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You don't need to work on hard problems (2020)

benkuhn.net

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Re: You don't need to work on hard problems (2020)

#31

Post by [deleted] »

dacryn wrote: post #28
coldtea wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If X is an easy problem, solving it "as quickly as possible" would be easy too. The combination wont magically become a "hard problem", except if we take "as quickly as possible" to mean achieving some optimal solving time, as opposed to just casually meaning "without adding stupid bloat and by doing a KISS solution".

> If X is an easy problem, solving it "as quickly as possible" would be easy too. Hard disagree with this one. Summing all numbers from 1 to 100 is easy, summing 1 to a million is also easy, just time consuming. 1+2+3+4.... Coming up with (n*(1+n))/2 is not.

[deleted]

Re: You don't need to work on hard problems (2020)

#32

Post by alkonaut »

coldtea wrote: post #26
alkonaut wrote: post #20

I like working on complex problems. But I like making simple solutions. And making those is often hard . So you might say I like hard problems. > I could try to solve an easy problem as quickly as possible The "solve X as quickly as possible" is now the problem. Not just solve X. I And that sounds like a hard (therefore interesting) problem!

If X is an easy problem, solving it "as quickly as possible" would be easy too. The combination wont magically become a "hard problem", except if we take "as quickly as possible" to mean achieving some optimal solving time, as opposed to just casually meaning "without adding stupid bloat and by doing a KISS solution".

Yes it becomes a matter of interepretation. But to make an analogy, I enjoy my work through the same mechanisms as I enjoy solving sudokus. It's not that I need to actually keep or use the result. The reward comes from the mental challenge.

Too easy or too difficult sudokus arne't rewarding. The easy ones are basically just writing digits without thinking for a while (i.e. boilerplate work). The difficult ones are often frustrating and too much work for little progress. The sweetspot is something that offers some challenge but not so much that it's frustrating.

A simple solution to a simple problem will always be just boilerplate. It will be work that can often effectively be automated (But you can't try to automate it because then you have traded your simple problem for a more difficult problem of automation!). To me it sounds extremely boring and unrewarding.

I didn't quite understand the gist of this article. What is the left out bit of the title? "You don't need to work on hard problems to...."?

I immediately thought "be happy". I didn't think "be successful" (or similar).

Re: You don't need to work on hard problems (2020)

#35

Post by agumonkey »

robertlagrant wrote: post #4

It's true. Since starting in health tech, the areas of which are sometimes technically interesting, but not in a cutting edge sort of way, I feel a lot more motivated. Three women I know personally have used (and totally loved) the app we made for gestational diabetes, and half the NHS uses it to manage this type of patient, so the total number of people helped just keeps going up. I think of it as something to put o…

The social accomplishment often makes small (compared to advanced mathematics fireworks) tasks a lot more valuable indeed.

Re: You don't need to work on hard problems (2020)

#36

Post by TrackerFF »

When you're young (think HS and college aged), difficulty seems indeed to be the "ultimate" prestige.

If you're a musician, that means playing that most technically advanced piece flawlessly.

If you're an athlete, that means raw ability like speed, strength, etc.

If you're a mathematician, that means having a go at some unsolved/open problem.

If you're in the military, that means joining the special forces or becoming a fighter pilot.

As the author said, when you're young, you often only get judged on one or two objectives. When applying for college, that's GPA and SAT - so you will optimize for those two, and little else.

All this works out for young people, because if there's one thing they tend to have, it is time to grind. And lots of it.

One thing I've noticed with young and ambitious employees, is that many need constant feedback. If they don't get any direct feedback immediately, they feel left out in the cold, and don't know how to react.

Where I work, we often get inquiries from clients, and 80% of the time there's zero feedback. We produce reports / presentations / recommendations, ship to the clients, and that's it. IF we get something back, it is because they want to go forward with something, and need follow-up work.

For the ambitious types that have gotten feedback their whole lives, that can be a hard pill to swallow - it really takes some "unlearning" to get comfortable to work in that environment.

Re: You don't need to work on hard problems (2020)

#37

Post by n4r9 »

coldtea wrote: post #26
alkonaut wrote: post #20

I like working on complex problems. But I like making simple solutions. And making those is often hard . So you might say I like hard problems. > I could try to solve an easy problem as quickly as possible The "solve X as quickly as possible" is now the problem. Not just solve X. I And that sounds like a hard (therefore interesting) problem!

If X is an easy problem, solving it "as quickly as possible" would be easy too. The combination wont magically become a "hard problem", except if we take "as quickly as possible" to mean achieving some optimal solving time, as opposed to just casually meaning "without adding stupid bloat and by doing a KISS solution".

Counterexample: "Find all prime factors of N".

Re: You don't need to work on hard problems (2020)

#38

Post by yodsanklai »

TrackerFF wrote: post #36

When you're young (think HS and college aged), difficulty seems indeed to be the "ultimate" prestige. If you're a musician, that means playing that most technically advanced piece flawlessly. If you're an athlete, that means raw ability like speed, strength, etc. If you're a mathematician, that means having a go at some unsolved/open problem. If you're in the military, that means joining the special forces or becomin…

> Where I work, we often get inquiries from clients, and 80% of the time there's zero feedback.

Even worse if the rewards aren't aligned with your performance (e.g. teaching jobs), or if you're not able to perform well because the type of work you do isn't what you excel in.

Re: You don't need to work on hard problems (2020)

#39

Post by acer4666 »

dacryn wrote: post #28
coldtea wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If X is an easy problem, solving it "as quickly as possible" would be easy too. The combination wont magically become a "hard problem", except if we take "as quickly as possible" to mean achieving some optimal solving time, as opposed to just casually meaning "without adding stupid bloat and by doing a KISS solution".

> If X is an easy problem, solving it "as quickly as possible" would be easy too. Hard disagree with this one. Summing all numbers from 1 to 100 is easy, summing 1 to a million is also easy, just time consuming. 1+2+3+4.... Coming up with (n*(1+n))/2 is not.

"easy, just time consuming" ... Also known as hard

Re: You don't need to work on hard problems (2020)

#40

Post by ozim »

sokoloff wrote: post #30
theclansman wrote: post #29

I'll try to apply this as I've been battling the problem of my job being too easy and never applying what I learnt in school. There were so many interesting problems and theories in school that you never see as a regular developer, often I think that I have a job that any person could do with a few months of training (does this make me a narcissist? Is the complain here just that my job is unglamorous or is wasting y…

I also sometimes think most people could train to be an entry-level dev over a summer. Yet that seems demonstrably wrong. I wonder if it’s similar to how a musician can’t comprehend how I can barely hear a beat.

I think it is possible only that those people need to want it.

Most people only say they want to do something because it is cool or earns money.

But then they fail to put in effort and without putting effort no one can really learn.

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