oldmancoyote

For those of you who are not yet aware, this topic is STILL being actively suppressed even today Jan. 14, 2019, click on |parent| at the top of the page.

It appears that the censors have struck again and remove a thoughtful and fair-minded discussion.

I have had enough I will never again contribute to HN.

A fair enough question.

1) Of course private education can be superior, but it also can be corrupted by political and religious agendas as it is commonly being done today. Mandatory public education in America tries to raise children free of such narrow-mindedness, a necessity for a free democracy.

2) Alexis de Tocqueville wrote a seminal book on the nature of America called Democracy in America. Its central theme was how common public education (as well as severe inheritance taxes) prevented the creation of a permanent privileged class which would otherwise eventually destroy freedom and democracy. Mandatory public education is or at least was a great unifier and leveler of American society. Today we are being torn apart and set against each other, and I believe we must have a common education to counter that.

Not taking offense myself, but using an expensive education so children can outshine other children rather than reach their greatest potential is at its core anti-democratic and hugely offensive to those of us who understand and strive to sustain America's traditional values of freedom from oppressive forces. We aspire to a meritocracy (however imperfectly we achieve it).

I can not think of anything more basic to the American way as the ideals of equality and meritocracy. A mandatory public education of high quality is essential to who we are and to our aspirations.

Please understand I am NOT offended by your post. This is a free discussion among people of good will seeking understanding.

There is alway room for improvement, but education requires constant thoughtful observation and adjustments. When I talk to my sister who was a teacher, I am impressed about the deep thinking that went into adjusting the education of each of her students. I don't see technology helping this very much.

How do you disrupt public education? You do what certain political activists have done during the past 70 or so years.

1) You relax the laws that require public education using the rubric that private schools will allow for competition and force improvement. It is no accident that fewer families dependent of public schools weakens support for public schools. It also means that political and religious agendas can be entered into American education where before they were forbidden.

2) You couple that with a long term propaganda campaign about how bad public schools are including portraying teacher union activists in the worst possible light in the news.

3) You starve funding for education to the point where, for example, California goes from the foremost example of excellence in education to one of the worst.

4) When teachers start to rebel at the corruption of American education, you vilify teachers claiming they are taking American education hostage.

The idea that technology offers a solution to a political issue is not realistic.

Russia withdrew its gold reserves from the US about 6 months before it first invaded one of it's neighbors, Georgia I think it was. In retrospect it is a clear sign that Russia's invasion was pre-planned.

Is Russia planning something similar now? Further occupation of Ukraine perhaps. Judging from current Russian activity it seems likely that Russia plans something there soon.

Russia seems afraid to hold dollars. This is ominous.

One would think from this title that I share more fake news than younger people. I'm 72. I don't share news at all.

What is "more fake news"? Is it that some individuals share more fake news than others or more individuals share at least some fake news?

I'm sure a better title could be composed.

One would think from these comments that younger people don't share fake news. There is a reason the words 'naive" and "youth" are often associated with each other. Youth trying to evaluate/judge older people is, in a word, naive itself.

I spend maybe 30 minutes a day on New and just a minute or two on the Front Page. New is where all the interesting and thoughtful stuff is. The Front Page is pretty dull. I think only one item I voted on ended up on the front page. I'm reading this on New right now. I don't recall on ever voting on the Front Page.

I understand. As a camp host I experience just a little of what he's talking about. I swear there are actually people who ask wether there are lions and tigers around. (I'm in the Klamath Mountains of California!) On the other hand there are little girls like Olivia (about 3) who came up and snuggled against me after I chatted with her and showed her and her father how to pan for gold.

Becoming a camp host is one of the best things I ever did.

I understand webView will be completely re-written for for 10.15 Does anyone know if the absence of webView.scrollView for macOS will be corrected?

Film Noir has used progressive changes in focal length to subtly increase the apparent distress of the character as the film proceeds.

You are very right.

A YC Moderator responded to a similar post alleging that it was necessary to maintain civility. If someone reading this is a Moderator, I dare you to do a test. You have the resources. Select several hundred suppressed comments at random and tabulate wether there is abuse in the post, or if not then tabulate it as disagreement. This is the sort of thing you are paid to do, so do it!

As you say it's actually being used to suppress divergence of opinion. Every time it's done to me, it takes longer than before for me to resume commenting on HN. Eventually I will stop.

What can be done? Sufficient loss of reputation points for a down vote etc. would probably be enough to discourage frivolous actions.

The problem with side projects (often even with startups) is not the product. It's finding a reachable market, one you can easily tell about your product. Once you have located a accessible market, you can hire someone with appropriate domain knowledge to identify and create the product. You could even offer them limited ownership participation if they are good enough. Again, don't worry about the product. Worry about the market.

I'm afraid the analogy to prohibition doesn't work.

Following the end of prohibition, beer truck drivers became beer truck drivers, bartenders became bartenders, but the violent criminals moved into other rackets: drugs, prostitution, gambling, extortion, and the big one corruption. What are the violent element and the large number of financially distressed workers in the rural pot industry going to do?

Once you create a criminal class, it does not go away. Only the Chinese, the Filipino, and the Argentine governments have found the means to eliminate these classes. Their means are far too brutal to mention here. I would never advocate them. We are mostly helpless.

I live in Mexico half the year. Once pot is legalized on a widespread basis, these *s will show up at my door demanding $100 a month or else.

Don't get me wrong as I believe there is nothing we can do. Perhaps improving the situation with vigorous law enforcement would keep the problem under control.

Being 72, I'd never even consider looking for work in tech in spite of being very good at programing. While I have no experience in the current tech market to base my opinion on, I am sufficiently intimidated by the perception of agism that my potential contributions will be lost. Trying to change a tech company's age profile will be harder than just becoming receptive to applicants if applicants do not apply.

I would feel skittish without a more formal structure.

I play it by ear and just let my decision happen without worrying about. If I don't remember where it is, a system-wide search eventually leads me to it.

Just browsing through the alphabet is enjoyable as it brings up neat things I had forgotten about.

I do. I climbed stairs for 45 minutes four days a week for 2 decades. At 70 I was doing 1780 steps at a time. After my metatarsals complained, I began interval training on a stationary bike. During the summers I scramble up and down the Klamath Mountains looking for gold. It won't last forever, but I'm ok for now.

I look at that differently. My favorite epigram goes like this:

Very few worthwhile projects are ever successful on the first attempt. Failure is just another useful metric giving guidance on the re-formulation of the problem and the solution. Failure has nothing what-so-ever to do with guilt.

For the longest time as a young man I did not understand this. I though something was wrong with me because I failed so often.

I keep all my very current projects on the desktop along with temporary items and odd-balls I haven't classified. Everything else goes into folder called "A Reference System" which contains a folder for each letter of the alphabet.

Because pushing forward and outward, both geographically and socially, are what makes us human.

At an age of 72 I find that writing down my thought processes when I'm programming or debugging is of huge benefit. Holding a Q and A session with myself that echos each thought as it appears works best. In a crude sort of way I think it halves the time to accomplish a goal. I don't think it's just because I suffer the effects of aging. I wish I had started younger.

"A lot more experience = a lot more failures." YES. Your failures both form you and inform you at least as much as your successes.

It's the cumulative effect of lots of things. When I pose a question to my subconscious, it takes longer to get an answer. I make a few more mistakes, especially jumping to conclusions. It takes longer to debug them. Sustaining a train of thought is more difficult as my ADHD is a little worse, but writing out my thought processes (often in Q and A form) helps tremendously. Getting a synoptic view is definitely harder. All these things slow me down.

On the other hand, 51 years of adapting to new technology has strengthened my confidence that I can cope with problems. Having lost the usual confidence of youth, I have replaced it with determination based on the repeated experience of failure and the knowledge that I have overcome them. It's a different kind of confidence.

I am greatly envious of the education you folks have, but I make do.

It's a comparative thing, but I worked as a geologist/programmer. Nobody can avoid using computers. They are just so damn useful.

I actually haven't met many being a scientific programmer in a science with little need for programming. So, I guess I'm the most talented. I was at my best in my 40's, but at 72 I'm still very good, but slow.

What is missing today is not superb music, it's the dynamic the brought excellence together permitting its fusion and the evolution of a re-enforceing and self-perpetuating identity.

The huge empowerment to make and distribute music today, as wonderful as it is, has led to an overwhelming abundance that dilutes excellence and prevents it from coming together to reinforce itself and perpetuate its creation.

There must be wonderful music out there, but I'll never hear it. Sigh!

Please, don't confuse exhaustion and the depression that comes with it as something more permanent. I've been programming for over 50 years. I'm not as fast as I was, but I'm still very good. I did not do my best work until I was over forty. Tech is appallingly misinformed about the effects of aging. Don't let the prevailing nonsense mislead you!

Listen to me my friend. Take a 3 week stress-free break away from home. Away from home is essential. Go to an all-inclusive resort like Club Med. Make sure it's 3 weeks at least and stress-free.

You are about to enter the most productive period in your life. When you come back, you will be ready for it and eager to show the world.

DO IT!