Hacker News Reader

Comment by rch | Hacker News Reader

I think what you're referring to is synthesis, which I consider an important aspect of understanding. One might be an expert only through knowing, another precursor to understanding (see, expert Visual Basic programmer).

My girlfriend might take this opportunity to point out I much I like to ramble on sometimes. shrugs

View on HN

The thing is, I tend to think about the sorts of things which are complex enough that you can't trivially describe them in a linear format. Imagine that somebody asked you to tell them about programming. Programming is such a huge and complex topic that there really isn't an effective way to begin explaining it without putting significant forethought into how to explain it, even if you're an expert programmer. So, unless you've put thought into how to explain and teach it, if someone randomly asks you, you're probably going to fumble and be verbose. (This is one of the reasons many professors are bad at teaching.)

Of course, in the context of the article, somebody interviewing with investors probably should have thought out in advance about the sorts of things the investors would want to know and ask about, so they shouldn't be fumbling too much.

This is true, and teaching is hard because of this, but I think there is a "correct" way of handling it. Think about the kind of background the questioner has, what they already know, what they don't know, and what they want to know. Phrase your answer on that level.

Doing this in a few seconds time requires both intimiate knowledge of the subject at hand, and the ability to intuit a person's world-view as it relates to that subject. If I know nothing about the person asking the question, then I ask them questions so I can figure out what kind of an answer is appropriate.

I don't know, if someone randomly asks me to tell them about programming, I'd reply that it's the ability to make the computer do what I want it to do by speaking a language it understands. That'd shut most people up while giving them a basic understanding.

I was assuming that they were asking you to teach them to program, or at least give them a comprehensive survey of the field. What you said is the obvious short answer for people who are just asking to be polite or to get an idea of what you do.

Ah, well of course, teaching them how is another matter entirely.

Let's assume I have just said 'I do X for company Y'. Your next response might be along the lines of a) What languages/tools do you use?, b) What's a peptide?, c) Did you watch Daniel Hillis' Ted talk?, or d) I just published a phylogenetic pruning algorithm on arxiv, you should check it out.

Seems to me that there is a lot to be learned through conversation, even when neither party is doing any teaching.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com