gems

"We'd get some material that was non-trivial to figure out on an exam. That's just bad teaching."

You should reconsider what you just said. I tend to think that most 'good' universities do that.

"But it's true. It is hard, but that's okay. The whole point of the grading system was to acknowledge subtlety; that it's okay if you don't have an A, because it doesn't mean you haven't learnt anything, it just means you haven't learnt everything [in that course]. But somehow many students seem to take it as the end of the world not to achieve that A, when really that isn't the important thing at all."

That's what I believed at first. Then I realized how concerned authorities are with grades. If you're looking to do work with some research group, people want to know your grades. If you want to get into certain graduate schools, you'll most likely end up competing with people with high grades. Grades aren't a super important determining factor but, of course, they are considered and they can be treated as a negative indicator if poor.

Nobody really cares that you decided to challenge yourself. If you don't at least try to optimize for grades, you're basically shooting yourself in the foot. If you don't optimize for grades, you'll be competing with people who do.

I don't understand: there's nothing stopping you from reading what you want.

What conclusions have I made? Next time make a new post instead of editing your previous one.

That's your evidence against the statement made by enraged_camel. Does that mean that the statement is false? No.

"Says you, but my experience contradicts it. You have not convinced me."

Your experience is dependent on several factors including how willing you are to listen to and engage people with different lives than your own. I can close my eyes and shout that there are no colors, but that doesn't invalidate everyone else's experience. Don't pretend like you have an authoritative background to make general conclusions.

"Where you start in life doesn't matter"

How can you possibly say that?

There are many things people might generalize about the brand from having experience with one instance of that brand. By driving a bmw, for example, you might get to experience the luxury offered by bmw-built cars.

You can keep asserting what you like, but I don't think what I just said is unreasonable at all.

Why does something have to be wrong with the system for that to be happening?

Or you could say that playing one song is an advertisement for the album or for the artist. There are many artists I wouldn't have otherwise known about if it wasn't for pandora.

"If you don't understand that, you shouldn't even participate in the conversation."

This is childish. "If I can't conceive of any other perspective, then you shouldn't open your mouth!!!!"

"You seem to be under the impression that being an entertainer is easy"

No I'm not. If something is not profitable, then do something else that is. Don't complain that you're not being paid enough.

Why do entertainers feel so entitled to high payment? Why is this even a story?

Reality: nobody cares what you consider real and fake, and whatever those words mean to you.

If you're not examining it in a scientific way, then you have no business making conclusions.

"I'm a spring 2013 undergraduate in CS, and this goes on in America just as it does in China. (the entire process is a charade.) I will admit it without hesitation."

www.de.ufpe.br/~toom/my-articles/engeduc/ARUSSIAN.PDF

The article is about a Russian mathematician who starts teaching in American universities. The same thing already happens in America with these 'business calculus' courses.

"Consciousness is not solely a matter of computation."

How do you know that?

It still takes time to retrain, even if the education is free.

"matters which you consider trivial,"

I've reread his post 3 or so times, and I never came to the conclusion that he had this belief.

"and that they simply don't have the 'mental bandwidth' to understand what's going on, unlike yourself."

If you lead a busy life, you won't have time, motivation, or enough attention to consider outside affairs. Is that false? What's the big deal?

err, the point of the OP was that people are too concerned with their own lives to be involved in politics. He wasn't claiming that it was an inferior mindset (myopic, trivial, narcissistic, apathetic), so he wasn't describing people like anigbrowl.

Do you have any idea what sort of things PL researchers study?

"If your machine isn't already rendering that page flawlessly, I would argue that you weren't the website's target audience. IMO, the site caters those looking for a high end performance machine; those who likely already own and are using a MBP or even an Air and want that extra performance boost."

If you don't already have a fast computer, you probably will never want a fast computer. Makes complete sense.

What would happen if you didn't remember your gpa? It is shocking that they would ask something like that though.

Is it looked down upon if you don't go up in the ranks as you age?

What is a line engineer?

He's a somewhat successful mathematician. Does that make him a genius?

Why do you have to keep going?

Or, you know, don't say anything. If nothing comes to mind, then maybe there is nothing important to say.

It's true. I could just be bitter about not having a spot. But actually, I don't work in tech and I probably won't anytime in the future unless I'm forced. You can't verify that any of this is true, and that's fine.

What I'm saying is that you shouldn't focus on getting a job for its own sake. I'm questioning motives, not really the direction you should take your life. The former is more about staying goal oriented, the latter is more about value judgement.

>If helping people is a good motive, why isn't helping yourself?

It's a matter of what you think is right. Do you want to have a philosophical discussion?

>If you state it on HN, you can deal with people disagreeing with it, without getting annoyed.

I'm getting annoyed because the first responder was almost offended that I expressed a belief on what I think is right. I don't care if we disagree, but don't pretend like I'm encroaching your rights because I'm asserting myself.