a good athlete, you're going to have to work your tail off. If you want to be an incredible engineer like Kelly Johnson, that ain't going to happen if you party through school. Nor would you have any chance of working with an engineer like him. So ask yourself - do you want to design rocket engines? or cup holders? --- BTW, as for health, I came out of Caltech a far more confident person than when I entered. I knew what I could do, and was happy about it.

theLotusGambit 7y ago
It's wrong to treat the brain like any other muscle. It's more comparable to a neural network (pardon the tautology). You feed in data (knowledge) in hope that some of it sticks and forms new connections that you can use to better tackle new and existing problems. There's no rule of the universe that states that the process of feeding data into the brain has to be challenging. Now, I'm not arguing that hard work has no merit. Clearly, working hard can increase your rate of knowledge-consumption and get you further faster. For some people, you included it seems, that works out great. For others, the ever-present "110% or bust!" attitude can have serious mental consequences. Accepting that education can happen without rigor won't harm those that intend to push themselves anyway, but it sure would benefit the constantly stressed-out students.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  > There's no rule of the universe that states that the process of feeding data into the brain has to be challenging. No pain, no gain. You're simply not going to become an expert in any field, mental or physical, without a lot of hard work.