Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Alan Kay's reading list

squeakland.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 176 posts

Re: Alan Kay's reading list

#101

Post by michael_nielsen »

alankay1 wrote: post #100

There seems to be a depth limit on replies: too bad. Also, I wonder if there is a provision (perhaps in a "preferences" section I don't know about) to have an email sent when someone replies (this is a very limited format for an open-ended exchange ...)

It's not a depth limit. Rather, mods noticed that many deep threads were flame wars, and implemented a short delay before you can post in deep threads. At least, that's my understanding.

To see replies, click on "Threads" at the top of the page. I don't know if there is any standard way of getting an email notification.

Re: Alan Kay's reading list

#102

Post by adamnemecek »

alankay1 wrote: post #100

There seems to be a depth limit on replies: too bad. Also, I wonder if there is a provision (perhaps in a "preferences" section I don't know about) to have an email sent when someone replies (this is a very limited format for an open-ended exchange ...)

You can sign up here to get email notifications http://www.hnreplies.com

Also do you have a favorite piece of software?

Re: Alan Kay's reading list

#103

Post by DonHopkins »

alankay wrote: post #48
technofiend wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With your caveat that it is a point-in-time recommendation, perhaps you'd like to throw out an updated list?

I think there are any number of lists that would help getting started. The basic results are "multiple perspectives" and the sense that not all perspectives are equally powerful for given contexts. That list was for adult "business people". One would come up with other lists for children, etc. An important idea about reading is that part of the pleasure (maybe even more than that) is one's choice of "this book, now".…

I've heard you say that Rocky's Boots was one of your favorite computer games. Please, off the top of your head, what's your top-n list of inspiring games that you think people learning to program should play?

I've been playing Factorio [1] [2], which I think would resonate with your love of Rocky's Boots, cellular automata, queuing theory, visual programming, system dynamics and distributed control systems. It's in the spirit of John von Neumann's 29 state cellular automata [3] and universal constructor. [4]

[1] Factorio: https://www.factorio.com/

[2] HN Factorio discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11266471

[3] John von Neumann's 29 state cellular automata: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_cellular_automaton

[4] JvN Universal Constructor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_universal_construc...

Re: Alan Kay's reading list

#104

Post by alankay1 »

adamnemecek wrote: post #102
alankay1 wrote: post #100

There seems to be a depth limit on replies: too bad. Also, I wonder if there is a provision (perhaps in a "preferences" section I don't know about) to have an email sent when someone replies (this is a very limited format for an open-ended exchange ...)

You can sign up here to get email notifications http://www.hnreplies.com Also do you have a favorite piece of software?

Thanks very much!

Good question, but I don't have a good answer (perhaps too much of an idealist ...)

Re: Alan Kay's reading list

#105

Post by alankay1 »

jseliger wrote: post #96
alankay1 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, Gregory missed some important ideas in that book (partly from his background I think, and partly from his personality). You might get some perspective from looking at his last book "Mind and Nature". And, in many ways, much more powerful looks at "mind" are Minsky's "Society of Mind" and "The Emotion Machine". There is also Kahneman's "Thinking: Fast and Slow" more recently ...

The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life by Nick Lane is not really about the mind, but it is about the things that lead up to the contemporary mind and is consistently fascinating, even for me who has no biology / biochemistry background. I learned about it from the Bill Gates blog: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/The-Vital-Question .

I don't want to ding this book, if only because the topic is well chosen and important. I was quite surprised that I didn't warm to it.

Re: Alan Kay's reading list

#106

Post by rdl »

alankay wrote: post #42

This wasn't actually for my students, and dates back to the early 90s. A number of people at Anderson Consulting (now Accenture) asked for my "top ten" books. This is not possible for anyone who reads extensively, so I came out with that list as a bare start. I should mention that reading lots of "poor books" is also part of literacy: they help the understanding and appreciation of "good books" considerably.

Are there any particularly good books (including fiction) which you've read in the last year or two which you would recommend? (and if so, which?)

Re: Alan Kay's reading list

#107

Post by adamnemecek »

alankay1 wrote: post #104
adamnemecek wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can sign up here to get email notifications http://www.hnreplies.com Also do you have a favorite piece of software?

Thanks very much! Good question, but I don't have a good answer (perhaps too much of an idealist ...)

No problem.

You should setup a Twitter or a blog or something. But I'm sure I'm not the first person to suggest this. Or even better write a book.

Re: Alan Kay's reading list

#108

Post by internaut »

jeffdavis wrote: post #31
madebylaw wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ouch, why did I say anything. Feel like a hater :-/

It might have been better phrased as a question. What do you mean by "still relevant to computer science"? EDIT: from a brief read of his wikipedia page: "Kay has lectured extensively on the idea that the computer revolution is very new, and all of the good ideas have not been universally implemented." Coming from someone with multiple major accomplishments (OOP pioneer, smalltalk, overlapping window GUI, etc.), that…

My thought is essentially a synthesis of Kay and Thiel.

Namely; much of the low hanging fruit has been ignored and much of the world is in a technological stagnation.

Separately they could be made to sound pessimistic, but together there is much reason for optimism.

Re: Alan Kay's reading list

#109

Post by alankay1 »

adamnemecek wrote: post #107
alankay1 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks very much! Good question, but I don't have a good answer (perhaps too much of an idealist ...)

No problem. You should setup a Twitter or a blog or something. But I'm sure I'm not the first person to suggest this. Or even better write a book.

Ars longa, vita brevis. I don't have time to do justice to the top three things I'm trying to do.

Re: Alan Kay's reading list

#110

Post by stinkytaco »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #76
a_imho wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>probably no more than 20,000 (I have some friends -- and have knowledge of some -- who have read quite a bit more). can you please verify that number? Assuming reading for that past 50 years, that is over a book/day (or 3 books / 4 days reading for 75 years). I'm a slow reader and generally enjoy taking my time reading, but that would be quite the volume.

When I was a kid, I worked my way through our local library in an orderly fashion. I only had to be able to sign my name to get a card. When mom would drop us off for a few hours, we'd pick out our six books (the limit), she'd come get us, and before we got home, she'd chide us on already reading too many of them. We wouldn't make them last until the next visit. It seemed an agonizing wait until 14, the required age…

I didn't get along very well with my sister, so when my mum went to work I went to the library instead of staying home. I was on a first name basis with most of the staff, but also revisited books many times if I particularly enjoyed them, so never got to a high number.

I became a librarian in the end. I rarely read anymore, my attention span and time just don't allow it.

Post reply on HN