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> I think that’s a fundamental error made by scientists in every field. They don’t realize that when you’re learning something you’ve got to see something at al
by Zababa 5y ago
> I think that’s a fundamental error made by scientists in every field. They don’t realize that when you’re learning something you’ve got to see something at all levels. You’ve got to see the floor before you build the ceiling. That all goes into the brain and gets shoved down to the point where the older people forget that they needed it.
The biggest parallel I can draw here is people that went to college, and then in their 30s and 40s tell people to not go to college.
- starkd 5y agoBut that's more out of a genuine concern to avoid the unnecessary crud that's accumulated in the curriculum. Of course, college imputes useful things, but it also has a tendency to teach abstract concepts, when what you need in the beginning is the concrete steps to see things working.
- Zababa 5y agoThat's true, but as the article highlight, people can not perfectly know what experience was really important for them.
- Ar-Curunir 5y agoI doubt the people saying “Don’t go to college” have much knowledge of what goes in a college curriculum.
- Blikkentrekker 5y agoAnd they typically use their experience to make that point, and argue that they lost time. I'd say that having done something lends more authority to the opinion that one should not do so.
- Zababa 5y agoI disagree, it's easy to do something and then dismiss the importance it could have on you (which is also the point of the article). You have a bit more authority as you know what you went through, but on the other hand you're advocating for something that you didn't do.
- Blikkentrekker 5y agoSo yours is the position that one never has standing to argue that one should not do something, whether one did it, or one did not?
- Zababa 5y agoMy point is the same as in the article: > Take a scientist in any field. The scientist gets older and says, “Oh, yes, some of the things that I’ve been doing have a really great payoff and other things, I’m not using anymore. I’m not going to have my students waste time on the stuff that doesn’t make giant steps. I’m not going to talk about low-level stuff at all. These theoretical concepts are really so powerful—that’s the whole story. Forget about how I got to this point.” It's easy to forget what was important and what wasn't once you've learned something. This is why experts don't necessarily make good teachers.
- Blikkentrekker 5y agoThat doesn't answer what I asked however. My point that the position you make seemingly implies that one never has standing to advise against doing something. Essentially your way of thinking leads to a “damned if one do; damned if one not do” situation.
- Zababa 5y agoMy point is that just going through something doesn't make you qualified to know if that something was good or not. Doing research about the topic is important to complement your personal experience (or your lack of). If you went to college and then tell people to not go to college, maybe you should try to talk to people that didn't go to college first to see how it went for them.