Live data from Hacker News

Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

ocw.mit.edu

21–30 of 115 posts

Re: Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

#21
post #6

It's unbelievable that the average human being has access to the lectures of some of the best universities in the world for free. 31 hours of in-depth mathematics by some of the best people in their field. Although I have always been struggling with keeping up with long lecture playlists. I always try to find shorter videos which explain the concept faster (although probably lacking depth). And end up ditching it hal…

This course has been a _huge_ help to me in my current project (a G-code previewer and programmatic 3D modeling system written for (Open)PythonSCAD).

I would recommend pairing it with:

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-001-structure-and-interpretati...

and some additional online resources which I've found very helpful:

- https://mathcs.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/elements/elements.htm...

- https://www.motionmountain.net/

and of course https://librivox.org/ and https://www.gutenberg.org/ --- for a benchmark on why, well, when my father retired to a rural Virginia county, the library was a metal carrel of books in the basement of the old courthouse, and my favourite books during the summer (when I didn't have access to the school libraries) were Hal Clement's _Space Lash_ (which my father found in a tower at the prison where he worked where reading material was forbidden) and an English textbook containing a number of short stories which my mother purchased from a table of remaindered books in a department store in a town 26 miles away to which we might drive once a month or so.

Re: Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

#22
post #6

It's unbelievable that the average human being has access to the lectures of some of the best universities in the world for free. 31 hours of in-depth mathematics by some of the best people in their field. Although I have always been struggling with keeping up with long lecture playlists. I always try to find shorter videos which explain the concept faster (although probably lacking depth). And end up ditching it hal…

I love math, completed a PhD, and am very self-disciplined. But even so, I don't think I would have been able to learn much on my own with video lectures, at least not at the start. For some reason, it seems like you need to reach a "critical mass" of knowledge first before you can do that, and I've observed that a crucial component is being in a program with others, and definitely having a very experienced mentor. W…

I am about finished with my CS PhD and I taught databases at the university during covid. I, personally, would have failed in the remote learning environment we were providing.

I am amazed at those wo fought or even flourished through that.

Re: Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

#23
Has anyone navigated a career change using OpenCourseware? I have a suspicion that the MOOC era mostly catered towards already-educated, self-starters and hobby learners, moreso than empowering a generation of workers, as was advertised.

Not to knock it. I've been working through quantum computing between work-related fire drills and household commitments, so I should be up to speed in a few decades.

Re: Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

#24
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love math, completed a PhD, and am very self-disciplined. But even so, I don't think I would have been able to learn much on my own with video lectures, at least not at the start. For some reason, it seems like you need to reach a "critical mass" of knowledge first before you can do that, and I've observed that a crucial component is being in a program with others, and definitely having a very experienced mentor. W…

I am about finished with my CS PhD and I taught databases at the university during covid. I, personally, would have failed in the remote learning environment we were providing. I am amazed at those wo fought or even flourished through that.

I’m currently enrolled in an online MS program, and I had never struggled so much in courses. The lack of social component might be what’s causing that. The material is mostly a recap of undergrad and things I already knew, so the coursework should not be so difficult for me, but it’s been incredibly difficult.

Then again, William & Mary had some incredible teachers, and maybe the online program through a different school just isn’t very good at designing assignments and teaching by comparison. But I feel that there was a difference in how I could succeed at challenging assignments when I was among other students in a social setting. The work in undergrad was highly rigorous, though exploring it alongside other real-life students made it a very different undertaking.

Re: Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love math, completed a PhD, and am very self-disciplined. But even so, I don't think I would have been able to learn much on my own with video lectures, at least not at the start. For some reason, it seems like you need to reach a "critical mass" of knowledge first before you can do that, and I've observed that a crucial component is being in a program with others, and definitely having a very experienced mentor. W…

LLM could be the teacher, one of the best already..

I don't think "one of the best" would be wrong that often.

Re: Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

#26
post #6

It's unbelievable that the average human being has access to the lectures of some of the best universities in the world for free. 31 hours of in-depth mathematics by some of the best people in their field. Although I have always been struggling with keeping up with long lecture playlists. I always try to find shorter videos which explain the concept faster (although probably lacking depth). And end up ditching it hal…

“A world class education available for free, to the undistractable.”

Hmm. One could think of the cost as a hack to force you to not be distracted so much.

Re: Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

#27
post #6

It's unbelievable that the average human being has access to the lectures of some of the best universities in the world for free. 31 hours of in-depth mathematics by some of the best people in their field. Although I have always been struggling with keeping up with long lecture playlists. I always try to find shorter videos which explain the concept faster (although probably lacking depth). And end up ditching it hal…

Explore use of LLM instead of passive viewing of videos. Pass the link to LLM and ask to summarize it and generate a synopsis and quiz you. We don't learn from lectures, we learn from problem solving

Also, be modest and assume you're dumber than you think you are - start with courses where you already know at least 50% of materials covered.

Re: Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LLM could be the teacher, one of the best already..

I don't think "one of the best" would be wrong that often.

Sure, it’s not perfect — but most of the time, it gets things right. Also it can answer instantly, and always patiently...

Re: Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

#29
post #6

It's unbelievable that the average human being has access to the lectures of some of the best universities in the world for free. 31 hours of in-depth mathematics by some of the best people in their field. Although I have always been struggling with keeping up with long lecture playlists. I always try to find shorter videos which explain the concept faster (although probably lacking depth). And end up ditching it hal…

I echo this sentiment. One of my favorite periods of my life was college, actually getting to learn about some advanced topics in CS. Then I graduated and got a job and now I struggle so hard to learn new things (despite lecture videos and textbooks and LLMs existing) without a professor grading assignments/giving exams/that you can talk to, or classmates.

I’m thinking about enrolling in an online college just for fun. Though the problem I have is that I think the Venn diagram of colleges that are online, aren’t expensive, have advanced CS/ML courses, have an experienced professor that you get to interact with is pretty much zero. If anyone has suggestions, do let me know.

Re: Mathematics for Computer Science (2024)

#30
post #6

It's unbelievable that the average human being has access to the lectures of some of the best universities in the world for free. 31 hours of in-depth mathematics by some of the best people in their field. Although I have always been struggling with keeping up with long lecture playlists. I always try to find shorter videos which explain the concept faster (although probably lacking depth). And end up ditching it hal…

>Perhaps the real motivation to keep up with the material comes from actually enrolling the university?

For most people in most situations, the real motivation to keep up with the material comes from the wage premium one gets after getting the sheepskin. It is unsurprising you, a humble autodidact, are having a lot more trouble than an actual MIT student, because unlike an actual MIT student, you will not walk out of this course any closer to having an MIT degree.

>I guess I am used to deadline-oriented studying.

You can always reverse the curse, and promise to pay someone if you don't finish X material by Y date. You probably also want some kind of proof mechanism to show that you actually did it, like eg a graded test.

>Has anyone completed such type of lectures by themselves? How do you stay consistent and disciplined?

I've read through several textbooks cover to cover including problem sets since graduating. My motivation is mostly just burning curiosity. I can't stand the feeling of not only not knowing a thing, but knowing that I don't know it or feeling like I'm faking it every time I do act on what I know.

Post reply on HN