6 ms·

> something that learns your interests It's not rocket science, a mole rat could figure out that kids want to play video games and eat candy all day long.

danharaj 7y ago
One of the most popular video games amongst kids is about tinkering, exploration and building cool stuff.
- otabdeveloper2 7y ago
  No child learned anything useful in Minecraft. It's better than Candy Crush (no overt addicting psychological tricks) but ultimately the same kind of waste of time. No child ever grew up and said "gee, how great it is that I spent 10000 hours in Minecraft instead of doing sports or learning a useful skill". I grew up on video games myself; trust me, it sucks.
  - spiralganglion 7y ago
    I grew up playing video games, and now I'm a graphics programmer. I learned to program because I wanted to make games. Trust me, it slaps.
    - walterstucco 7y ago
      That's just motivation
  - fazzone 7y ago
    Some years ago I worked at a technology-oriented summer camp where I personally taught several bright young children to program. Minecraft mods were an incredibly popular project and a big driver of interest for many of the kids. Many of my counselor colleagues got into programming themselves modding Warcraft III and other games of that era. The absolute conversion rate may be low because the playerbase is so huge, but I think something like Minecraft is definitely the first (or zero-th) step in the journey of a lot of kids these days who become interested in technology and will later develop into the next generation of programmers & technologists.
  - uneasy-sausage 7y ago
    I'm going to go out on a limb and guess youve removed most forms of gaming from you life?
derefr 7y ago
Textbooks aren’t just for children. (Adult education is woefully underoptimized.)
- otabdeveloper2 7y ago
  Adult interests are a no-brainer in the same way. "Figuring out your interests" isn't the hard or useful part. The hard part is changing your default (usually harmful) interests into something useful and productive. That involves lots of psychology and (yes) manipulation and coercion.
  - XaoDaoCaoCao 7y ago
    "useful and productive" The cognitive nihilist in me shudders at the thought of a technocrat deciding what my own best interests are. "Your best interests are the games I like to play, not the games you like to play." Which is a fine position and all that. The objectionable part of it is the pretense of objectivity.
RobLach 7y ago
Figuring out and guiding the motivations of children is harder than rocket science. Putting a rocket into space is just a lot of maths; we're not close to having anything like that in regards to human outcomes.

danharaj 7y ago

One of the most popular video games amongst kids is about tinkering, exploration and building cool stuff.

otabdeveloper2 7y ago
No child learned anything useful in Minecraft. It's better than Candy Crush (no overt addicting psychological tricks) but ultimately the same kind of waste of time. No child ever grew up and said "gee, how great it is that I spent 10000 hours in Minecraft instead of doing sports or learning a useful skill". I grew up on video games myself; trust me, it sucks.
- spiralganglion 7y ago
  I grew up playing video games, and now I'm a graphics programmer. I learned to program because I wanted to make games. Trust me, it slaps.
  - walterstucco 7y ago
    That's just motivation
- fazzone 7y ago
  Some years ago I worked at a technology-oriented summer camp where I personally taught several bright young children to program. Minecraft mods were an incredibly popular project and a big driver of interest for many of the kids. Many of my counselor colleagues got into programming themselves modding Warcraft III and other games of that era. The absolute conversion rate may be low because the playerbase is so huge, but I think something like Minecraft is definitely the first (or zero-th) step in the journey of a lot of kids these days who become interested in technology and will later develop into the next generation of programmers & technologists.
- uneasy-sausage 7y ago
  I'm going to go out on a limb and guess youve removed most forms of gaming from you life?

derefr 7y ago

Textbooks aren’t just for children. (Adult education is woefully underoptimized.)

otabdeveloper2 7y ago
Adult interests are a no-brainer in the same way. "Figuring out your interests" isn't the hard or useful part. The hard part is changing your default (usually harmful) interests into something useful and productive. That involves lots of psychology and (yes) manipulation and coercion.
- XaoDaoCaoCao 7y ago
  "useful and productive" The cognitive nihilist in me shudders at the thought of a technocrat deciding what my own best interests are. "Your best interests are the games I like to play, not the games you like to play." Which is a fine position and all that. The objectionable part of it is the pretense of objectivity.

RobLach 7y ago

Figuring out and guiding the motivations of children is harder than rocket science. Putting a rocket into space is just a lot of maths; we're not close to having anything like that in regards to human outcomes.