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Peter fucking Norvig is going to sit you down and teach you some shit for free and all you have to say is 'argle bargle...social'? Social: IRC, message boards,

Peter fucking Norvig is going to sit you down and teach you some shit for free and all you have to say is 'argle bargle...social'? Social: IRC, message boards, facebook, google+, skype, mumble, news groups, facetime, instant messenger, etc. Try to teach someone something: Stack Overflow, reddit, hacker news, your own blog, also, all of the above under social. Collaboration: google docs, drop box, ftp, gliffy.

pinchyfingers 15y ago
Yea, exactly. Whenever someone of Norvig's caliber is willing to teach, I shut up pay attention. I wouldn't care if Norvig was teaching how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I'd have my freaking notebook out scribbling down his recipe. Despite being a programmer my whole life, I'm taking the Udacity 101 course because you never know how another person's experience with the basics might change your understanding. Also, is programming a skill that really requires a social element for learning? I've definitely had a lot of fun programming in social settings and in groups, but a lot of the skill is built in the hours of isolation with your fingers on the keyboard.
- esc 15y ago
  Hey, when did the 101 start? I'm thinking of joining in but if it is too far along then I might wait for the next round..
  - pinchyfingers 15y ago
    If you can still get in, it might not be too late to catch up. Obviously, you can submit all of the homework on time, but if you're score on the final is greater than your homework score, than they just use the final as your grade.
ohyes 15y ago
First off, I get that Norvig is a celebrity. Celebrity has little to do with teaching ability. Secondly, I think reducing my point to 'argle bargle...social' is a little unfair. This may just be coming from my psyche as someone who has been in a fairly lonely job with few peers, but one of the best things about going to college was getting to know smart and interesting people.(On the other hand, learning to deal with people who have difficult personalities was also useful). To really get to know someone you have to be in a community with them. I'm not sure that 'social solutions' on the internet would really fulfill this need. They are all the things that you do to kind of numb yourself at the end of the day so you can sleep... there isn't really an intention to engage.
- lani 15y ago
  > First off, I get that Norvig is a celebrity. Celebrity has little to do with teaching ability. It's not like he's popular for being snooki's best friend or something .. I feel Peter Norvig is a celebrity for the right reasons here.. there are two types of teachers - those who get you to see the world in interesting ways, and those who illuminate targets that one wouldn't hit normally on one's own. I'm guessing Norvig's course might be more of the latter type.. > .. but one of the best things about going to college was getting to know smart and interesting people personally, I feel 'getting to know' is not enough. As math ematicians/scientists or techies or programmers, our peer group /culture is our identity, and pretty much the main reason we wake up in the morning and check email for patch updates or stay up till 5 running code and what not. yep, online courses don't give that. And I too badly feel the need for it tl;dr first point - disagree, second point - agree edit:formatting
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- angrycoder 15y ago
  My point is, there is no shortage of communication and collaboration tools on the internet. Regarding your need for community or social learning, there is nothing preventing you from watching these lectures with a group of actual people.
- jongraehl 15y ago
  http://norvig.com/paip.html http://norvig.com/paip.html
- irahul 15y ago
  > First off, I get that Norvig is a celebrity. Celebrity has little to do with teaching ability. Perter Norvig is a celebrity because of his technical accomplishments and teaching prowess. He is the author of PAIP which is regarded as one of the best books on programming. If you haven't already, check out his articles: http://norvig.com/lispy.html http://norvig.com/lispy.html http://norvig.com/spell-correct.html http://norvig.com/spell-correct.html http://norvig.com/sudoku.html http://norvig.com/sudoku.html So yes, when someone of Norvig's caliber wants to teach me something, social be fucked, I settle down and listen.

pinchyfingers 15y ago

Yea, exactly. Whenever someone of Norvig's caliber is willing to teach, I shut up pay attention. I wouldn't care if Norvig was teaching how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I'd have my freaking notebook out scribbling down his recipe. Despite being a programmer my whole life, I'm taking the Udacity 101 course because you never know how another person's experience with the basics might change your understanding. Also, is programming a skill that really requires a social element for learning? I've definitely had a lot of fun programming in social settings and in groups, but a lot of the skill is built in the hours of isolation with your fingers on the keyboard.

esc 15y ago
Hey, when did the 101 start? I'm thinking of joining in but if it is too far along then I might wait for the next round..
- pinchyfingers 15y ago
  If you can still get in, it might not be too late to catch up. Obviously, you can submit all of the homework on time, but if you're score on the final is greater than your homework score, than they just use the final as your grade.

ohyes 15y ago

First off, I get that Norvig is a celebrity. Celebrity has little to do with teaching ability. Secondly, I think reducing my point to 'argle bargle...social' is a little unfair. This may just be coming from my psyche as someone who has been in a fairly lonely job with few peers, but one of the best things about going to college was getting to know smart and interesting people.(On the other hand, learning to deal with people who have difficult personalities was also useful). To really get to know someone you have to be in a community with them. I'm not sure that 'social solutions' on the internet would really fulfill this need. They are all the things that you do to kind of numb yourself at the end of the day so you can sleep... there isn't really an intention to engage.

lani 15y ago
> First off, I get that Norvig is a celebrity. Celebrity has little to do with teaching ability. It's not like he's popular for being snooki's best friend or something .. I feel Peter Norvig is a celebrity for the right reasons here.. there are two types of teachers - those who get you to see the world in interesting ways, and those who illuminate targets that one wouldn't hit normally on one's own. I'm guessing Norvig's course might be more of the latter type.. > .. but one of the best things about going to college was getting to know smart and interesting people personally, I feel 'getting to know' is not enough. As math ematicians/scientists or techies or programmers, our peer group /culture is our identity, and pretty much the main reason we wake up in the morning and check email for patch updates or stay up till 5 running code and what not. yep, online courses don't give that. And I too badly feel the need for it tl;dr first point - disagree, second point - agree edit:formatting
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
angrycoder 15y ago
My point is, there is no shortage of communication and collaboration tools on the internet. Regarding your need for community or social learning, there is nothing preventing you from watching these lectures with a group of actual people.
jongraehl 15y ago
http://norvig.com/paip.html http://norvig.com/paip.html
irahul 15y ago
> First off, I get that Norvig is a celebrity. Celebrity has little to do with teaching ability. Perter Norvig is a celebrity because of his technical accomplishments and teaching prowess. He is the author of PAIP which is regarded as one of the best books on programming. If you haven't already, check out his articles: http://norvig.com/lispy.html http://norvig.com/lispy.html http://norvig.com/spell-correct.html http://norvig.com/spell-correct.html http://norvig.com/sudoku.html http://norvig.com/sudoku.html So yes, when someone of Norvig's caliber wants to teach me something, social be fucked, I settle down and listen.