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Everything we've learned in the last 10 years is telling us that computers do not help human education in the slightest. We remember better when we write with p
by jaybrendansmith 5mo ago
Everything we've learned in the last 10 years is telling us that computers do not help human education in the slightest. We remember better when we write with pen and paper. We learn better with whiteboards and paper books. The simple answer: Remove most computing from education entirely. Blue composition books, pencils, whiteboards is what trains humans. Calculators are helpful perhaps but it is quite possible that slide rules are better. We need humans that can critically think from first principles to counter the recycled information generated by AI.
- __MatrixMan__ 5mo agoI think this overlooks the potency and scarcity of 1:1 time with the teacher. If you've only got maybe a few minutes of that in an average schoolday there's a huge difference between whether or not you've talked it through with an AI before trying the question out on the teacher. They're wrong sometimes, but usually in verifiable ways. And they don't seem to know the difference between medicine and bioterrorism, so often they refuse. But these limitations are worth tolerating when the alternative is that our specialists in topic X are bogged down by questions about topic Y to the point where X isn't getting taught.
- kelvinjps10 5mo agoAnd now they'll have less time because they will be bombarded with slop to no end.
- __MatrixMan__ 5mo agoObviously generating your homework is a bad idea, and maybe assigning homework that can be generated is a bad idea. But neither of those are relevant to the problem I'm talking about which is about due diligence prior to asking for somebody's extended attention. Whether you're in class or at work, it's just courteous to ask an AI first.
- skulk 5mo ago> computers do not help human education in the slightest I had no access to anyone who could teach me calculus as a kid except Khan Academy, so I think this is a gross exaggeration. But I agree in the end, that all my "real" learning did come from pen-and-paper practice, not watching videos.
- rossjudson 5mo agoEvery child reads a book about solving problems, assumes they can now solve problems, and is disappointed when that is not true.
- whichdan 5mo agoYeah I agree. I grew up in a very blue-collar town, and anything I wanted to learn (outside of public schooling) either came from emaciated websites or whatever books I could find at the library. Having YouTube and Khan Academy and everything else would have made such a huge difference for me.
- selimthegrim 5mo agoNow I’m wondering how a website is emaciated
- voxl 5mo agoThe reality is that a human will learn, given any materials including LLMs, but only if they truly desire to learn. We've had MOOCs, gigantic libraries, all full of free information. You can obtain a PhD level understanding in any technical field of your choice today just by consistently going to the library and consistently applying yourself. It's not unlike going to the gym, and we see how many people do that regularly. Except it's even funnier, because people serious about the gym but what? Tutors. They call them personal trainers. We've known for a millennium or more that 1-on-1 instruction is vastly better than anything else, but most people actually don't want to get into shape, and most people actually don't want to learn.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- peter-m80 5mo agoI learned calculus thanks to wolfram alpha step by step solving feature
- jaybrendansmith 5mo agoI'm not going to disagree with step by step videos ... those are a HUGE help. I'm really talking about solving problems using pen and paper, whether math or writing, is how my problem-solving patterns actually changed.
- ralph84 5mo ago> humans that can critically think from first principles This has never been achieved by, nor is it the point of, education for the masses.
- jaybrendansmith 5mo agoBut it should be, right?
- sometimelurker 5mo agoI don't think computers automatically make us more educated, but if you want to make a point don't use reductive exaggerations. > We need humans that can critically think from first principles to counter the recycled information generated by AI. I agree with this.
- PunchyHamster 5mo agoI disagree with that statement. There is nothing inherently wrong with using computer to learn and if your personal goal is to learn it in lot of cases makes it much easier, whether to search for or visualise a piece of knowledge you're' learning. The problem is frankly computer and now computer with LLM makes it easy to cheat. The kid doesn't want to learn, the kid wants good grades so parent is happy with them, and the young adult wants to get the paper coz they were told that is required for good life. It's misalignment of incentives.
- tempaccount5050 5mo agoNah, I wrote physics programs on my computer at home in high school and it absolutely helped with my schooling. Yeah, maybe iPad apps aren't the best things in schools but you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Computers bad is simply not true.
- wslh 5mo agoI would start saying that many people need presence in a real environment with people to learn. We don't use all our senses in a remote environment.