Toward simple confusion
Very interesting article by Tim O’Reilly about Open Source software and paradigm shifts. Very interesting discussion about commoditization of a market allows for two opportunities: 1) “intel inside” monopolies for under the hood components, 2) Creation of new applications to run on the next layer up.
I’ve had a lot of thoughts that have I continually forget:
1. Importance of Logic/Rationality. Logic is the means by which we arrive at the cause, even if the root is something as simple as “I have a gut feeling”. There is a difference from treating the symptoms of an illness, arguing what is symptoms are present, and addressing the actual cause.
Consider the mis-diagnosis of an illness. You might have repeated visits to the Doctor, each time with a different illness. Instead of treating the cause, the doctor maybe treating the disease’s manifestation (symptom) and ITS symptoms. This is why a holistic understanding is important
2. Who is an expert? This question came up while i was programming at either Rice or NetIQ. An expert is a person that has no one to turn to. So this means either (a) they know the most, or (b) they have responsibility by default because they are unable to obtain help from a better expert.
3. Importance of a Student Teacher: A person becomes a student when they enter an environment to learn from a Teacher. Many studdents dont like to work with students of less skill because it hinders their learning. For someone to be able to explain something to another requires a great deal of understand and knowledge. Of course if you copy a copy its not a sharp as the original. However, if the student filters what he learns and judges the validity based on his common sense, the Student Teacher can end up learning a great deal more. Everyone carries with them their experiences. This leads to the next:
4. A true teacher is one that wants their students to surpass them. If a teacher can teach everything he knows, then a student has the potential to be equal to his teacher. Of course this may vary based on individual skill, etc. So how can a student exceed his mentor? Simply because a student brings all his past experiences to the table. This is a point Sifu Doc Savage
brought to my attention.
5. Women are more self-conscious them men. Elisa told me this today. I also read this somewhere. She says its b/c women are brought up this way in Western society. (boys can through tantrums, etc.. “boys can be boys”) However, if i remember correctly, i read its b/c women have a more central role in society. They have to look for acceptance by both their female friends AND by guys. The more people you know the higher your chances are of finding the right people, and also getting connections. Guys are a little bit more of lone wolves. At most they just need a small knit of other friends (they dont look for social acceptance as much).