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Lachlan Kermode
@ohrg.org

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

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."

Lachlan Kermode
@ohrg.org

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

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Shriram Krishnamurthi
@shriram.bsky.social

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.)