Post

Does anyone know of an intro to CS that includes Weizenbaum's _Computer Power and Human Reason_? What with this AI business, it seems more essential than ever to get this in front of computer people as early as possible

Lachlan Kermode

@ohrg.org

23 June

@shriram.bsky.social maybe an idea for your course. It could even be an audiobook assignment IMO

Shriram Krishnamurthi

@shriram.bsky.social

24 June

People won't read all that, sadly. Or they'll ask for an AI summary. I've found that short blog posts work best.

Lachlan Kermode

@ohrg.org

24 June

Surely at least this: "Programming is rather a test of understanding. In this respect it is like writing; often when we think we understand something and attempt to write about it, our very act of composition reveals our lack of understanding even to ourselves."

Lachlan Kermode

@ohrg.org

"Our pen writes the word "because" and suddenly stops. We thought we understood the "why" of something, but discover that we don't. We begin a sentence with "obviously"; and then see that what we meant to write is not obvious at all."

24/6/26, 5:52 pm0 reposts1 like

Lachlan Kermode

@ohrg.org

24 June

"Sometimes we connect two clauses with the word "therefore," only to then see that our chain of reasoning is defective."

Shriram Krishnamurthi

@shriram.bsky.social

25 June

As a TA you've probably read and graded a non-trivial % of the writing that I have, so I think you know how true this is in practice. Unless maybe Princeton/Brown humanities students are in fact exceptional writers! (But yes, absolutely, every one of those connective-tissue phrases gives me pause.)