In our last class, I gave you some magic spells to play with. There were not many questions. There was one good question but it was asked by an adult: "what is the difference between ( ) and [ ]?". I will answer this in the next post.
To learn anything effectively, you must ask 'good' questions. What makes a good question? That is subjective and many people fear asking questions out of insecurities of appearing stupid. Do not let this fear deter you from asking questions. You asking questions will help me teach this. The smartest people I've met are also the ones who ask the most questions and fearlessly admit that they don't understand or know something.
It is often said that there are no stupid questions. That is probably true. However, what is definitely true is that there are Good Questions Good questions will guide you to better understanding. Having good questions is more important than having answers. The ability to ask good questions is a skill that can be developed with daily practice.
When I encounter something new, I apply these basic questions recursively: what, why, and how?
When someone uses a big word I don't understand, I interrupt them and ask them to define it before proceeding.
When someone says my idea is stupid, I prevent myself from taking it personally, ask why and 'do you have a better idea?'
When someone tells me they have a great idea, I try to understand it and see if there are homomorphic ideas. I reiterate the idea using different words and ask them if I understood it correctly.
When someone shows me a formula, I ask how it is derived. Are there other ways to derive it?
When someone tells me something is impossible, I ask why and how can I make it possible. Or what if that impossibility becomes a possibility, what would my system look like?
I question myself. I play Devils Advocate with my own ideas. What if I am wrong? Under what condition will this idea fail or is not true? Richard Feynman said it best with this quote
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.I also play devil's advocate with other people's ideas even when I agree with them. Sometimes I just want to troll
them but often times it gives me better insight. There are some ideas that I don't like or think are false. However, I pretend they are true but subject it to the scientific method to see where it leads me which sometimes lead me to conclude I was wrong. Sometimes there are questions that I have no clue how to even begin to answer. In such situations, I transform the question into a related question or break the question into a series of smaller simplier questions that I know how investigate. Answering a related question or a simplier question brings me closer to answering the hard question.
Here is a dialog between two famous intellectuals on the importance of questioning and critical thinking (among other things) Chomsky is an alumnus of my high-school and university.
Daily Homework Assignment
- Use the heuristics I have shared with you to ask your own questions. Apply it to your other classes and daily activities. You may have questions even your teachers or parents cannot answer. You will have more questions than answers so write those questions in a notebook. Prioitize the questions and categorize related question. Try to answer the high prioritiy questions (base on your own interests) by applying the scientific method. Occasionally look through your notebook as you grow and mature to see what questions you have answered. You may be surprised that question have stayed the same but your answers might have changed as you change. Do not be surprise because even our best scientific theories are provisional and can change as we learn more.
- Troll your parents and teachers but from the perspective of intellectual curiosity not malice :)
Happy π day (3.14)
Today is π day, the day Albert Einstein was born and the day Stephen Hawking died. Coincidence?
To commemorate the life of two great scientists who contributed greatly to humanity's understanding of the universe, I will share with you my book of magic spells
Take these spells and make it your own. Type these spells into Power Turtple REPL Don't copy and paste. Type the spells with your own fingers so you will examine each line. When one function has been entered, test it by calling it before moving to the next function. This gives you immediate feedback and also allows you to isolate bugs if any to that particular function. Make mistakes, fix mistakes, modify it, evolve it, then finally go beyond it. Can you make your own spell to draw a face?
(defn turn-draw
"turn right by specified angle, then draw a straight line with given length"
[angle length]
(right angle)
(forward length))
(defn polygon
"draw an n-sided regular polygon with sides of given length"
[n length]
(let [angle (/ 360 n)]
(repeat n #(turn-draw angle length))))
(defn triangle [length]
(polygon 3 length))
(defn square [length]
(polygon 4 length))
(defn pentagon [length]
(polygon 5 length))
(defn hexagon [length]
(polygon 6 length))
(defn heptagon [length]
(polygon 7 length))
(defn octagon [length]
(polygon 8 length))
(defn nonagon [length]
(polygon 9 length))
(defn hectogon [length]
(polygon 100 length))
(defn circle [radius]
(let [n 1000
fudge-factor 0.01 ;;used instead of doing trig calculations
distance (* fudge-factor radius)]
(polygon 1000 distance)))
(defn black-magic
"What kind of black magic is this?!"
[]
(doseq [n (range 10)]
(polygon n 100)))
Practice these spells at home. Question them. Identify what you don't understand. Apply Scientific Method to help you understand. When we meet in class, ask me questions that you were not able to answer yourself. We will practice using these spells and perhaps you can create your own spells to share with the class.