A basic maths competence test would consist in trying to find out what the person thinks mathematics actually is. Inexperienced people would mostly think of computations, such as evaluating integrals or computing eigenvalues. People who understand maths know that it chiefly deals with definitions, theorems, proofs, conjectures and problem solving (that last one is sometimes forgotten even by very theoretical mathematicians, but it's key to some areas such as graph theory, combinatorics, etc.).
Ask HN: What would the Dunning-Kruger “test” be for your field?
81–90 of 95 posts
Re: Ask HN: What would the Dunning-Kruger “test” be for your field?
#82"What can you tell me about the halting problem and its consequences".
Re: Ask HN: What would the Dunning-Kruger “test” be for your field?
#83Related to the concept of a Dunning-Kruger "test": Shibboleths.
Re: Ask HN: What would the Dunning-Kruger “test” be for your field?
#84In grappling (Brazilian jiu-jitsu), it is very apparent from one sparring round with a person to get a sense for what they know and get a general idea for their skill/belt level. The exact belt is determined by that person's coach by measuring their skill against their personal potential. An analogy to software would be to pair program with a person. You both get a feel for each other's strengths and weaknesses while…
Has anyone in the world actually delivered effective, large scale software that was primarily pair programmed? Genuine question. It would be fascinating if there were documented examples. Note that this is distinct from having a company culture where pair programming is common. I am skeptical that just because you occasionally look over each other’s shoulder and exchange ideas, that the software ends up being fundame…
Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat are one such example. They’ve been pair programming since before Google.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/10/the-friendship...
Re: Ask HN: What would the Dunning-Kruger “test” be for your field?
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you mean terahertz, 5G is supposed to top out around 85ghz. Also terahertz range is the start of infrared light. If you think that is dangerous, you might not want to sit too close to a campfire.
Well, microwaves are dangerous too, enough of them will cook you. At higher frequencies, the effects get more and more surface level though.
With enough power infrared lasers will cut through steel but no one is afraid their TV remote is going to cut off their fingers. I'm not sure what point you are trying to make by talking about the effects of something with a million times the power behind it.
Re: Ask HN: What would the Dunning-Kruger “test” be for your field?
#86In software development, what are the most important qualities of an engineer?
Chaff: Understands computer science. Knows how to scale. Mentor of junior engineers.
Wheat: Understands people. Knows when to scale. Mentee of junior engineers.
Re: Ask HN: What would the Dunning-Kruger “test” be for your field?
#87In software development, what are the most important qualities of an engineer? Chaff: Understands computer science. Knows how to scale. Mentor of junior engineers. Wheat: Understands people. Knows when to scale. Mentee of junior engineers.
I thought it was laziness, impatience and hubris.
Re: Ask HN: What would the Dunning-Kruger “test” be for your field?
#88You're in a server room walking along the racks, when all of a sudden you look down. You see a server. You flip the server off, Leon. The server is off, and it can't turn back on. Not without your help. But you're not helping. Why is that, Leon?
Re: Ask HN: What would the Dunning-Kruger “test” be for your field?
#89Don't know about questions, but there are couple of answers I have learned to be serious red flags: 1. Yes, I understand. (with no further elaboration or clarifying questions) 2. It's okay/good/going well (again, with no further elaboration when asking how something is going/set up etc) First one typically translates to something between "I have a completely unfounded illusion of understanding" and "I have no clue bu…
I've noticed that some people, when they don't know the answer to a question, just pretend the question was about something different and confidently answer that other question instead. I really strongly prefer people who know how to say "I don't know".
You can't know everything. What's important is that you know how to learn.
Re: Ask HN: What would the Dunning-Kruger “test” be for your field?
#90In my software dev experience, it is clear from how they think about blog posts or other articles online.
The people I consider to be great a this will read a variety of content on a topic, think about it, synthesize it with their own experience, go try new things, and decide for themselves what is correct for their own project.
The less skilled will say, "See, this blog post said to do it this way, so that is what we shall do."