mburney
Joined 17 years ago
Karma
763
Submissions
180
Member since
Jul 17
Recent submissions
Comment · 9 years ago
I thought that Python is designed to be a teaching language.
Comment · 12 years ago
When I was 26yo I freelanced while traveling. I had a blast, but if I could change one thing, I would have saved money (or created passive income streams) to travel for a year without having to freelance. Why? Because you can have more fun and adventure if you're flexible with your time and if you have minimal responsibilities. Staying out until 6 AM in a Brazilian disco with 10 new friends that you've just met is a lot more fun if you don't have to be on your laptop three hours later to write code for a company in a different timezone.
Comment · 12 years ago
Applying economic game theory to a relationship seems like a good way to take all the fun and passion out of it
Comment · 13 years ago
Being homeless and finding a way to release an app is a good example of resourcefulness.
Comment · 13 years ago
From my experience most "nerds" are actually way too quick to criticize others. They lack confidence in their social skills so they form an identity around their supposed technical abilities. Then they use that identity to justify bullying, but instead of beating up someone with a diminutive stature they'll post a tweet about how someone is a moron for not using the correct design pattern on some code they posted on github.
This is not confidence -- this is insecurity and arrogance.
Comment · 14 years ago
> A scientific idea is "correct" if it can be successfully compared to reality.
But this is similar to saying what is real is what corresponds to reality. Do you see the circularity here?
The philosophers who engage in questioning the "real" are not doing it for the reasons scientists engage in discovering "correct" phenomena. The longing for a deeper meaning and clarity beyond scientific inquiry is a spiritual longing. These philosophers are trying to describe ways in which human beings fit in the world, how we can deal with the groundlessness of our existence, what choices we have in light of the anguish that comes from our mortality.
The problem is that many people view this as a competition against science or "exact" thinking. It is not.
I think this quote from Leo Strauss sums up my point:
"Men are constantly attracted and deluded by two opposite charms: the charm of competence which is engendered by mathematics and everything akin to mathematics, and the charm of humble awe, which is engendered by meditation on the human soul and its experiences. Philosophy is characterized by the gentle, if firm, refusal to succumb to either charm. It is the highest form of the mating of courage and moderation. In spite of its highness or nobility, it could appear as Sisyphean or ugly, when one contrasts its achievement with its goal. Yet it is necessarily accompanied, sustained and elevated by eros. It is graced by nature's grace."
Comment · 14 years ago
Many philosophers have questioned the scientific definition of "correctness". For example Heidegger who argued that scientific truth is an approximation and measurement of things that we already presume to exist. These discoveries may be correct, and they may be true. But what about the more primordial truth (i.e. being) which we take for granted before we even begin a scientific inquiry? This is what he investigates, so pretty much all scientific definitions of correctness don't apply here. But it is very hard to convince followers of scientism that this investigation has any meaning, because they've already closed their minds to this form of thinking.
Comment · 14 years ago
treat it as a learning experience rather than a deliverable product.
But what is the purpose of mentioning this?
If you are recommending that he go ahead with the endeavour, then what does it matter if he ends up with a deliverable product or not.
Also, these kind of projects can have a timeframe of years, regardless of programming skill. If he finishes it, it will be a result of him sticking to it in the long run, not a result of how much C knowledge he had on the first day of the project.
Comment · 14 years ago
Comment · 14 years ago
I have seen programmers make the same avoidable mistakes over and over again without learning much from them. Sure, they learn from syntactical errors and perhaps how to avoid specific kinds of errors. But how many programmers will actually re-model their entire coding paradigm in order to improve?
Comment · 14 years ago
Good advice, but I don't understand why writing a book is the "quickest way to get ridiculed". If a developer wrote a book that provides value, is accurate, and contained very useful code samples, I can't see how that wouldn't increase opportunities.
EDIT: Totally misunderstood that the OP meant it figuratively. Apologies.
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