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I forgot most of what little I learned in semiconductor physics and analog design courses in college, but I remember enough to know that nothing about computers

I forgot most of what little I learned in semiconductor physics and analog design courses in college, but I remember enough to know that nothing about computers is magic. Nothing. That knowledge gives me confidence that I can figure out anything having to do with computers given enough quiet time. On the other hand, I don't really know much about cars. If I had a 2024 model year car and something went wrong with it, I'd very quickly run up against a wall of arcane-seeming knowledge that I don't have easy access to. I don't know where I would start to learn everything about cars from scratch like I did with computers. There might be a name for this, but I don't know what it is.

fsckboy 3y ago
computers contain transistors and how transistors work is by magic. before that, tubes. tubes also work by magic. before that, relays, which are based on electromagnets. electromagnets work by magic.
- philsnow 3y ago
  > how transistors work is by magic ok but it's "just" semiconductor band-gap physics, which my monkey grug brain can kind of just barely make out, if I squint > tubes also work by magic tubes work by "just" thermionic emission, or "tube physics", which grug brain has a better handle on > electromagnets work by magic okay, you've got me there, physics grug brain think magnets high magic.
  - fsckboy 3y ago
    tubes work by not just thermionic emission (that'd be a diode) but also by a sort of uncanny leveraging of inverse square laws in free space surrounding the grid. when the first tube amplifier was invented, it was by accident, it wasn't understood how it worked.
- throWaway229034 3y ago
  You can make computers (in a non economical fashion) using pipes of water and water actuated valves. This can be done in a manner _highly_ analogous to transistor, tube or relay machines. That was what convinced me that computers are not magic.
mherdeg 3y ago
> nothing about computers is magic In this vein I think about nelhage's "Computers Can Be Understood" from time to time - https://blog.nelhage.com/post/computers-can-be-understood/ https://blog.nelhage.com/post/computers-can-be-understood/ .
atoav 3y ago
Exactly this is the reason I do it. The "knowledge" part will fade if it isn't applied regularily. If I manage to convey a deeper understanding of how things are intertwined or at least the feeling that it is actually possible to understand things and that curiosity is king, that is all I can do. It is an art school after all. I will never turn all of them into low level systems programmers, but I can give them enough understanding of the tech world that it can become the topic of art without making people with a tech background cringe. And some of them take this as a starting point to go way deeper.

fsckboy 3y ago

computers contain transistors and how transistors work is by magic. before that, tubes. tubes also work by magic. before that, relays, which are based on electromagnets. electromagnets work by magic.

philsnow 3y ago
> how transistors work is by magic ok but it's "just" semiconductor band-gap physics, which my monkey grug brain can kind of just barely make out, if I squint > tubes also work by magic tubes work by "just" thermionic emission, or "tube physics", which grug brain has a better handle on > electromagnets work by magic okay, you've got me there, physics grug brain think magnets high magic.
- fsckboy 3y ago
  tubes work by not just thermionic emission (that'd be a diode) but also by a sort of uncanny leveraging of inverse square laws in free space surrounding the grid. when the first tube amplifier was invented, it was by accident, it wasn't understood how it worked.
throWaway229034 3y ago
You can make computers (in a non economical fashion) using pipes of water and water actuated valves. This can be done in a manner _highly_ analogous to transistor, tube or relay machines. That was what convinced me that computers are not magic.

mherdeg 3y ago

> nothing about computers is magic In this vein I think about nelhage's "Computers Can Be Understood" from time to time - https://blog.nelhage.com/post/computers-can-be-understood/ https://blog.nelhage.com/post/computers-can-be-understood/ .

atoav 3y ago

Exactly this is the reason I do it. The "knowledge" part will fade if it isn't applied regularily. If I manage to convey a deeper understanding of how things are intertwined or at least the feeling that it is actually possible to understand things and that curiosity is king, that is all I can do. It is an art school after all. I will never turn all of them into low level systems programmers, but I can give them enough understanding of the tech world that it can become the topic of art without making people with a tech background cringe. And some of them take this as a starting point to go way deeper.