
Extensive Interview with Bill Gates (billg knows Lisp!) - byrneseyeview
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/comphist/gates.htm
======
mojuba
You see, in a similar interview I'd probably mention quantum mechanics but the
truth is that [censored] years after I learned it I know nothing about quantum
mechanics.

~~~
byrneseyeview
Ah, but quantum mechanics is worth learning for a different reason -- the
profound enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it. That
experience will make you a better thinker for the rest of your days, even if
you never actually use quantum mechanics itself a lot.

~~~
ced
Really? I got 2 classes on QM. I got no enlightenment, and it mostly made me
feel that we had reached the limits of what one can reasonably attempt with
pen-and-paper mathematics. Seriously, how many "corrections" do they need to
make in order to get a "good enough" hydrogen atom? Not to mention all of the
dubious math.

Learning the basics was interesting. The postulates, and all. But that was
what, 5 classes? I strongly discourage anyone from going any further. Not
worth it. Go study algebra instead, at least, no leap-of-faith approximations
are involved.

~~~
byrneseyeview
(It was a joking paraphrase of ESR's attitude towards Lisp. I don't know
enough QM to evaluate it)

~~~
ced
Eh, I had spotted the reference, but thought you were serious. QM was the dark
ages of my uni years, so I'm more suceptible to it than I should be, I guess
:)

------
danielha
re: submission title, Are you validating Lisp or are you validating Bill
Gates?

I'd be surprised if he didn't know Lisp. It's not exactly an obscure language
nor is he nontechnical.

~~~
byrneseyeview
I wasn't validating either. Gates is a smart man, so I'm sure he appreciates
the power of Lisp. It's interesting that he knows a great language and and
built a company that used a weaker language to create an even weaker result.
It's like finding out that in his spare time, John Grisham pores over _Bleak
House_.

~~~
ced
He's not alone. The co-author of Scheme went on to co-create _Java_

