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Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

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Re: Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

#21

Post by viscanti »

palish wrote: post #13
aiscott wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Start your own damn company! You don't have to be best friends to hire an employee.

That's the plan, but without charisma or pedigree, I've found it quite difficult to inspire confidence.

Charisma and pedigree are over-rated. The problem seems to be that you think you can (or should) be good at everything. Embrace your strengths and find someone who is strong where you're weak. It might take some work to find that person (or team), but if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Re: Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

#22

Post by kmfrk »

palish wrote: post #13
aiscott wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Start your own damn company! You don't have to be best friends to hire an employee.

That's the plan, but without charisma or pedigree, I've found it quite difficult to inspire confidence.

I think it's a bit of an overstatement to say that all founders are charismatic playboys.

People in the industry respect talent and vision more than anything else.

Re: Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

#23

Post by danielharan »

palish wrote: post #14
mitsche wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude, you're only 23. When you say you have no ability with people, what exactly do you mean by that? When I was 23 I was more or less a complete moron with people, and for years to come. But it has improved to the point where I'm content. And I'm only 29 now. If you were more specific about your problems with social interaction you'd probably get some good advice here.

Sam Altman has what I lack. http://www.paulgraham.com/fundraising.html > You could parachute him into an island full of cannibals and come back in 5 years and he'd be the king. If you're Sam Altman, you don't have to be profitable to convey to investors that you'll succeed with or without them. (He wasn't, and he did.) More than that, I can't seem to inspire confidence in people. I don't know the cause, but it's prov…

These aren't innate talents, they are learned.

Start interacting with people with the objective of getting better at relating. Read the classics - Win Friends, etc. Check out the literature on pick up artistry. Balance it with meditation and compassion training, so you don't become a social robot. Go to parties. Slowly put yourself into more challenging situations. Start with dance or cooking lessons.

It may take 10,000 hours to become like Sam Altman, but 1,000 will get you half way there.

You're 23... you've been learning code for 11 years? That time you put in was time you couldn't be socializing. The good news is that jocks weren't putting their mind to it. Dedicated practice will make you even better than they are now.

Re: Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

#24

Post by palish »

esja wrote: post #20
palish wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sam Altman has what I lack. http://www.paulgraham.com/fundraising.html > You could parachute him into an island full of cannibals and come back in 5 years and he'd be the king. If you're Sam Altman, you don't have to be profitable to convey to investors that you'll succeed with or without them. (He wasn't, and he did.) More than that, I can't seem to inspire confidence in people. I don't know the cause, but it's prov…

Have you thought about "putting yourself out there" a bit more? You could look at it like an experiment, just sharing your knowledge with the world, humbly and with no expectation of a return... I bet you would find all sorts of positives come from it over time. Maybe you do this already, but I only found one blog post (a good one) and no tweets.

Good point, thanks. I could conjure up a few interesting stories. Also some useful hands-on (cross platform) game programming tutorials. "Learn Game Programming the Hard Way."

Re: Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

#25

Post by palish »

danielharan wrote: post #23
palish wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sam Altman has what I lack. http://www.paulgraham.com/fundraising.html > You could parachute him into an island full of cannibals and come back in 5 years and he'd be the king. If you're Sam Altman, you don't have to be profitable to convey to investors that you'll succeed with or without them. (He wasn't, and he did.) More than that, I can't seem to inspire confidence in people. I don't know the cause, but it's prov…

These aren't innate talents, they are learned. Start interacting with people with the objective of getting better at relating. Read the classics - Win Friends, etc. Check out the literature on pick up artistry. Balance it with meditation and compassion training, so you don't become a social robot. Go to parties. Slowly put yourself into more challenging situations. Start with dance or cooking lessons. It may take 10,…

That's probably true. Thank you.

Did you find it difficult?

Re: Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

#26

Post by danielharan »

palish wrote: post #25
danielharan wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These aren't innate talents, they are learned. Start interacting with people with the objective of getting better at relating. Read the classics - Win Friends, etc. Check out the literature on pick up artistry. Balance it with meditation and compassion training, so you don't become a social robot. Go to parties. Slowly put yourself into more challenging situations. Start with dance or cooking lessons. It may take 10,…

That's probably true. Thank you. Did you find it difficult?

No lie: it was tough at first.

Re: Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

#27

Post by Tichy »

palish wrote: post #6
fragsworth wrote: post #4

The worst thing you can do for a kid's intelligence is to let them think they are smart. I was led to believe I was smart as a child. The resulting intellectual cockiness I had... "I'm too smart for this shit." or "I don't need to study for this crap." In the end, I don't really like to think about how far it set me back.

Absolutely. My experience was the same: my mother loved to talk to me about my intelligence and curiosity as if they were rare and therefore special. Maybe it was true, but by telling me that, she accidentally laid the foundation of the rest of my life: I started distancing myself from my classmates, and eventually my peers. The result? I now have a skillset roughly equivalent to Carmack's, but no chance to capitaliz…

"no chance to capitalize on it. No one believes nor cares."

Um, when Doom came out, I didn't even know who Carmack was. I just liked the game. Just create something kickass with your skills...

Re: Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

#28

Post by booop »

palish wrote: post #6
fragsworth wrote: post #4

The worst thing you can do for a kid's intelligence is to let them think they are smart. I was led to believe I was smart as a child. The resulting intellectual cockiness I had... "I'm too smart for this shit." or "I don't need to study for this crap." In the end, I don't really like to think about how far it set me back.

Absolutely. My experience was the same: my mother loved to talk to me about my intelligence and curiosity as if they were rare and therefore special. Maybe it was true, but by telling me that, she accidentally laid the foundation of the rest of my life: I started distancing myself from my classmates, and eventually my peers. The result? I now have a skillset roughly equivalent to Carmack's, but no chance to capitaliz…

> I now have a skillset roughly equivalent to Carmack's

That's a very, very bold claim.

Re: Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

#29

Post by langsamer »

palish wrote: post #14
mitsche wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude, you're only 23. When you say you have no ability with people, what exactly do you mean by that? When I was 23 I was more or less a complete moron with people, and for years to come. But it has improved to the point where I'm content. And I'm only 29 now. If you were more specific about your problems with social interaction you'd probably get some good advice here.

Sam Altman has what I lack. http://www.paulgraham.com/fundraising.html > You could parachute him into an island full of cannibals and come back in 5 years and he'd be the king. If you're Sam Altman, you don't have to be profitable to convey to investors that you'll succeed with or without them. (He wasn't, and he did.) More than that, I can't seem to inspire confidence in people. I don't know the cause, but it's prov…

I would recomend some social "stretching" techniques. Tim Ferris talks about them in his book 4-hr work week:

1. Make eye-contact. Make a conscious effort to do this. Pick one eye and stick to it. Make eye-contact on passer-bys on the street. If they cause trouble, just say "Sorry, you just look really familiar"

2. Get phone numbers. The goal will be to get numbers from attractive females/males. Remember the real goal is not to get the numbers but get over the fear of asking, so the outcomes are unimportant. A mall is a great place to try this. He recommends to get over the discomfort quickly, ask three people in a row within five minutes. Here's an example script he provides.

"Excuse me, I know this is going to sound strange, but if I don't ask you know, I'll be kicking myself for the rest of the day. I'm running to meet a friend [i.e., I have friends and am not a stalker], but I think you're really [extremely, drop dead] cute [gorgeous, hot]. Could I have your phone number? I'm not a psycho, I promise. You can give me a fake one if you're not interested."

3. Relax in public. Simply lie down in the middle of a crowded public place at some point. It can be a well trafficked sidewalk, the middle of a popular Starbucks, or a popular bar. There is no real technique. Just lie down and remain silent on the ground for 10 seconds. Then get up and continue with what you were doing. Don't explain it at all.

I've done the first two and it was a bit difficult at first, but over time it becomes totally second nature. At that point you can talk to anyone about anything without feeling timid. When that confidence builds up, I find that your passions come out naturally as you converse with that person since you don't have any insecurities hindering your thoughts.

Re: Donald Knuth on how he became good at math

#30

Post by langsamer »

_exec wrote: post #18
chegra wrote: post #8

This was my experience too. I just did all the questions in the textbook. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2496430 I had a book just filled with proofs. After a while, you will get an intuitive understanding of where to go next after each step.

What "Math & Statistics" book? Got an ISBN?

A great math book is Gilbert Strang's "Introduction to Applied Mathematics". Actually anything by Gilbert Strang is worth it.

I would also recommend: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521792851/ref=ox_sc_act_ti...

You could also try out the problems at projecteuler.net

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