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To a certain extent I think it also exposes how much busy-work there really is out there. A lot of people have been talking about ChatGPT as the ultimate bullsh

To a certain extent I think it also exposes how much busy-work there really is out there. A lot of people have been talking about ChatGPT as the ultimate bullshit artist, well if that is true, the stuff it is producing perfectly would be what, bullshit in the first place?

UnpossibleJim 4y ago
It can't be too much of a surprise that a lot of white collar jobs involve a fair amount of BS. I have 3 to 4 meetings a day and only 1 or 2 are really necessary =[
cherrycherry98 4y ago
Essays produced for school aren't of much value for someone else to read. The value is to the writer who gets to practice synthesizing ideas and communicating them into words. There's still value to be had in learning how to communicate effectively in writing.
- carlmr 4y ago
  I underestimated the power of writing myself when I was in high school. I always preferred math, physics, programming, and chemistry, to the vague, almost arbitrary nature of writing good essays. As I've gotten older I've noticed how my day job depends more on communicating effectively than solving hard technical problems. The best technical idea doesn't serve you if you can't communicate it to others.
thfuran 4y ago
Is having kids learn to read and write bullshit because text to speech and speech recognition software exist? The point of school work isn't the output, it's learning.
- gus_massa 4y ago
  The problem is how those essays are graded. In some cases the teacher just count the number of pages and skim the text. One of my friends once submitted an essay where the introduction and the conclusions were coherent, but all the text in the middle was just unrelated garbage. It's an extreme case, but in many cases if the extremes and the subtitles are fine, the quality of the middle is not so important.
  - thfuran 4y ago
    Writing essays is certainly more useful if there's helpful feedback given, but the exercise is useful in and of itself. I don't think the fact the bad teachers exist is "the problem".
  - sam0x17 4y ago
    Yeah this is more my point. Teachers should be carefully pouring over students' essays, but they aren't paid enough to do so
    - sltkr 4y ago
      I know some recently-unemployed Kenyans with relevant work experience who could be hired cheaply to assist the overworked teachers. (BTW, it's "poring" not "pouring".)
      - HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
        That's an interesting idea. I wonder how easy it is now for Western high school teachers to outsource things like lesson planning or grading tests to lower-cost countries? Startup idea: build a marketplace like that. There has to be a market for it.
        erredois 4y ago
        For essays certainly would be good, could even be better If multiple people read it and give independent feedback.

UnpossibleJim 4y ago

It can't be too much of a surprise that a lot of white collar jobs involve a fair amount of BS. I have 3 to 4 meetings a day and only 1 or 2 are really necessary =[

cherrycherry98 4y ago

Essays produced for school aren't of much value for someone else to read. The value is to the writer who gets to practice synthesizing ideas and communicating them into words. There's still value to be had in learning how to communicate effectively in writing.

carlmr 4y ago
I underestimated the power of writing myself when I was in high school. I always preferred math, physics, programming, and chemistry, to the vague, almost arbitrary nature of writing good essays. As I've gotten older I've noticed how my day job depends more on communicating effectively than solving hard technical problems. The best technical idea doesn't serve you if you can't communicate it to others.

thfuran 4y ago

Is having kids learn to read and write bullshit because text to speech and speech recognition software exist? The point of school work isn't the output, it's learning.

gus_massa 4y ago
The problem is how those essays are graded. In some cases the teacher just count the number of pages and skim the text. One of my friends once submitted an essay where the introduction and the conclusions were coherent, but all the text in the middle was just unrelated garbage. It's an extreme case, but in many cases if the extremes and the subtitles are fine, the quality of the middle is not so important.
- thfuran 4y ago
  Writing essays is certainly more useful if there's helpful feedback given, but the exercise is useful in and of itself. I don't think the fact the bad teachers exist is "the problem".
- sam0x17 4y ago
  Yeah this is more my point. Teachers should be carefully pouring over students' essays, but they aren't paid enough to do so
  - sltkr 4y ago
    I know some recently-unemployed Kenyans with relevant work experience who could be hired cheaply to assist the overworked teachers. (BTW, it's "poring" not "pouring".)
    - HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
      That's an interesting idea. I wonder how easy it is now for Western high school teachers to outsource things like lesson planning or grading tests to lower-cost countries? Startup idea: build a marketplace like that. There has to be a market for it.
      - erredois 4y ago
        For essays certainly would be good, could even be better If multiple people read it and give independent feedback.