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I would like to challenge the underlaying idea: Asking "what fundamental knowledge" is like asking what telescope makes the best astronomers. The problem with

I would like to challenge the underlaying idea: Asking "what fundamental knowledge" is like asking what telescope makes the best astronomers. The problem with knowledge is applicability. You can know a lot of fundamental things, but if you cannot recognize the patterns were they are useful is dead knowledge. My personal experience through my life (30+ years in the field) and observing and interviewing developers in many different industries tells me that curiosity, logical thinking, and emotional intelligence win the day. And these are not pieces of knowledge, but personal characteristics and skills to develop. And they apply to many careers, including software engineering. I think that more important than knowledge accumulated is your ability to conceptualize and recognize the concepts in a different context. Knowledge is just a side effect of this.

machiaweliczny 5y ago
Seems like you vote for vector space embedding :) I’ve seen interesting paper about finding unknown embeddings and I think it’s important skill that AI also will poses.
gjvc 5y ago
this is an unhelpful response: the guy asks a straight question and the response is to "challenge the underlaying [sic] idea" It would be better to answer their question, rather than attempt to knock it down. (good example of zero-sum bias.)
- ant6n 5y ago
  Unhelpful response (is indempotent)
  - gjvc 5y ago
    "idempotent"
    - ant6n 5y ago
      Correcting typos is such a more helpful response!
- wittycardio 5y ago
  Most people on hn don't have deep technical knowledge and don't like to be told that it matters
  - beaconstudios 5y ago
    I have deep technical knowledge on some subjects, but how I got there is through curiosity and reasoning, like the parent commenter said. There is knowledge you can acquire, and then there are skills that can allow you to acquire the right knowledge at the right time. For example, having a baseline understanding of logic and mathematical reasoning could help you to understand when a problem area might already be formalised, and to find that area and understand the work therein.
- giraffe_lady 5y ago
  It is actually pretty astute and on the topic to me. Skimming through here, a lot of people mention the fact that as they grow into their careers, one of the biggest gains is judgement about what sorts of problems even should be solved. Or like. If someone came in asking "I'd like to make my car go faster, should I paint it green, or blue?" it's not unhelpful to point out that that's a solution to a different problem. Plus anyway the audience is greater than just the person who initially posed the question. Conversations around this and other similar answers are vibrant today, so clearly they're helpful to someone.

machiaweliczny 5y ago

Seems like you vote for vector space embedding :) I’ve seen interesting paper about finding unknown embeddings and I think it’s important skill that AI also will poses.

gjvc 5y ago

this is an unhelpful response: the guy asks a straight question and the response is to "challenge the underlaying [sic] idea" It would be better to answer their question, rather than attempt to knock it down. (good example of zero-sum bias.)

ant6n 5y ago
Unhelpful response (is indempotent)
- gjvc 5y ago
  "idempotent"
  - ant6n 5y ago
    Correcting typos is such a more helpful response!
wittycardio 5y ago
Most people on hn don't have deep technical knowledge and don't like to be told that it matters
- beaconstudios 5y ago
  I have deep technical knowledge on some subjects, but how I got there is through curiosity and reasoning, like the parent commenter said. There is knowledge you can acquire, and then there are skills that can allow you to acquire the right knowledge at the right time. For example, having a baseline understanding of logic and mathematical reasoning could help you to understand when a problem area might already be formalised, and to find that area and understand the work therein.
giraffe_lady 5y ago
It is actually pretty astute and on the topic to me. Skimming through here, a lot of people mention the fact that as they grow into their careers, one of the biggest gains is judgement about what sorts of problems even should be solved. Or like. If someone came in asking "I'd like to make my car go faster, should I paint it green, or blue?" it's not unhelpful to point out that that's a solution to a different problem. Plus anyway the audience is greater than just the person who initially posed the question. Conversations around this and other similar answers are vibrant today, so clearly they're helpful to someone.