[”But of course, a mere machine can’t really think, can it?”], he said: “You insist
that there is something a machine cannot do. If you will tell me precisely what it is that a machine
cannot do, then I can always make a machine which will do just that!” - J. von Neumann in a talk on computers given in Princeton in 1948.
An interesting note from the author of “Probability Theory - The Logic of Science”.
“A language that doesn’t affect the way you think about
programming, is not worth knowing.” - Alan Perlis
Beautiful is better than ugly.
Explicit is better than implicit.
Simple is better than complex.
Complex is better than complicated.
Flat is better than nested.
Sparse is better than dense.
Readability counts.
Special cases aren’t special enough to break the rules.
Although practicality beats purity.
Errors should never pass silently.
Unless explicitly silenced.
In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.
There should be one–and preferably only one–obvious way to do it.
Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you’re Dutch.
Now is better than never.
Although never is often better than *right* now.
If the implementation is hard to explain, it’s a bad idea.
If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
Namespaces are one honking great idea–let’s do more of those!
–Tim Peters, “The Zen of Python”
What is wrong with us (India and Indians)? Why do we have so few Nobel laureates (a general measure that shows our progress in various fields)? Why do we have only a handful of quality researchers in India? Why didnt I go for a PhD in Physics? Why are others quitting their PhD s? Aren’t we cut out to be a visionary? The same “us” when given an opportunity elsewhere (in US) have done exceptionally well! Why? Is it money, motivation, freedom, peer pressure or a “brain drain”?
Does a class-room learning aimed at securing “high marks/grades” lead us to be a learned individual? Does a “coached” study to get us admitted into *Institute Of* add anything worthy to us? There are two roads, one of certainty and other of uncertainty and possible hardships; which one would we pick? Does landing in a high paying job measure success? Is it “satisfying” ? Does our job get our passion? Does our cultural values allow us to be adventurous (against the option of choosing the safer option of earning)? … and the questions continue!
Waht is worng? How do we set it right? Do you have similar questions or have answers?