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I think you're missing the point. Getting straight A's is a pretty hard thing to achieve. I for one rarely got A's in the gened classes. The amount of work req

I think you're missing the point. Getting straight A's is a pretty hard thing to achieve. I for one rarely got A's in the gened classes. The amount of work required to go from a B to an A was very high and not worth it in my opinion. I ended up doing better in math, physics, comp sci because it was interesting subject matter.

edw519 19y ago
Exactly what point am I missing? What's the cube root of 9? What is the minimum number of points needed to determine a plane? What happens in your app if you divide by zero? On the other hand, what motif did Browning employ in the last stanza? Is man basically good or evil? Which economic theory works best in the third world? Maybe you're missing the point. If there's no right answer, what's the point of grades?
- aston 19y ago
  So you're saying there's no use trying to measure the goodness of anything that isn't either clearly right or wrong? On a semi-related note, you should understand that answering a question well is different from giving the objectively correct answer. Especially when there is no objectively correct answer.
  - edw519 19y ago
    Er, yea. This is hacker news. You better be precise, accurate, and correct. Or it won't work. And you're toast. Don't like it? Go watch figure skating. And let me know who wins. If you can.
    - aston 19y ago
      Yet many hackers can't write well enough to pitch their ideas to others and can't design a website that's usable to save their lives. There's utility for more subjective judgements even in the geekiest of pursuits.
      - Goladus 19y ago
        The assertion, though is that grades that subjective aren't worth much.
- cstejerean 19y ago
  I couldn't disagree more. "What's the cube root of 9? What is the minimum number of points needed to determine a plane? What happens in your app if you divide by zero?" All those questions only show that you can memorize answers. "On the other hand, what motif did Browning employ in the last stanza? Is man basically good or evil? Which economic theory works best in the third world?" These questions show that you have an ability to think. Most of the time when you're doing real development there are little black and white questions. Most of the time it's a matter of trade-offs and using your judgement, experience and intuition to choose a solution. The point of grades is not to judge how many "correct" answers you have memorized. The point is to reflect the instructors opinion of a) your intelligence, b) the amount of effort you have displayed and c) how much you have learned. And you can judge how much you have learned not just by having the right answer to every question, but by having solid reasoning behind your answer.

edw519 19y ago

Exactly what point am I missing? What's the cube root of 9? What is the minimum number of points needed to determine a plane? What happens in your app if you divide by zero? On the other hand, what motif did Browning employ in the last stanza? Is man basically good or evil? Which economic theory works best in the third world? Maybe you're missing the point. If there's no right answer, what's the point of grades?

aston 19y ago
So you're saying there's no use trying to measure the goodness of anything that isn't either clearly right or wrong? On a semi-related note, you should understand that answering a question well is different from giving the objectively correct answer. Especially when there is no objectively correct answer.
- edw519 19y ago
  Er, yea. This is hacker news. You better be precise, accurate, and correct. Or it won't work. And you're toast. Don't like it? Go watch figure skating. And let me know who wins. If you can.
  - aston 19y ago
    Yet many hackers can't write well enough to pitch their ideas to others and can't design a website that's usable to save their lives. There's utility for more subjective judgements even in the geekiest of pursuits.
    - Goladus 19y ago
      The assertion, though is that grades that subjective aren't worth much.
cstejerean 19y ago
I couldn't disagree more. "What's the cube root of 9? What is the minimum number of points needed to determine a plane? What happens in your app if you divide by zero?" All those questions only show that you can memorize answers. "On the other hand, what motif did Browning employ in the last stanza? Is man basically good or evil? Which economic theory works best in the third world?" These questions show that you have an ability to think. Most of the time when you're doing real development there are little black and white questions. Most of the time it's a matter of trade-offs and using your judgement, experience and intuition to choose a solution. The point of grades is not to judge how many "correct" answers you have memorized. The point is to reflect the instructors opinion of a) your intelligence, b) the amount of effort you have displayed and c) how much you have learned. And you can judge how much you have learned not just by having the right answer to every question, but by having solid reasoning behind your answer.