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Comment by masterj | Hacker News Reader

> how do you know when you are robbing yourself and when you are just being pragmatic?

I don't know why we're pretending that individuals have suddenly lost all agency and self-perception? It's pretty clear when you understand something or don't, and it's always been a choice of whether you dive deeper or copy some existing thing that you don't understand.

We know that if we cheat on our math homework, or copy from our friend, or copy something online, that's going to bite us. LLMs make getting an answer easier, but we've always had this option.

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I don’t know why you are ignoring the concept of opportunity cost to make an argument.

Did you drive to work today? Did you learn everything about the tensile strength of nylon seatbelts before you buckled up? How about tarmacadem design before you exited your driveway? Or PID controls theory before you turned on the HVAC?

The point I’m making is that some people disagree about how much you need to know. Some people are ok with knowing just enough to get a job done because it makes them more productive overall. So the question still stands: How do you gauge when learning is enough? To my point above, I think it comes down to whether you can get the job done. Leaning beyond that may be admirable in your mind, but not exactly what you’re being paid for, and I think some experts would consider it a poor use of time/resources.

Do you care if your subordinate wrote a good report using a dictionary to “cheat” instead of memorizing a good vocabulary? Or that they referenced an industry standard for an equation instead of knowing it by heart? I know I don’t.

I said it’s up to the individual to make their own choices. I don’t know who or what you’re arguing against, but I don’t think I have much to do with it. Peace

I was simply asking you to put a finer framework on how individuals should decide. Like I said multiple times, IMO it comes down to what is needed to get the job done, but I’m open to other thoughts. Saying it’s up to the individual isn’t really saying much, other than a veiled version of “I don’t know but I feel the compulsion to comment anyway.”

> I was simply asking you to put a finer framework on how individuals should decide

I'm not in the business of prescribing philosophies on how others should live their lives?

But surely that doesn’t preclude you from describing how you live your own?

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