3 ms·

>The reason this has parallels to education is because that’s what education traditionally is: busy work. Busy work is work that is assigned merely for the pur

>The reason this has parallels to education is because that’s what education traditionally is: busy work. Busy work is work that is assigned merely for the purpose of occupying one's time. That's not the same thing as practice. We drill children in arithmetic not to keep them busy but because it turns out repeatedly solving multiplication problems is an effective way to teach children their times tables.

ghostpepper 2y ago
This may be why the practice was invented but I bet there are plenty of teachers who see it more as a way to keep them busy
- stackghost 2y ago
  Yes, intent matters.
hbosch 2y ago
>That's not the same thing as practice. Exactly right. In terms of education, there generally seems to be a blurry line between was is considered learning and what is considered memorization. If you memorize your times tables, it doesn't mean you've learned multiplication for example... oftentimes the ability to memorize and recall things is opposed to learning, which means leveraging previous knowledge to solve something new. In the case of AI, it usually presents facts and opinions simultaneously (something a calculator famously does not do, for example). Facts are memorized, opinions are learned. In all core studies it's always been more important to understand what you're solving for, and why, rather than "how" to solve it. The continued dissolution of the "how" barrier is a net benefit for all of civilization, and when experts of "why" are valued more than experts of "how" the world will be a much better place.
- nunez 2y ago
  This is one reason why many educators are phasing out homework. It's great practice but can easily lead students to regurgitating information instead of understanding and retaining knowledge. This is also why quizzes and tests are vital in a well-designed curriculum: they test understanding (or at least are supposed to).

ghostpepper 2y ago

This may be why the practice was invented but I bet there are plenty of teachers who see it more as a way to keep them busy

stackghost 2y ago
Yes, intent matters.

hbosch 2y ago

>That's not the same thing as practice. Exactly right. In terms of education, there generally seems to be a blurry line between was is considered learning and what is considered memorization. If you memorize your times tables, it doesn't mean you've learned multiplication for example... oftentimes the ability to memorize and recall things is opposed to learning, which means leveraging previous knowledge to solve something new. In the case of AI, it usually presents facts and opinions simultaneously (something a calculator famously does not do, for example). Facts are memorized, opinions are learned. In all core studies it's always been more important to understand what you're solving for, and why, rather than "how" to solve it. The continued dissolution of the "how" barrier is a net benefit for all of civilization, and when experts of "why" are valued more than experts of "how" the world will be a much better place.

nunez 2y ago
This is one reason why many educators are phasing out homework. It's great practice but can easily lead students to regurgitating information instead of understanding and retaining knowledge. This is also why quizzes and tests are vital in a well-designed curriculum: they test understanding (or at least are supposed to).