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I have no idea why you think going to college is a requirement for understanding those things. I don't have a degree, and have used all those things in producti

by smanek 16y ago

I have no idea why you think going to college is a requirement for understanding those things. I don't have a degree, and have used all those things in production (except FFTs - which I have used for fun) - I was a defense contractor with Top Secret clearance working on ML for the airforce, which included research-level work with bayesian networks (I built tractable heuristics for solving partially observable markov decision processes). - I built a scheduling heuristic for an international law firm (an NP-hard problem) using randomized algorithms. - I built a recommendation engine for my a multimillion dollar startup I founded using SVDs. - Today I open sourced a bloom filter implementation I wrote (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2443675 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2443675) that uses recent research to be several times faster than a traditional implemention - I implemented very efficient Reed Solomon coding using numerical methods and linear algebra for secret sharing And I'm by no means unique. I know other dropouts who are doing world class work in distributed systems research and NLP. There's absolutely no reason you need to go to college to learn if you're motivated.

yid 16y ago
I didn't say it was a requirement. I meant to say that most students will benefit from a structured curriculum, especially the parts that may initially appear boring or useless. Your accomplishments are very impressive, but you clearly are not the norm, which is why Thiel's advice can be damaging.
- smanek 16y ago
  I personally know one of the finalists, and he's probably more impressive than I am (and certainly more impressive than I was at that age). Thiel is simply arguing that we need to make sure kids know about other options available to them besides college. Of course, if you want to be a medical doctor you need to go to formal school. But, if you have the right kind of personality and the right goals, college may not be the most efficient way to achieve your dreams. And I don't think many people but Thiel are preaching that message.
deleted 16y ago
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kenjackson 16y ago
Being a dropout is different than not going to college at all. And I'm not even saying that one needs to go to college, but someone who does 3-4 years at Harvard, MIT, CalTech, etc... and drops out is in a very different boat than one who goes straight from high school or home schooling to the work force.
- studentdriveby 16y ago
  but someone who does 3-4 years at Harvard, MIT, CalTech, etc. <rant:driveby> I am sorry. I HATE to hear this hog wash. I have met many people from Caltech and MIT and the way you are saying it, it is like they are the distinguished elite... and yes maybe a select few are but don't generalize... they are really ditzy and honestly stupid people there. Structure, fear and the title of those prestige schools will keep you from doing something silly and failing out. Last time I checked... Once you get in (from high school SAT / A-Levels / AP / CAPE) you are in for the full four years. So it is not the students. Scratch that. So then what are you really saying the professors there will give me a better education than I will give to myself ? Ever heard of student cram sessions ? Students who study before class only to argue or sleep during ? I highly doubt a professor from another school will not provide a similar level of education other wise you are insulting them. So it is not the professors. Scratch that. So is it their courses ? MIT has OCW, CalTech and Harvard I think have lectures on YouTube and elsewhere for the public viewing. So it is not the courses. Scratch that. Stop giving credit where it doesn't exist. And you missed what smanek is saying. This is someone who has either learnt material that would be covered in first year uni (which happens if you do AP or A-Level) or who is learning on his own. No one said that one will not learn jack shit when on the work force .. that is just stupid. </rant:driveby> Signed Pissed off Canadian on behalf of -UFT -McGill -UofA

by smanek 16y ago

yid 16y ago

I didn't say it was a requirement. I meant to say that most students will benefit from a structured curriculum, especially the parts that may initially appear boring or useless. Your accomplishments are very impressive, but you clearly are not the norm, which is why Thiel's advice can be damaging.

smanek 16y ago
I personally know one of the finalists, and he's probably more impressive than I am (and certainly more impressive than I was at that age). Thiel is simply arguing that we need to make sure kids know about other options available to them besides college. Of course, if you want to be a medical doctor you need to go to formal school. But, if you have the right kind of personality and the right goals, college may not be the most efficient way to achieve your dreams. And I don't think many people but Thiel are preaching that message.

deleted 16y ago

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kenjackson 16y ago

Being a dropout is different than not going to college at all. And I'm not even saying that one needs to go to college, but someone who does 3-4 years at Harvard, MIT, CalTech, etc... and drops out is in a very different boat than one who goes straight from high school or home schooling to the work force.

studentdriveby 16y ago
but someone who does 3-4 years at Harvard, MIT, CalTech, etc. <rant:driveby> I am sorry. I HATE to hear this hog wash. I have met many people from Caltech and MIT and the way you are saying it, it is like they are the distinguished elite... and yes maybe a select few are but don't generalize... they are really ditzy and honestly stupid people there. Structure, fear and the title of those prestige schools will keep you from doing something silly and failing out. Last time I checked... Once you get in (from high school SAT / A-Levels / AP / CAPE) you are in for the full four years. So it is not the students. Scratch that. So then what are you really saying the professors there will give me a better education than I will give to myself ? Ever heard of student cram sessions ? Students who study before class only to argue or sleep during ? I highly doubt a professor from another school will not provide a similar level of education other wise you are insulting them. So it is not the professors. Scratch that. So is it their courses ? MIT has OCW, CalTech and Harvard I think have lectures on YouTube and elsewhere for the public viewing. So it is not the courses. Scratch that. Stop giving credit where it doesn't exist. And you missed what smanek is saying. This is someone who has either learnt material that would be covered in first year uni (which happens if you do AP or A-Level) or who is learning on his own. No one said that one will not learn jack shit when on the work force .. that is just stupid. </rant:driveby> Signed Pissed off Canadian on behalf of -UFT -McGill -UofA