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by claar
3921 days ago
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If you don't understand this (like me), see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_koan#Uncarved_block for an explanation. According to that link, it's based on a true story: So Sussman began working on a program. Not long after,
this odd-looking bald guy came over. Sussman figured the
guy was going to boot him out, but instead the man sat
down, asking, "Hey, what are you doing?" Sussman talked
over his program with the man, Marvin Minsky. At one point
in the discussion, Sussman told Minsky that he was using a
certain randomizing technique in his program because he
didn't want the machine to have any preconceived notions.
Minsky said, "Well, it has them, it's just that you don't
know what they are." It was the most profound thing Gerry
Sussman had ever heard. And Minsky continued, telling him
that the world is built a certain way, and the most
important thing we can do with the world is avoid
randomness, and figure out ways by which things can be
planned. Wisdom like this has its effect on
seventeen-year-old freshmen, and from then on Sussman was
hooked.
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