

There's no speed limit (2009) - chintanp
http://sivers.org/kimo

======
lloeki
_"The pace was intense, and I loved it. Finally, someone was challenging me -
keeping me in over my head - encouraging and expecting me to pull myself up,
quickly. I was learning so fast, it had the adrenaline of sports or a video
game. A two-way game of catch, he tossed every fact back at me and made me
prove I got it."_

That's precisely the fundamentals of France _classes préparatoires_ (or
casually _prépa_ ): iterate swiftly and efficiently on knowledge by
challenging yourself to the upper limit... and above: there are quite a bunch
of things I never ever thought I would be able to grasp, let alone master, yet
I did, and more.

 _In our three-hour lesson that morning, he taught me a full semester of
Berklee's harmony courses._

The first year's Mathematics course started with a single day during which we
re-learned everything we though we knew about Mathematics that we learnt
during the last three years. Yes, we covered three years worth in one day. It
was an eye opener about the field of Mathematics as a whole. Physics course
took another yet similar in goal approach.

The second year began with a full week Math course during which we re-learned
everything we learned during that first year. This gave us a perspective of
how far we've come but also at how challenging the coming year would be. I
actually failed that second year the first time, although barely so I retried,
with success.

It's extremely sad that this system is unpopular because it's perceived as
elitist and inegalitarian, as well as an archaic Napoleonian process. People
want education to cater for the poor folk that has a hard time keeping up with
the basics (which is a worthwhile goal) but are dismissive to those that can
easily keep up and more. In hindsight I could have actually failed before
reaching _la prépa_ out of boredom.

~~~
cdavid
It may not be obvious to every reader, but Berkelee school would actually be
classes prepa here, as it is one of the most prestigious music school in the
world. What Sivers talks about here is to go much beyond that.

I would not put "classes prepa" in the challenging category. It is actually
rather dull 2/3 years where you learn not so much about the material, but
learn how to solve many exercices (I like the example given by Pierre Gilles
de Gennes, which reminds me of my own attitude during some kholles:
<http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/fragile-objects/>). Most people
entering classes preparatoires will get out with something, so per definition
it is not challenging: challenging means doing something that you did not
think were possible from yourself. While classes preparatoires were not always
easy for me, I was never really challenged by it, and I think most people were
not either.

~~~
lloeki
_It is actually rather dull 2/3 years where you learn not so much about the
material, but learn how to solve many exercices_

That was absolutely not my case (but I know it has been the case for some in
other cities). In my case the exercises, while numerous, were not that many,
but were selected and crafted to push and bend the mind. The goal each time
was to produce not someone who knows but someone who builds. The most striking
example was one of my professors who had a habit of yelling _"Et là, c'est
fini!"_ ("And then, its over!"), halfway through a proof and sometimes as
early as the second line, or even once having completed writing the first
line, when the crux of the problem was to ask yourself the right question and
express it the right way. This was a kind of recurring joke while at the same
time the signal of the crux, the apex of the proof, where once you get past
that point the rest is downhill freewheeling (although as with downhill
driving, you should not get too carried away). It was the mark at which you
could find the pattern, the point which defines the line (as in racing) that
you will be able to build upon to come up with your own solutions.

In front of the blackboard, solving the exercise was never a goal in itself,
but the path mattered just as much, if not more. It was common to actually not
achieve an academic solution but demonstrating an ability to build an
overarching path, though incomplete in its proof, that would lead to the
solution would be rewarded. It was not uncommon either to solve the problem
much quicker than expected, and the remainder of the kholle would be spend
either enhancing the solution, finding an alternative solution, or extending
the problem with a follow up or a generalization.

We were not meant to be dumb technical toolboxes (which the PGdG example is a
perfect example) but brand new problem solvers. I would draw much parallels
between those problem solving abilities and hacking solutions, refactoring
arcs, encapsulating problems and caring about the bigger scope, to produce
elegant and rewarding solutions.

Granted, this kind of teaching is not ubiquitous to every single _prépa_ out
there, but my point is that it cannot occur at all in a "common denominator"
environment, where by design people that can keep up will have to look
elsewhere by themselves to be challenged, whereas _prépa_ or schools like
Berkelee can act as a catalyst.

------
chintanp
"Kimo's high expectations set a new pace for me. He taught me _the standard
pace is for chumps_ \- that the system is designed so anyone can keep up. If
you're more driven than _just anyone_ \- you can do so much more than anyone
expects. And this applies to ALL of life - not just school".

I wish someone had told me this while I was in school.

~~~
skrebbel
The thing I liked about standard pace was that I had plenty of time to fail in
boards of student societies, events organizing and an own company and whatnot.

I always wonder a bit whether the people who skip years and study super-fast
really know anything about the world.

------
xyzzyz
That's definitely true. I started studying CS two years ago on one of the best
Maths/CS departments in eastern Europe, last year I started Maths and I expect
to get both Bachelor's next year. It was pretty hard, especially the exam
sessions, but it was also a lot of fun -- definitely worth it. Now I'm an
intern in Santa Clara and it feels like holiday.

My advice is, if you're not sure whether you'll be able to do something, don't
hesitate -- most of the time nothing bad happens if you fail, and if your case
is different, the greater your motivation will be.

------
netrus
Best detail about the site: You can change the language. But at least for
German, it is no automatic translation. He translated his whole site to
multiple languages. wow!

~~~
sivers
Glad you like that! Yeah I hired 9 translators to translate into 9 languages.
If you switch it to Arabic it goes right-to-left. Fun design challenge.

~~~
guilbep
I saw some mistakes in the french version, I switched back to english once I
realized it wasn't the original language. It tooked me two paragraphs to
notice it. (I'm a native french speaker.) I thought you would like to know
that :) !! Great article. Thanks!

------
nadam
Good article, but the title is a bit too sensational for me.

I agree that a good teacher and motivation can help you reach your potential
very fast.

I would say there are two range of domains:

\- 1. almost only synthetic, axiom system has small 'Kolmogorov complexity':
mathematics, algorithmization (on non-research level)

\- 2. more pattern matching, processing of huge amount of information:
history, politics, industrial software development, business and everything on
research-level.

In the first range, if you find a good teacher and you are motivated then you
can go to your potential extremely fast. Miracles happen within weeks. After a
point you reach the 2. range, where you are already playing in a league with
similarly skilled people, and you progress only extremely slowly.

That's why some geeks are much better in math at the age 12 than the average
adult, but they have to learn and practice for long years to become a
professional mathematician or to create a successful software business.

------
brianimmel
Previous thread <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=970945>

------
loup-vaillant
Seems to manage Accept-language (I see French). Neat.

~~~
sivers
Thanks! Sorry the French translation isn't great. Turns out the guy that I
hired wasn't a native speaker, just pretending, and I've heard from a lot of
people that it's a pretty bad translation. Gotta re-do it.

~~~
ecaradec
Actually the french is correct, it's more that it's doesn't sound like a good
writer.

------
diolpah
Some good takeaways here, and an inspirational message, but the human brain
still has a reasonably fixed (over the long term) bits per second
acquisition/retention rate for pure information and a fixed degree of neural
plasticity.

In reality, there is a speed limit. At least until Kurzweil gets his way.

~~~
vnchr
By that qualification, the Autobahn has a speed limit too: the limit of how
fast land vehicles can move.

The analogy of the blog holds. Infinity only happens in calculus, so why
bother poo-pooing a helpful metaphor?

Like a good vision statement in a business plan that calls for a direction
without bothering with a specific magnitude, "There is no speed limit" calls
the reader to question limitations as a matter of directing their imagination
to the problem of expectation as opposed the conventional expectation.

Dream onward...

~~~
jarek
Technically speaking, every stretch of road ever built has an inherent speed
limit. Design speed dictates design parameters such as length of sight lines
and radius of curves; exceed it too much and you will meet the real limit even
if your vehicle has plenty of power left.

~~~
lloeki
A car is much more that the power output of its engine. It therefore has a
role to play in this limit.

 _"Power is nothing without control"_ \- Pirelli

 _"Fun is not a straight line"_ \- BF Goodrich

 _"The analogy of the blog holds"_ \- GP poster

~~~
jarek
For any given vehicle, the design of the highway given the design of the
vehicle will impose a speed limit, which may be lower than the limit of how
fast land vehicles can move, and may be lower than how fast the particular
vehicle can move.

The analogy does hold for the purposes of a fluffy motivational blog post, of
course.

