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patrickcollison.com

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Re: Questions

#221

Post by personlurking »

sincerely wrote: post #199
Mizza wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't for everybody, but I would say Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP), where words are sequentially presented in place to the reader, which has significantly changed the way I read. I wrote my own implementation of RSVP, which has eBook reader support, and now it is absolutely my preferred method of reading, and I read at 1000WPM. Though normal books are still enjoyable, they feel tedious and slow. The pr…

Isn’t recall way worse for books “read” this way?

Here is 1000wpm:

https://youtu.be/7i9fZvWyLfI?t=1m41s

I wouldn't recall a thing at this speed, nor at 600 which is shown just prior to the time stamp above.

Re: Questions

#222

Post by Mizza »

sincerely wrote: post #199
Mizza wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't for everybody, but I would say Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP), where words are sequentially presented in place to the reader, which has significantly changed the way I read. I wrote my own implementation of RSVP, which has eBook reader support, and now it is absolutely my preferred method of reading, and I read at 1000WPM. Though normal books are still enjoyable, they feel tedious and slow. The pr…

Isn’t recall way worse for books “read” this way?

No, I would say quite the opposite.

Reading this way is a skill which needs a small up front investment, but the pay off is immense. The trick is to not try, just relax and pay attention and let the words speak to you as if they are being narrated to you inside your head.

Because there are no constant micro-interruptions from page scrolling, ads, or even from your eyes own saccades, I find that my attention to the text is much, much better, and I need to stop to ponder something I can just tap the screen to pause it.

I also find that I am far, far more likely to finish an article/paper/chapter via Glance than via my browser. These days it's pretty rare that I'll actually finish an article online, but with Glance I'll almost always read the entire thing from start to finish.

I really, really recommend this skill, especially if you have a lot of time to kill on a mass-transit commute, or if you just want to read more.

Re: Questions

#223

Post by cryptozeus »

unixhero wrote: post #47
chucky wrote: post #35

> Why are there so many successful startups in Stockholm? Several reasons. First, you need to recognize that any Sweden-based startup will, when it gets to be known internationally, have a Stockholm-based office. So it's not about a city of 1 million inhabitants, it's a country of 10 million that's the true number here. As an example, I believe Spotify opened their original offices in both Stockholm and Göteborg more…

Good observations! You forgot one major thing. This goes for all of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The winter is horribly dark and boring. (Unless you're super rich). Therefore most turn inwards, staying indoors, thinking deeply at problems, spending endless afternoons and nights on things. Be it software development, game development, car tuning, car engine work, engineering, knitting or just reading loads of…

Then how do you explain Silicon Valley? Outdoor life is great here. You have good point but may not be as important as you think.

Re: Questions

#224

Post by Mizza »

personlurking wrote: post #221
sincerely wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t recall way worse for books “read” this way?

Here is 1000wpm: https://youtu.be/7i9fZvWyLfI?t=1m41s I wouldn't recall a thing at this speed, nor at 600 which is shown just prior to the time stamp above.

A few things here:

This is a poor implementation of RSVP, as each word is being presented at the same speed. Longer words should be given longer presentation times, as should words with punctuation marks. The presentation of the words is also centered rather than aligned, which requires a saccade for each word, which defeats the whole point. It's also a difficult text to start out with, with no context.

Even still, I didn't have a problem reading and recalling this text, though I wouldn't recommended it for a beginner.

Re: Questions

#225

Post by decasteve »

hyperpallium wrote: post #44

> Is Bloom's "Two Sigma" phenomenon real? ... one-on-one tutoring using mastery learning led to a two sigma(!) improvement in student performance. When I tutored, I found students often had some misunderstanding, somewhere. So my task was to listen , to find that misunderstanding, so I could correct it. This "teaching" is listening, more than talking. The idea is they are lost, but to know what direction they need, I…

> Recently, I'm seeing the other side, while self-learning some maths. I can see how much one-on-one tutoring would help clear up misunderstandings. Instead, I'm using the strategy of insisting on starting from the basics, chasing down each detail as much as I can, using online resources, and working out proofs for myself. Each step is a journey in itself...

I did this for a while and gave up the self-learning aspect and went to university to study math part-time. I have the utmost respect for anyone who has the patience to push through it on their own. Some things I can learn on my own but higher maths I couldn't--at least with any degree of efficiency.

Re: Questions

#226

Post by abalone »

elorant wrote: post #83
unixhero wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good observations! You forgot one major thing. This goes for all of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The winter is horribly dark and boring. (Unless you're super rich). Therefore most turn inwards, staying indoors, thinking deeply at problems, spending endless afternoons and nights on things. Be it software development, game development, car tuning, car engine work, engineering, knitting or just reading loads of…

Israel doesn't have long dark winters and yet they're the pioneers of innovation and start-up culture.

By far the biggest factor is the over $130B of aid the U.S. has provided to Israel which directly nurtured the high technology industry.[1]

This is also true for the U.S. itself; Silicon Valley is largely a creation of Pentagon investment (see: DARPA).

[1] https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2018/03/unders...

Re: Questions

#227

Post by [deleted] »

jnurmine wrote: post #202
oxymoron wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Stockholm does have more startups than the rest of Sweden, though, so there is probably more to it. The article understates the size of Stockholm a bit though. As measured by urban area it’s a city of 2.5 million.

Not only that, but within a one hour drive are Västerås and Uppsala, big cities in Sweden's scale. The former hosts ABB and has tons of robotics related research, the latter has one of the major universities. The startup scene is smaller in Västerås than in Uppsala though. Uppsala produced Klarna and Skype, Västerås produced Pingdom, to name some.

[deleted]

Re: Questions

#228

Post by ronilan »

trimbo wrote: post #191

> The Empire State Building was built in 410 days At least one reason is that we have substantially different safety regulations since we're not accepting of deaths on a project like that. 5 people died on that project. 11 died to build the Golden Gate. Original Bay Bridge? 24. They actually had a rule of thumb at the time: 1 death for every $1M spent on a project[1]. Any metric like that would be absolutely unaccept…

Vancouver’s “Second Narrows” bridge was built in the late 50s and completed in 3 years. Midway through the project a major accident killed 19 people. It was the result of an engineering error.

In the mid 90s the bridge name was changed. It is now generally referred to as the “Ironworkers memorial bridge”. Anyone crossing that bridge since is constantly reminded of that engineering error.

“Better safe than sorry” is rising belief.

Once this truism became generally accepted, as it generally is, it has precedent over other considerations. Since “safe” means more than physical safety, practically any human action is subject to exponentially increasing levels of scrutiny. It takes time to come to an agreement that everything is safe. In big projects it takes a lot of time. On bigger projects it might never come.

Re: Questions

#229

Post by Meekro »

_wzsf wrote: post #36

Not to be critical, but I pose this question in response: Why do billionaires so often love to muse about interesting things outside of their field, get attention and praise for their thoughts, and then publicly allocate only tiny portions of their wealth and time to these projects so ineffectually while passing down the majority of their wealth to disinterested heirs? e.g. Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Edgar Prince, Stev…

Isn't that kind of unfair? Lots of us non-billionaires love to muse about interesting questions outside of our narrow specialties -- we do it every day here on HN. But when it's time to get some work done, we return to our specialties where our time and effort can make the most impact.

Re: Questions

#230

Post by JProthero »

mhjas wrote: post #207
throwawaybbqed wrote: post #87

Regarding the question of education/college costs rising drastically, I thought a key answer was that govt started to fund education a whole ton less. In Canada (where this has not happened as badly), an undergrad in CS used to cost 3K annually a decade and a half ago, and costs 10K now. Other disciplines cost 6K I think .. CS degrees cost more since colleges decided that students earn a lot more and there is huge de…

To some extent I think people just underestimate what education costs. Sweden pays ~€40k to educate an engineer (5 year, B.Sc + M.Sc). On top of that there is another ~€20k in student benefits to the student and ~€40k in a government backed student loan (for books and living costs).

My first reaction to the education and healthcare question was that growing demand must be an important factor.

The idea that a university education is a requirement for anyone wanting a career that guarantees a comfortable lifestyle is relatively new - a post WWII development.

Demand for healthcare has also risen as western populations have aged and more conditions have become treatable. Sixty years ago there were many more health problems that you couldn't spend money on if you wanted to, because they were incurably fatal. Now a significant number of those conditions have become chronic complaints that patients can spend decades paying to treat.

I don't know how much of the cost increase in education and healthcare can be attributed to increased demand, but it seems like it must be part of the answer.

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