8 ms·
This reminds me of the story one of my university teachers used to introduce himself. He was the most brilliant educator I've had, really passionate about makin
by Agentlien 5y ago
This reminds me of the story one of my university teachers used to introduce himself. He was the most brilliant educator I've had, really passionate about making sure people could actually follow and so humble. The course was called "Digital and Computer Technology" and it was a first year course teaching you to build a CPU starting from logic gates and then program it with assembly.
He said that when he had recently graduated and just moved from Norway to Sweden his first job here was as a technician for the local railway. One of his first assignments was a call where the computer controlling all the track switches had stopped working. Luckily there was a backup, but they needed him to fix it immediately.
He arrived, took a look at the computer and its backup running next to it. He started out by measuring voltages on both, comparing to see what the difference was. After a while some men in suits came in and asked how things were going. He said it was all good, they said it wasn't because now all trains had stopped. Apparently, he had short circuited the backup.
"And that's when I decided to go for a theoretical career!" My teacher happily concluded. The classroom was left in a stunned silence.
- Saser 5y agoRolf Snedsböl? :-) Agreed that he was one of the best educators (if not _the_ best) I had
- Agentlien 5y agoYes, Rolf Snedsböl! I absolutely loved his classes. I bumped into him a few years ago when I was holding a recruitment thing for Ghost Games and it happened to be just after his lecture. I told him how much I enjoyed his courses.
- RonaldOlzheim 5y agoDid he wrote a book? Do you have a link?
- valvar 5y agoAn absolute legend! My favourite of his jokes: "when I moved to Sweden from Norway, the average IQ went up in both countries".
- ngcc_hk 5y agoTake a bit time to understand this joke. Crazy. Especially the new host would not be very appreciated of that la.
- diarrhea 5y agoTo be fair, a great joke, but not an original one (unless he is the original author -- I've heard it before in different contexts).
- aloisdg 5y agoRead it when new zealander move to australia
- dm319 5y agoIt's a known statistical phenonema (Will Rogers phenomenon) [1] used to illustrate the problems when adjustments are made to clusters. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Rogers_phenomenon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Rogers_phenomenon
- nojs 5y agoConcrete example from that article: with improved detection of cancer, it’s true that “people with cancer live longer on average” and also that “people without cancer live longer on average” even if there’s no change to the treatment or anyone’s lifespan.
- Agentlien 5y agoMy favorite story about him was when he caught a student sleeping in his class. He paused, mid-sentence, and asked the student if they were too tired. The student looked up sheepishly and confirmed. "Did it get a bit late last night? Can't keep your eyes open?" Again, the student agreed. Rolf flashed a huge smile and in a singsong voice said "then I have something for you!". He walked over to his bag, pulled out a stuffed animal and a tiny embroidered pillow. (I have a grainy photo of them somewhere). Rolf tiptoed up to the student, put the pillow in front of him, and as the student rested his head on the pillow Rolf gave him a pat on the head. After this Rolf went back, said that if you're that tired it's better to sleep in your own bed. He resumed the lecture, picking up in the middle of the sentence where he'd stopped. No one slept in his class for the rest of the course.
- joenathanone 5y ago'Those who can, do; those who can't, teach' -George Bernard Shaw
- blowski 5y agoTIL that quote is _actually_ from George Bernard Shaw. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/176500.html https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/176500.html
- paranoidrobot 5y agoWe extended that at a technical college I went to for a while because so many of the teachers were downright incompetent. "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach; those who can't teach work here."
- devoutsalsa 5y agoI had a professor in college teaching computer systems and design. Somehow he got to talking about the NSA. He said that back in the 60s, the NSA had computers that were running at 1000. “1000?” I asked, wondering if he’d forgotten the units. He replied “Yes, 1000.”
- ChuckNorris89 5y agoI've heard this joke before on HN.
- 5y ago
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]