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It's weird to see Linus on the other side of being disciplined, and a pretty stark contrast to his own slightly more abrasive style. For example: https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/12/23/75
There is no contradiction between discipline/hard work and abrasive style.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I showed up to my AP calculus test without a calculator In my Calculus class we weren't even allowed to use a calculator on the test. Actually, almost all my math classes through college wouldn't let us use calculators during tests.
Yes, but if a test is designed to be taken with a calculator, not bringing one is an invitation to disaster (especially if the test is timed), because the arithmetic is probably not designed to be easy. I once forgot a calculator in my discrete math class and ended up having to do long division in the test margins.
There are now lots of articles suggesting praising people for effort rather than intelligence. Seems like Raymond was ahead of the curve. 2 examples of many: [1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9862693/P... [2] http://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/chi...
Calvin Coolidge 30th president of US (1872 - 1933)
Note that noone replied to Eric and the thread continued on. Also go back and read some of Linus's posts before this. Eric writes using vague generalizations about age and experience; Linus writes with specifics about his experience with the kernel. The former style makes for popularly read posts but the latter seems much more effective.
Also, compare this message from Linus earlier in that thread https://lkml.org/lkml/2000/8/22/52 with a post of his from yesterday: https://lkml.org/lkml/2014/2/10/575, especially regarding abstraction.
If Linus always did things the "right" way he wouldn't have invented git (or Linux). Sometimes, it's important to be obstinate.
If Linus always did things the "right" way he wouldn't have invented git (or Linux). Sometimes, it's important to be obstinate.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I got burned by this too. Problem, unfortunately, goes deeper than just not learning how to do math. You skip learning ability to structurally learn new things at a young age, because you simply "get" how things work. So by the time you hit the wall you not only not know how to do math correctly, but also have no idea how to structurally learn correct way and must do both at the same time. Here most people give up an…
My daughter has gotten burnt in a similar way. She's grown up in the teach to the test era. She has been a straight A student and sadly I did not see it but what she is gifted in is memorization. You tell her 300 answers to the upcoming test and she will be able to recall them. It is now becoming apparent that she is stunted when it comes to actually reasoning and learning, PSAT kicked her butt and as a HS Junior she…
Also see Rich Hicky's talk "Simple Made Easy." [2] In which he suggests that nobody's that smart; you will always hit a brick wall without the tools to manage complexity. "A juggler can juggle 3 balls. A really good juggler can juggle 9. But no juggler can juggle 90 or 900 (paraphrased)."
[1] http://www.tele-task.de/archive/video/flash/14029/ [2] http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Simple-Made-Easy