The best teacher I never had (2016)(gatesnotes.com)
gatesnotes.com
The best teacher I never had (2016)
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Education/The-Best-Teacher-I-Never-Had
23 comments
Honestly, I wholeheartedly agree with you. His diction seems to be uninspiring.
"Bill would be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger"
-- Steve Jobs
-- Steve Jobs
Which is funny, since I consider Gates to be the broader of the two. Jobs's talent wasn't really breadth, it was intense, singular focus, and ability to distort reality around him. Gates doesn't have that, but breadth-wise he has it more than covered IMO.
Not unduly negative. For somebody who personally set software engineering back by two decades (people now actually believe computers failing is something normal and unavoidable), he has a lot of nerve giving advice.
Because of his efforts, the lectures are free to watch online.
Putting Feynman aside, this is how -all- teachers should be. I had maybe two in all my years of public school that came anywhere close. It's sad that teaching is not a highly paid and prestigious job. And it's a two way street, most of the teachers now are the same awful ones I had, latching on to statements like mine, yet demanding more money. It's a race to the bottom, and a detriment to our country.
In the county I live in you’ll actually make more as a door dasher than a public school substitute teacher.
Discussed at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10992651
Here's what actually happened. Bill Gates acquired the rights and made them unavailable to anyone who wasn't using Microsoft Silverlight. I was sitting in a public library and wasn't able to download these videos to watch later, while I was no longer at the library, because of Silverlight.
This should have (2016) in the title. 'happy-go-lucky, you can probably still change it given the recency of posting.
Feynman lectures are the SICP of physics. And I don't mean that as a compliment.
People say these are the best resources on the respective subjects, however the people who say this have likely not read many other books, especially modern books.
Bill Gates is kinda cool I guess but I'm not going to take physics advice from him.
People say these are the best resources on the respective subjects, however the people who say this have likely not read many other books, especially modern books.
Bill Gates is kinda cool I guess but I'm not going to take physics advice from him.
I’m surprised at the negativity in this reply. Can you offer some more explanation as to what you mean by the non-compliment SICP ref?
I mean that most people who talk about SICP and Feynman lectures don't read too ma y other books on the topic. Saying you like either is Ike saying you like Beatles or Top 40.
But SICP and Feynman are highly nonstandard ways to be introduced to the topics. That’s why they’re unusual.
I’ll take the bait - I really liked SICP and feel like it stands out among many other things I’ve found. Your comment makes me feel there’s a lot I’m missing out on. Any recommendations?
lol fair enough (and I, too, take issue with the post as I explained in another comment), but I do think Feynman was special in his love and pursuit of knowledge. I'm sure you're right that there are way better books, but I don't see Feynman the personality/educator/teacher as easily swappable with others as maybe his books are.
"...While helping develop the atomic bomb at Los Alamos, he entertained himself by figuring out how to break into the safes that contained top-secret research..."
I did not know he helped develop the atomic bomb. That really nice to know that he helped the States obliterate thousands of people who did not need to die afterall.
I did not know he helped develop the atomic bomb. That really nice to know that he helped the States obliterate thousands of people who did not need to die afterall.
Many of Feynman's capers and eccentricities are covered in the book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" It's a collection of his essays. I've actually noticed the title pop up a few times before in the comments here in HN. It's a fun read.
The world isn't black and white. Work began on the bomb when there was an existential threat to the country in the form of Nazi Germany.
What little Feynman spoke about the bomb after the war makes it seem like he didn't agree with the way it was used either.
Additionally, many other physicists fought the way it was used at the time.
What little Feynman spoke about the bomb after the war makes it seem like he didn't agree with the way it was used either.
Additionally, many other physicists fought the way it was used at the time.
Apologize if I'm being unreasonably negative, but something about this post and it being top on HN kind of bothers me (maybe because it feels a little bit like hero worship?). Like, are we marvelling that Bill Gates' admiration of Feynman? Is this the best tribute to Feynman ever written? There's so much written about Feynman on/offline.