mike brock

google & stanford

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

@divyeshkrx ambition respect ambition

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

@lasermatts God i love Oklahoma

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

@ypatil125 big dog

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

check it out at https://t.co/yh7stQQ68H and on product hunt https://t.co/ov0wnwSO9b

video made using @jittervideo

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

links - the math tutor that thinks alongside your child, one problem at a time.

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

If you're a parent tired of gamified math apps or someone interested in the future of AI + education, give Links a try. First unit is free at https://t.co/yh7stQQ68H. Thank you @karpathy for the inspiration to look into this field! (8/8)

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

I've watched my niece and nephew use math "learning" apps that are really just games with occasional math problems sprinkled in. The actual math often feels like an interruption to the fun rather than the point. 🧵 (1/8)

[Andrej Karpathy @karpathy]

# on shortification of "learning"

There are a lot of videos on YouTube/TikTok etc. that give the appearance of education, but if you look closely they are really just entertainment. This is very convenient for everyone involved : the people watching enjoy thinking they are learning (but actually they are just having fun). The people creating this content also enjoy it because fun has a much larger audience, fame and revenue. But as far as learning goes, this is a trap. This content is an epsilon away from watching the Bachelorette. It's like snacking on those "Garden Veggie Straws", which feel like you're eating healthy vegetables until you look at the ingredients.

Learning is not supposed to be fun. It doesn't have to be actively not fun either, but the primary feeling should be that of effort. It should look a lot less like that "10 minute full body" workout from your local digital media creator and a lot more like a serious session at the gym. You want the mental equivalent of sweating. It's not that the quickie doesn't do anything, it's just that it is wildly suboptimal if you actually care to learn.

I find it helpful to explicitly declare your intent up front as a sharp, binary variable in your mind. If you are consuming content: are you trying to be entertained or are you trying to learn? And if you are creating content: are you trying to entertain or are you trying to teach? You'll go down a different path in each case. Attempts to seek the stuff in between actually clamp to zero.

So for those who actually want to learn. Unless you are trying to learn something narrow and specific, close those tabs with quick blog posts. Close those tabs of "Learn XYZ in 10 minutes". Consider the opportunity cost of snacking and seek the meal - the textbooks, docs, papers, manuals, longform. Allocate a 4 hour window. Don't just read, take notes, re-read, re-phrase, process, manipulate, learn.

And for those actually trying to educate, please consider writing/recording longform, designed for someone to get "sweaty", especially in today's era of quantity over quality. Give someone a real workout. This is what I aspire to in my own educational work too. My audience will decrease. The ones that remain might not even like it. But at least we'll learn something.

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

We're starting with the foundations - addition, subtraction, multiplication, division - because getting these right matters more than racing to advanced concepts built on shaky ground. (7/8)

[Demis Hassabis @demishassabis]

The world model is taking shape... 🌐

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

@PalmerLuckey apparently tesla makes their own vegan leather according to a tour of the fremont factory last week

[Jordan Singer @jsngr]

i think you’re at a steep advantage as the future of software and computers evolve if you’re innately creative and design oriented

the ability to evoke simplicity, abstract away complexity, and make things feel more human will be highly sought after

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

@mrharp88 @bhsbruin 📈

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

@jittervideo momentum 🔥

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

@sev_mitch @Spotify tweet did not age well

[mike brock @michaelnbrock]

@sev_mitch 🫡