Most active commenters
  • azinman2(4)
  • johnisgood(4)

←back to thread

721 points bradgessler | 13 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
Show context
don_neufeld ◴[] No.44009004[source]
Completely agree.

From all of my observations, the impact of LLMs on human thought quality appears largely corrosive.

I’m very glad my kid’s school has hardcore banned them. In some class they only allow students to turn in work that was done in class, under the direct observation of the teacher. There has also been a significant increase in “on paper” work vs work done on computer.

Lest you wonder “what does this guy know anyways?”, I’ll share that I grew up in a household where both parents were professors of education.

Understanding the effectiveness of different methods of learning (my dad literally taught Science Methods) were a frequent topic. Active learning (creating things using what you’re learning about) is so much more effective than passive, reception oriented methods. I think LLMs largely are supporting the latter.

replies(6): >>44009388 #>>44010296 #>>44010436 #>>44010768 #>>44011460 #>>44011653 #
johnisgood ◴[] No.44010436[source]
You can learn a lot from LLMs though, same with, say, Wikipedia. You need curiosity. You need the desire to learn. If you do not have it, then of course you will get nowhere, LLMs or no LLMs.
replies(5): >>44010465 #>>44010488 #>>44011049 #>>44011406 #>>44011771 #
1. azinman2 ◴[] No.44010465[source]
Never underestimate laziness, or willingness to take something 80% as good for 1% of the work.

So most are not curious. So what do you do for them?

replies(4): >>44010539 #>>44011707 #>>44013944 #>>44014968 #
2. johnisgood ◴[] No.44010539[source]
You have to somehow figure out the root cause of the laziness, or if it really is laziness, and not something else, e.g. a mental health issue.

Plus, many kids fail school not because of laziness, but because of their toxic environment.

replies(1): >>44010997 #
3. Swizec ◴[] No.44010997[source]
> if it really is laziness, and not something else, e.g. a mental health issue.

Kids optimize. When I was in high school I was fully capable of getting straight F's in a class I didn't care about and straight A's in a class I enjoyed.

Why bother learning chemistry when you could instead spend that time coding cool plugins and websites in PHP that thousands of internet strangers are using? I really did build one of the most popular phpBB plugins and knew I was gonna be a software engineer. Not that my chemistry professor cared about any of that or even understood what I'm talking about.

replies(1): >>44013595 #
4. BobbyTables2 ◴[] No.44011707[source]
Realistically, putting them into trades sooner could almost be a good thing. Kids who don’t want to learn end up dragging down the class and distracting those who do.

But, these are kids… Hard to argue that adults should selectively deny education when it is their responsibility to do otherwise.

We don’t neglect the handicapped because it is inconvenient to provide them with assistance.

5. johnisgood ◴[] No.44013595{3}[source]
What you just described is irrelevant to what we are discussing.

As for what you said, yeah, I got 1s (Fs) because I was too busy coding and reading books on philosophy, as a 14 years old.

replies(1): >>44014557 #
6. BeFlatXIII ◴[] No.44013944[source]
Leave ‘em behind and win the race.
replies(1): >>44023664 #
7. Swizec ◴[] No.44014557{4}[source]
How is it irrelevant? Kids will always cheat their way through classes they feel are a distraction. Even the super smart Type A kids.

Hell, all humans do that. You use every resource available to get out of dealing with things that are not your priority. This means you will never be good at those things and that’s fine. You can’t be good at everything.

replies(1): >>44014636 #
8. johnisgood ◴[] No.44014636{5}[source]
They will, but we were talking about the will or motivation to learn. If someone has a curious mind, and actually wants to learn, then they can definitely use LLMs to do that.

I don't disagree with you though.

9. AstroBen ◴[] No.44014968[source]
that's on them? Why do I have to take responsibility for someone else's growth?
replies(1): >>44023674 #
10. azinman2 ◴[] No.44023664[source]
Why would you advocate for society failing apart? What race is there to win if most lose?
11. azinman2 ◴[] No.44023674[source]
Because we, as a society, need to create a future of mutual benefit. If you don’t, only terrible things happen, including to you.
replies(1): >>44023771 #
12. AstroBen ◴[] No.44023771{3}[source]
Maybe my comment was a little harsh. I do believe we should have the structure in place for people to learn from as they wish. We should show them it's available, and the benefits of it

But the lazy, uncurious person that wants to shortcut everything, that you described? They're not even trying to help themselves. Maybe the best thing to do there is to let a little time pass and for them to see the result of their actions. You can lead a horse to water..

replies(1): >>44024110 #
13. azinman2 ◴[] No.44024110{4}[source]
> Maybe the best thing to do there is to let a little time pass and for them to see the result of their actions

This is most kids, myself included. I’m curious and have done well, but if I could have had essays written for me as a kid for sure I’d have tried. And I’d be off worse for it.

Kids also just want to eat sugar and play video games. As parents and a society, we both provide and force alternatives because as adults we know better.

You can lead a horse to water, sure, but you could also lead it to something filled with their worst instincts. Let’s avoid the later.