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Paul Graham: News from the Front

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Re: Paul Graham: News from the Front

#111

Post by cstejerean »

jedberg wrote: post #6

When I was in college, I figured out that the education you get doesn't really change. However, what does change is the people that you are associating with. At the "elite" colleges, there is a greater percentage of smart students, which lends itself to more productive discussions and more difficult tests that force you to challenge yourself. Also, it is like the difference between the regular classes in high school…

Well you don't get it for free, you have to waste valuable years of your life to become worthy of admission to such a place. Depending on how good your social skills it might be easier to study hard and go to a good school to meet smart people.

Re: Paul Graham: News from the Front

#112

Post by DocSavage »

alex_c wrote: post #44

But it DOES matter where you go to college, and the essay itself argues for that. In this context, we can say there are three things that can determine someone's success: 1) confidence others have in you 2) self-confidence 3) actual ability Going to a "good" college affects 1 and 2 the most, and arguably 3 the least. In a startup 3 and 2 are arguably the most important, and 1 the least - so I guess that agrees with p…

This is why Seth Godin champions NOBS instead of a traditional business school: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/04/nobs_the_end... NOBS maximizes #1 and #2 with little work. Now if only there really was a NOBS. Wait, it's called YCombinator! :)

Re: Paul Graham: News from the Front

#114

Post by greendestiny »

corentin wrote: post #102
euccastro wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A sailor racing across the world would be dead boring in real time. It would be interesting to watch a half-hour documentary summarizing a couple months worth of travel. Then again, I guess that's true for all kinds of reality TV we've seen so far, including justin.tv.

Most people are dead boring in real time; a sailor, an astronaut or any other kind of explorer is just a little bit less boring than a teenage girl buying whatever crap.

Lifecasting will attract a certain initial audience but to me its the least interesting thing about justin.tv They want to be youtube live. The opportunities for small theatres, musicians, sports, awards and presentations etc to create a live event online is huge. The difference between a youtube video that can sort of limp along without context for years to come, and a live event will be very important if they can do it right.

At the moment though, they just aren't set up to make short snippets of content from different broadcasters easily findable.

The distribution of tech is a problem as well. Another random idea; I wonder if they could set up a post based rental of equipment for one off events.

Re: Paul Graham: News from the Front

#115

Post by jey »

SwellJoe wrote: post #106
cellis wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually I think its the problem solving questions that they ask you. I may be mistaken,since I don't work there. Theres an article in businessweek or b2.0 about it right now. Things such as "You are shrunk to the size of a nickel..preserving your density proportional...and put in a blender...you have 5 seconds before the blades start moving - what do you do?

Google is a total slut for a high GPA, make no mistake about that. Google also has a list of schools that are considered top-tier, and if you're not from one of those, you're unlikely to be hired. I don't believe Google has always been this way--and I think the pressure to raise the hiring bar in so many artificial ways comes not from any elitism, but from the fact that Google is hiring way too fast, and the folks at…

You're right for the vast majority, but Google does make a few exceptions. One of my friends has no college degree but was hired by Google as a programmer almost entirely based on his rank on the competitive programming site TopCoder.

Re: Paul Graham: News from the Front

#116

Post by asdflkj »

vegashacker wrote: post #69
pg wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can tell which founders went to the same school. We can ask people who teach at or went to school x about applicants from there. If they went to a school we know about first hand, we can ask more specific questions about what they did in college. If they went to a big hacker school like MIT, we can suggest that they recruit friends and/or launch their beta there.

It also gives you the data you need to continue testing this theory.

He could always ask them after accepting (or even rejecting).

Re: Paul Graham: News from the Front

#117

Post by asdflkj »

menloparkbum wrote: post #99
pg wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's dramatically different not just technically but also in what it does to the subject's life.

It isn't. The tech is interesting, the content is not. As for what it does to the subjects' lives, I don't really care.

Congratulations, you're one data point.

Re: Paul Graham: News from the Front

#118

Post by sethjohn »

I've noticed the same thing about top-tier chemists. Grad schools tend to have a good mix of Ivy kids and others, but the most brilliant scientists always seem to come from some mid-level state university or a little liberal arts college.

Success at the highest levels of scientific research takes an odd mix of creativity, intuition, and intellegence that has little to do with academic success in high school or undergrad.

Re: Paul Graham: News from the Front

#120

Post by npk »

dfranke wrote: post #94
abstractbill wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. Wikipedia thinks the two are synonymous: "In academia, a thesis or dissertation is a document that presents the author's research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification." [from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thesis ]

Npk is correct, but it's a pedantic distinction. Most people, apparently including the Wikipedia editors, just use the two words interchangably. Edit: yikes. Somebody went on a downmodding spree on this thread.

I asked all my academic friends, and I've come to the conclusion that it is a pedantic distinction. But it's useful to have two different words for the two separate concepts :)
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