4 ms·

I had the privilege of taking Winston's communications/AI seminar class in college. It was an odd format. The class outwardly presented itself as a seminar cla

by varenc 1y ago

I had the privilege of taking Winston's communications/AI seminar class in college. It was an odd format. The class outwardly presented itself as a seminar class where you just read and discuss AI papers. Several of the papers involved doing mean things to ferrets. But really it was a writing/communication class with Winston giving you life advice. I remember one of his teachings was how to build and maintain your network (email them ~twice a year). And also before a big lecture you can warm up your voice by making a barking noise. He also brought donuts to most every class. I miss you professor Winston.

carver 1y ago
What a great seminar, that was. I really appreciated his advice on writing recommendation letters, too: the expectation is shifted wildly towards effusive. If you are plainly complimentary, it can come off as a secret warning that you don't think they are worth hiring. But there were also great AI papers, and meta advice on reading them efficiently. (I don't remember any crimes against ferrets, but presumably the reading list changed over time) I appreciated that class, and it's only grown on me over time. Another line that really stuck with me was something like "forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit" (Which I remembered as "Perhaps we will look back on even this with fondness") It's so easy to undervalue amazing things when they are happening to you. I was really convinced that I was appreciating it, even more than many around me. But I still look back and think I could have soaked it in, even more.
- dnackoul 1y ago
  I also took Professor Winston's seminar in college and have similar feelings about it. It was far and away my favorite class and the wisdom in his advice has only become more apparent over time. At its heart, it was really about how to understand and communicate ideas. One of the things I treasured the most was that Professor Winston overtly subscribed to the "make topics crystal clear and broadly accessible" school of technical communication. He would contrast this against the "make things incomprehensible so everyone thinks you're brilliant" school of thought. I am eternally grateful someone biased me early in life towards the former, not just when I'm speaking but when I'm choosing what to read and who to listen to. I've also wondered lately what he would think about the current LLM wave. I'm sure he would have had a characteristically clear and profound take. I feel the world is losing out not having his voice during the current moment.
  - varenc 1y ago
    Absolutely! Thanks for bringing this up. I remember one of his points is that people have a tendency to hide behind obtuse language to try to make their insight seem more impressive. I think about this constantly when I see writing that clearly doesn't subscribe to this philosophy. (Especially Fine Art lectures)
- devilbunny 1y ago
  > "forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit" You quoted it correctly. It's from The Aeneid, and your translation is basically correct.
delichon 1y ago
[flagged]
- bongodongobob 1y ago
  Incredibly inappropriate. You have 0 clue about anything regarding his medical history. Next time you want to attribute cause of death for someone from an anecdote, do everyone a favor and shut the fuck up.
  - delichon 1y ago
    Please explain this to me, as I honestly don't understand it. I didn't claim knowledge, it's just speculation. I speculate about things all day long, why is this different? There really aren't many common conditions that look like Mr. Winston and I do. I'm just supposing horses instead of zebras. Just via the Golden Rule, I would be happy if someone used my own bad example (I have the same condition that I attribute to Prof. Winston) to make the argument personal, if that motivated someone to pick up the apple instead. We lose too many years to high blood pressure, obesity, high glucose, neuropathy, etc., etc., to shut up about the donuts.
    - monkeywork 1y ago
      >I didn't claim knowledge, it's just speculation. "I can testify that is downstream of too many donuts." The above statement - specifically saying you TESTIFY - does not sound like speculation; it sounds like you are speaking as a matter of fact. I fail to see what if anything, positive you thought would come from that post? You're in a thread where people are mostly positively remembering someone they respected and you essentially jumped in and said "yeah but the guy killed himself with his eating".... like you really think that's a good idea? You might think you're doing some greater good - but there is a time and a place for everything - the message you're trying to send isn't going to land in this sort of environment, it's just going to piss people off and have you appear to be disrespectful.
      - delichon 1y ago
swayvil 1y ago
I've always considered you to be one of my most valuable assets.

by varenc 1y ago

carver 1y ago

What a great seminar, that was. I really appreciated his advice on writing recommendation letters, too: the expectation is shifted wildly towards effusive. If you are plainly complimentary, it can come off as a secret warning that you don't think they are worth hiring. But there were also great AI papers, and meta advice on reading them efficiently. (I don't remember any crimes against ferrets, but presumably the reading list changed over time) I appreciated that class, and it's only grown on me over time. Another line that really stuck with me was something like "forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit" (Which I remembered as "Perhaps we will look back on even this with fondness") It's so easy to undervalue amazing things when they are happening to you. I was really convinced that I was appreciating it, even more than many around me. But I still look back and think I could have soaked it in, even more.

dnackoul 1y ago
I also took Professor Winston's seminar in college and have similar feelings about it. It was far and away my favorite class and the wisdom in his advice has only become more apparent over time. At its heart, it was really about how to understand and communicate ideas. One of the things I treasured the most was that Professor Winston overtly subscribed to the "make topics crystal clear and broadly accessible" school of technical communication. He would contrast this against the "make things incomprehensible so everyone thinks you're brilliant" school of thought. I am eternally grateful someone biased me early in life towards the former, not just when I'm speaking but when I'm choosing what to read and who to listen to. I've also wondered lately what he would think about the current LLM wave. I'm sure he would have had a characteristically clear and profound take. I feel the world is losing out not having his voice during the current moment.
- varenc 1y ago
  Absolutely! Thanks for bringing this up. I remember one of his points is that people have a tendency to hide behind obtuse language to try to make their insight seem more impressive. I think about this constantly when I see writing that clearly doesn't subscribe to this philosophy. (Especially Fine Art lectures)
devilbunny 1y ago
> "forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit" You quoted it correctly. It's from The Aeneid, and your translation is basically correct.

delichon 1y ago

[flagged]

bongodongobob 1y ago
Incredibly inappropriate. You have 0 clue about anything regarding his medical history. Next time you want to attribute cause of death for someone from an anecdote, do everyone a favor and shut the fuck up.
- delichon 1y ago
  Please explain this to me, as I honestly don't understand it. I didn't claim knowledge, it's just speculation. I speculate about things all day long, why is this different? There really aren't many common conditions that look like Mr. Winston and I do. I'm just supposing horses instead of zebras. Just via the Golden Rule, I would be happy if someone used my own bad example (I have the same condition that I attribute to Prof. Winston) to make the argument personal, if that motivated someone to pick up the apple instead. We lose too many years to high blood pressure, obesity, high glucose, neuropathy, etc., etc., to shut up about the donuts.
  - monkeywork 1y ago
    >I didn't claim knowledge, it's just speculation. "I can testify that is downstream of too many donuts." The above statement - specifically saying you TESTIFY - does not sound like speculation; it sounds like you are speaking as a matter of fact. I fail to see what if anything, positive you thought would come from that post? You're in a thread where people are mostly positively remembering someone they respected and you essentially jumped in and said "yeah but the guy killed himself with his eating".... like you really think that's a good idea? You might think you're doing some greater good - but there is a time and a place for everything - the message you're trying to send isn't going to land in this sort of environment, it's just going to piss people off and have you appear to be disrespectful.
    - delichon 1y ago

swayvil 1y ago

I've always considered you to be one of my most valuable assets.