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An Introduction to the Mechanics of Bitcoin

khanacademy.org

1–10 of 37 posts

Re: An Introduction to the Mechanics of Bitcoin

#3

Gotta love online learning...no more waiting for information to be available in a text book and to enroll in classes to get educated.

While this is a point worth making, another is that there's also little to no vetting or editing required to publish "information" on the web compared to getting it into a book and into distribution.

Of course the latter isn't perfect and comes with its own evil hegemony and other assorted issues, but the point is that there is so little barrier to entry to posting on the web that praising speed in and of itself ignores relevant and important issues.

Re: An Introduction to the Mechanics of Bitcoin

#4

Gotta love online learning...no more waiting for information to be available in a text book and to enroll in classes to get educated.

While this is a point worth making, another is that there's also little to no vetting or editing required to publish "information" on the web compared to getting it into a book and into distribution. Of course the latter isn't perfect and comes with its own evil hegemony and other assorted issues, but the point is that there is so little barrier to entry to posting on the web that praising speed in and of itself igno…

Fair point, but I would argue that "known" and trusted organizations, such as Khan Academy or Coursera, backing a given instructor or set of materials constitutes a form of vetting. It's not like they pick their material out of a hat, and they're all fully aware of the potential repercussions of publishing quackery.

Re: An Introduction to the Mechanics of Bitcoin

#5

Gotta love online learning...no more waiting for information to be available in a text book and to enroll in classes to get educated.

While this is a point worth making, another is that there's also little to no vetting or editing required to publish "information" on the web compared to getting it into a book and into distribution. Of course the latter isn't perfect and comes with its own evil hegemony and other assorted issues, but the point is that there is so little barrier to entry to posting on the web that praising speed in and of itself igno…

But the system is self-correcting so it's not really a problem.

Re: An Introduction to the Mechanics of Bitcoin

#7
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While this is a point worth making, another is that there's also little to no vetting or editing required to publish "information" on the web compared to getting it into a book and into distribution. Of course the latter isn't perfect and comes with its own evil hegemony and other assorted issues, but the point is that there is so little barrier to entry to posting on the web that praising speed in and of itself igno…

But the system is self-correcting so it's not really a problem.

It can also be self-destructive. Such is the case with subtle Wikipedia vandalism.

Re: An Introduction to the Mechanics of Bitcoin

#8
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the system is self-correcting so it's not really a problem.

It can also be self-destructive. Such is the case with subtle Wikipedia vandalism.

Books with incorrect data can essentially never be changed. Wikipedia pages can be changed immediately.

Re: An Introduction to the Mechanics of Bitcoin

#9

Gotta love online learning...no more waiting for information to be available in a text book and to enroll in classes to get educated.

While this is a point worth making, another is that there's also little to no vetting or editing required to publish "information" on the web compared to getting it into a book and into distribution. Of course the latter isn't perfect and comes with its own evil hegemony and other assorted issues, but the point is that there is so little barrier to entry to posting on the web that praising speed in and of itself igno…

By the same turn, it's also much easier to propose and make corrections. If I discover an error in my computer graphics textbook, I'd have to...call the publisher and see if they can fix it in the next edition, I guess. Perhaps the textbook industry's fixation on keeping students buying the newest editions of their books has actual benefits...

Re: An Introduction to the Mechanics of Bitcoin

#10
post #6

Where is Sal?

He doesn't do a lot of the new videos. It's lovely to hear his voice when he does, though. Makes you feel just a bit more special.

Perhaps Sal doesn't have a great understanding of cryptography? He doesn't do a single cryptography video on khanacademy as far as I know.

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