Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again • Hacker News Board

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#391

Post by 7thpower » Thu, May 23, 2024, 5:20 PM UTC

vijucat wrote: post #357

7thpower wrote: post #19

I am a high school dropout and who learned math using Khan Academy after never having completed more than pre-algebra in middle school. Sal Khan’s work changed my life and allowed me to build a foundation in not only math, but also finance and economics, that allowed me to feel confident enough to go to college. I did not have a support system or people in my life who could teach me these things, but I had the intern…

I love such stories. Thanks for sharing. I'd be super glad to read about your process, your note-taking techniques, etc if you ever write a blog post about it!

I should do that. Will post it to my twitter (in my profile) if I do.

Honestly i wrote as many notes as I could in a way that someone else could pick up and understand and the main thing I stuck to was never using a calculator until I absolutely had to, even if it was slower, so I could build a stronger foundation. I’m not sure I ever looked at the notes though.

And then I was just very disciplined about spending a few hours a day, every day, for a few months, drilling course by course, and didn’t skip anything in the knowledge map (at the time).

I still make time every weekend to learn something new or work on a challenging project for a couple hours a day while my little girls are napping.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#392

Post by rramadass » Thu, May 23, 2024, 5:27 PM UTC

whatamidoingyo wrote: post #389

rramadass wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have significant concern about this—that it is a story. Your concerns are very correct but while you are willing to give him/her the benefit of the doubt, I am very very skeptical of their story; it sounds "too pat" and made up. If you look at their other replies there are too many incongruities and "movie plot tropes". I have a better chance of winning the lottery than "learning mathematics starting from long di…

You must have had a very comfy life growing up.

Not at all. It is precisely because i have faced a few hurdles and overcome them that i know how difficult a whole lot more severe hurdles all at the same time are difficult to overcome without outside help/support/luck.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#393

Post by 7thpower » Thu, May 23, 2024, 5:33 PM UTC

ta1243 wrote: post #385

7thpower wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got into a job in corporate IT at a good company and then moved through a bunch of roles, including putting together one of our first data science/ML teams. A couple years later when I was doing product work, gpt 2 came out, so I had started working with it for fun and writing Points of View for our company about how we could leverage these technologies and what the market dynamics would looks like and implications…

Was the lack of formal education a big problem getting started with that good company? I'm pleasantly surprised your resume made it past the first line of throwing-it-out

No, but I work for a company with a very unique perspective on education and merit. They are a large privately held firm that does not care about degrees (for 95% of things).

When I was a year in to my career I sat down with one of our senior execs and asked if I should get an MBA, and he said “don’t waste your time, you are already in a university and we will teach you everything you need to know”. And that has been true.

Make no mistake, it is definitely a disadvantage but I got lucky.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#394

Post by rramadass » Thu, May 23, 2024, 5:34 PM UTC

nadam wrote: post #373

rramadass wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have significant concern about this—that it is a story. Your concerns are very correct but while you are willing to give him/her the benefit of the doubt, I am very very skeptical of their story; it sounds "too pat" and made up. If you look at their other replies there are too many incongruities and "movie plot tropes". I have a better chance of winning the lottery than "learning mathematics starting from long di…

In my perspective it is more believable to get into AI as a young guy without higher education than someone like me: a middle-aged person with higher education with a family and a reasonable corporate software engineering job. For me to get into AI research, I guess I would have to work for less money for a while than my current boring Software Engineering job, so the golden handcuff prevents me from doing it. While…

I am not arguing about whether a "young guy without higher education" can make it. It is "young guy without higher education and a whole lot more fundamental and severe hurdles makes it on his own without outside help/luck" that i am skeptical about.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#395

Post by renewiltord » Thu, May 23, 2024, 7:13 PM UTC

throwaway2037 wrote: post #346

renewiltord wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, we live in a great world where most people recognize that absolute life quality matters more than relative life quality. Online commenters all go to therapy and are miserable, and their bosses are idiots, and everyone is spying on them, and so on and so on. But most people are better off than their parents and knowing this, they’re generally happy.

I see your point. Obviously, the first paragraph is sarcasm, but the second paragraph raises an interesting point. In my family, my two older siblings are not better off than my parents. It is a bit sad.

I'm actually being entirely sincere.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#396

Post by 7thpower » Thu, May 23, 2024, 7:16 PM UTC

rramadass wrote: post #388

7thpower wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people have done it. I went to college but I resent the implication that the only way to make it into one of these fields is through college. It is incredibly difficult to learn advanced math outside of an academic setting, but it is absolutely possible. Where I work we have invested in programs that take people just like me and give them an opportunity to go through a pretty rigorous 6 month program that tea…

> Lots of people have done it. This is just a generic platitude and means nothing. Lots of people have overcome hurdles yes but not a whole lot of hurdles all at the same and over long periods of time which is what i gathered from your posts. Also as i point out it is quite hard to overcome all hurdles just by one's own efforts but you generally need some outside help whether intentional or luck. > I went to college…

In the first I clearly stated that I used Khan Academy as a high school drop out and it helped me get into college.

You didn’t bother to read it before commenting because you were too busy dumping on something that didn’t match your bias, which is wrong and incredibly depressing, by the way.

And of course you need outside help/luck/support, but you’re pretending their is some binary threshold and then cherry picking from an imaginary slate of deceptions that you’ve accused me of, to imply I was too lucky or received too much encouragement. Those factors are a continuum and I received more than some and less than others; of course I’m lucky.

I’m sorry that you do not have faith in people to succeed, but I have plenty of examples. I am sitting across from an architect I work with who is also a dropout (who finds this amusing) and work with plenty of others who made the leap. I’m also sorry that you feel you have to try and tear others down to reaffirm your depressing world view.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#397

Post by squigz » Thu, May 23, 2024, 7:21 PM UTC

rramadass wrote: post #388

7thpower wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people have done it. I went to college but I resent the implication that the only way to make it into one of these fields is through college. It is incredibly difficult to learn advanced math outside of an academic setting, but it is absolutely possible. Where I work we have invested in programs that take people just like me and give them an opportunity to go through a pretty rigorous 6 month program that tea…

> Lots of people have done it. This is just a generic platitude and means nothing. Lots of people have overcome hurdles yes but not a whole lot of hurdles all at the same and over long periods of time which is what i gathered from your posts. Also as i point out it is quite hard to overcome all hurdles just by one's own efforts but you generally need some outside help whether intentional or luck. > I went to college…

> You had mentioned that you were a high-school dropout earlier but are here stating that you went to college? That is a huge discrepancy and if true proves my point.

What exactly is the discrepancy here? One can drop out of highschool, then years later, take the necessary tests, then go to college. Again, many people have done that. Is that really so hard for you to believe?

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#398

Post by squigz » Thu, May 23, 2024, 7:25 PM UTC

7thpower wrote: post #396

rramadass wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Lots of people have done it. This is just a generic platitude and means nothing. Lots of people have overcome hurdles yes but not a whole lot of hurdles all at the same and over long periods of time which is what i gathered from your posts. Also as i point out it is quite hard to overcome all hurdles just by one's own efforts but you generally need some outside help whether intentional or luck. > I went to college…

In the first I clearly stated that I used Khan Academy as a high school drop out and it helped me get into college. You didn’t bother to read it before commenting because you were too busy dumping on something that didn’t match your bias, which is wrong and incredibly depressing, by the way. And of course you need outside help/luck/support, but you’re pretending their is some binary threshold and then cherry picking…

The really annoying part is, your story really isn't that uncommon, or even that crazy - not to belittle your struggles, of course, but I've heard far wilder stories of people struggling to success.

Anyway I wouldn't waste your time too much with GP. They won't believe anything you say without you actually providing physical proof of some sort - and even then I'm sure they'd try and poke holes in it.

Oh well. I for one am glad to hear how much better things are for you, and wish you luck in the future :)

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#399

Post by 7thpower » Thu, May 23, 2024, 7:46 PM UTC

squigz wrote: post #398

7thpower wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the first I clearly stated that I used Khan Academy as a high school drop out and it helped me get into college. You didn’t bother to read it before commenting because you were too busy dumping on something that didn’t match your bias, which is wrong and incredibly depressing, by the way. And of course you need outside help/luck/support, but you’re pretending their is some binary threshold and then cherry picking…

The really annoying part is, your story really isn't that uncommon, or even that crazy - not to belittle your struggles, of course, but I've heard far wilder stories of people struggling to success. Anyway I wouldn't waste your time too much with GP. They won't believe anything you say without you actually providing physical proof of some sort - and even then I'm sure they'd try and poke holes in it. Oh well. I for o…

I agree, I know so many people who have done similar and more challenging things. GP probably does too, but they would be smart not to open up about it.

I actually went and got my college transcripts and requested my highschool ones but it’s not worth it. I’ll probably just use them if I make a blog post or something.

I sincerely appreciate your encouragement and wish you luck as well!

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#400

Post by yuki96 » Thu, May 23, 2024, 8:36 PM UTC

couchdb_ouchdb wrote: post #241

I am currently using ChatGPT 4.0o to help me learn Japanese. If you have learned Japanese in the past, you know that the Genki textbooks are invaluable learning resources. The problem is that it's hard to find the motivation to work through a textbook and workbook alone. I am navigating through a textbook with the audio feature. I take photos of the pages with my phone, then use ChatGPT as my language partner to work…

What kind of prompt do you use for it? My friend is studying with Genki and I am curious.