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Re:A 37-year-old wanting to learn computer science by danans on Sunday July 06, 2025 @04:00AM (#44478724)
> There are many ways to solve problems, but when you constrain yourself to solving them mechanistically, that is what makes computer science computer science.

How would one solve a computational problem non-mechanistically? Even if executed with pen and paper, or sticks scribbling on sand, any algorithm is still mechanistic.

Re:A 37-year-old wanting to learn computer science by raddan on Sunday July 06, 2025 @08:11AM (#44480060)
Non-algorithmically, using intuition, like a (non-programmer) human.
Re:A 37-year-old wanting to learn computer science by danans on Tuesday July 08, 2025 @11:09PM (#44506032)
But is it a computational problem then?
Re:A 37-year-old wanting to learn computer science by raddan on Wednesday July 09, 2025 @03:07PM (#44513712)
Try doing a calculus problem. E.g., integration. Even if you do it on paper, your approach is probably wildly different than a computer integration algorithm. An algorithm that does it symbolically, ala Mathematica, is a pretty difficult thing to write for an arbitrary mathematical expression. People solve those problems largely through intuition, with a sprinkling of procedures that they remember.
Re:A 37-year-old wanting to learn computer science by danans on Thursday July 10, 2025 @11:04AM (#44521893)
> People solve those problems largely through intuition, with a sprinkling of procedures that they remember.

Without making the claim that LLMs have intuition (and certainly not inspiration), what you describe sounds analogous to an LLM with function calling.