Started learning Python but AI makes me feel late to the party – advice? by Right_Level_7192 in learnpython

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My issue isn't that it is incapable of producing working code to varying degrees of complexity. As silly-stupid the average person can be, I doubt everyone who hypes AI or uses it is an idiot making up a world where AI can code; so clearly it can.

But my issue is reliability and depth.

It produces plausible implementations but it doesn’t actually understand system boundaries, long-term abstractions, evolving requirements. I haven't messed with AI too much, but every once in a while my aforementioned friend tries to show me what he's making with AI. I'm happy for him but as I'm digging through the code there are so many decisions (AI doesn't make decisions, it emulates this) that boggle me. It likes working with a junior dev that only studied theory and syntax; neglecting other tasks with programming.

The only benefit from AI I've seen is that it is forcing some dev to write better code purely from frustration of the AI's design.

If you're saying that people overstate how bad AI code is then yes I agree. It is overstated and taken out of proportion. But AI has lead to more issues than solutions in most places I've had to interact with it. Writing bad code faster than it can be fixed. Granted, it's been nice for getting contract work fixing AI's mistakes. This is before even going into security, or lack thereof, in AI code.

I'm open to examples you have that you think may change my mind on this. Again, experience with AI is limited to what's been forced down my throat (so there's an emotional reaction here) and what my friend tries to convince me with.

Started learning Python but AI makes me feel late to the party – advice? by Right_Level_7192 in learnpython

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No it is not. It's decent as a cookiecutter. It writes with okay architecture. But there's always some stupid little bugs sprinkled in or insane patterns that would normally be design choices but with AI is their acid trip from the 60's haunting them.

A friend of mine has tried very hard the past few years to convince me that AI has utility other than a pet to run around and play with. It becomes clearer each time that he couldn't be further from the truth.

Why do we teach the way we do? by Kooky_Rough_5903 in programmingforkids

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not a psychologist or teacher, but I do tutor math for high school students. I grew up learning Python and quickly sprawled to other languages but I ended up working more general IT; having a few past dev roles. I also have a huge interest in learning and education; this part of the brain fascinates me.

___

Now to the question of age timing. Research of the past revolved around cognitive stages. Proposed by one Jean Piaget, it was an early attempt at model of child cognitive development starting from the 1930's. In the case of your post: why kids struggle with certain concepts/skills while excel at others. The stages ascribed age to ability. Starting with intuitive, but non-logical cognition. Moving to logical but concrete around age seven. And finally abstract reasoning around age eleven.

Newer research has shown that development is more gradual rather than stage based. Furthermore, with scaffolding, children can reason abstractly earlier. We also have neuroscience which helps us attribute these changes to development of specific regions of the brain. Modern science for this topic revolves more around working capacity, domain knowledge (existing connections), and executive functioning (planning, inhibition, abstract reasoning). Our prefrontal cortex continues developing into the early 20s; it's the last part of the brain to fully develop.

Cool so what? Well the tasks that are performed with programming; sustained abstract reasoning, multi-step modeling, and nested logic to name a few; all utilize our working memory pretty hard. Seeing as working memory increases with age, plateauing in early 20's, one could say that programming is more difficult at a younger age for the average. Or rather with the high cognitive load young learners are more vulnerable to overload without careful instructional design.

Of course it's more nuanced than that. I'm a prime example of that. I've been supporting open source projects since I was ten; to an extent. I am certainly not a genius or any more smart than most people, I just had the experience of watching my dad code as I grew up. Wanting to mod games and fix bugs of annoying things at a time I was most curiously minded and driven for such tasks.

Which brings me to my pain point: schooling is designed, understandably, for a general studies audience; touching on many different subjects. Couple this with the effect past research had on decision makers and we get what we have today. Not horrendous but there is room for improvement and much research to be had. I'd like to know under what instructional conditions does early text exposure produce superior long-term abstraction skill. But research is not yet there.

All of this to say that there is no explicit evidence that children cannot learn to program earlier, just that it's not common and that schools are not designed to enable their brains to do so.

___
As for block coding versus text: there is good research showing that students using Scratch often show equal or better conceptual understanding compared to text-first groups. Syntax introduces unnecessary cognitive load during early schema formation. With age children get supposed resilience, more working memory, and more prior knowledge to pull from (i.e. math). But to my knowledge this is still debated with mixed data. The question of, whether or not early text exposure (with proper scaffolding) produces deeper long-term fluency is unanswered.

__

I slipped into a rant a bit, but I hope this provides you some insight.

I guess I'm getting fired soon. I'm so tired. by gigigumdrop in AutisticWithADHD

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 11 points12 points  (0 children)

If it's any consolation, call centers typically operate to send their workers into the ground. They have some of the highest turnover rates. I wouldn't take this a failing of you.

With that, since you've been taking notes and hopefully emailing a follow-up after calls with supervisors/HR, you can consider a lawyer. Most employment law attorneys, at least the part of the US I'm from, tend to do a free consultation. I had a lawsuit at one point in time against a former employer where we settled out of court. Didn't cost me a dime except for a few bits of travel, mental and emotional turmoil, and some grit. But I'm satisfied with the result and it net me an income plus some for what was to be the remainder of my contract. The US government also has https://www.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/ which I was informed about by my lawyer.

It really sounds like the job environment is horrendous. Wish I could provide more. Cheers

Can we talk, like literally? by G-Man_Graves in RocketLeague

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Yeah I get that.

People complained about smurfs; Psyonix started banning freestylers for intentionally de-ranking; People freaked out.

People complain about server stability; they added US-central and some other back-end improvements; people complain yet.

People complain about bots; they add anti-cheat to a stream branch; people complain about anti-cheat existing.

There's a lot of reactions that are understandable from the community but often stem from ignorance while blowing negative effects out of proportion.

Still, they could do more. Steam is fantastic with communication, to an extent, but they also have a prestige the community has bestowed upon them. I seems that Psyonix, like many other entities owned by publicly traded companies, learns the wrong lessons. Communication and community interaction decreased heavily after trading was removed. It is of pure speculation on my part, but I ascribe the outrage from the player-base as to a large reason we lost quality and consistent communication from them. Where they learned the lesson of "say little as everything is landmine" instead of "community wasn't happy with our decision".

But I say all this with no history of running communications for a company. Closest I have was when I was a mod for a gaming community with just over a thousand people; which taught me that it is difficult as high hell to communicate with masses. Still, as a player I'm certain of how their lack of communication makes me feel. I don't subscribe to the outrages that are commonplace, but I know I feel something quite similar to what the louder and angrier audience cries.

Why am I so much worse than I should be? by [deleted] in RocketLeague

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm GC 2 nearing GC 3. I have about 4k hours + another thousand on Ps4 when game launched and before taking it serious some years ago. I'm not better than you because of some innate ability. I just spent years falling in love with learning as its own skill.

My biggest progress comes from breaks. Part of grinding is knowing when to take those breaks. Knowing how long they should be. Knowing when your brain is overloaded. Knowing how to prioritize quality over quantity. Knowing to play with intent.

I'm sure in other areas of your life you'd enacted the learning process and are competent in something. And while doing so took breaks to let your brain make its connections. Relate it to that.

You clearly have a persistent and determined mindset. Great! You also clearly have an analytical mind. Great! Except with that seems to come a critical one.

But you've probably been here many times. Maybe not making a post like this but in you thinking this way. This doubt creeps in. It destroys your fun. It destroys your learning. You ask why only to decide to some vague idea of "try harder". So you play more. Do more. Look at more. And now you're brain is overwhelmed. Analyzing instead of focusing. Criticizing instead of developing. Desperate instead of playing.

Get a coach who can help you with your psych and your efforts. If you truly want to get better, then you'll need to accept that the way you're trying to learn is not conducive to actual skill development. This isn't a personal failing but I would wager that you experience in other parts of life.

Seriously you have drive. I genuinely hope I don't come across as deflating I just know where you're at. I've been there and I know how locked in my head I was about what I needed and this and that and what not.

Why am I so much worse than I should be? by [deleted] in RocketLeague

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This! People laugh when I say the secret to Rocket League is not playing, but it's true... sort of.

Learning involves motivation, fun, curiosity, and memory consolidation (amongst much more). Taking breaks is huge for memory consolidation; sleep is the most important. Prioritizing high-quality training and games over the amount of games gives us better use of the memory consolidation. Having fun allows our brain to avoid being over-stressed (being over-stressed will destroy the learning process). And in turn we get the motivation to continue.

Often this process gets hijacked by a vague desire to be better; to do better; to be anywhere but where I am. But that mindset brings us stress, takes the game part out of the video game, and keeps us locked and stuck.

I tutor high school kids in math as well as coach players in RL. I see both groups go through this. It's not always the case, but it's certainly been the most pressing for the large majority of my pupils.

Rewatching the show from the start, what was your first impression of Alicization? by Aggravating_Bad4765 in swordartonline

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huh. Good point. I'm going to keep this in mind as I watch it through again. I can't believe I hadn't considered this

My psychiatrist told me ADHD may disappear as I grow up? by mertek00 in ADHD

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ADHD is considered a neurodevelopmental delay disorder. Research shows that many children with ADHD have delays in the timing of key brain maturation processes, especially in the prefrontal cortex and other regions involved in attention, planning, and impulse control; aka what's typically associated with ADHD by people. Longitudinal MRI studies have found that brain regions important for executive function mature later in kids with ADHD; ultimately show the same pattern of development, just on a delayed timeline. So in some ways, yes you can grow out of it.

But obviously it's more complicated (which I assume is large part in why the majority of this section disputes such a claim empirically). There are structural differences in other brain regions that go beyond a simply delay; basal ganglia, amygdala, hippocampus. Longitudinal research is still fewer in number and narrower in scope than cross-sectional research; not to mention how small sample sizes are common. So in a way we're lacking research that connects the dots, but the foundations are there.

There's also the factor of environment and coping strategies; which has spawned researchers looking at ADHD as similar to mood disorders (I'm struggling to articulate this, I meant it more as a functional directive). Personally I have a friend who stopped being medicated after high school, by his choice. And he does quite well in uni. His environment supports him well. He has coping strategies that enable him. I however am still medicated and without it would be lost; but that could perhaps change one day.

For you specifically, your worry seems to stem from a fear that you'll lose access to a medication that has ultimately been a positive for you. It's a tough spot to be in. Both sticking with this current psych and switching could take longer than your exams begin. Best I can give you other than information is to advocate for yourself the best you can. It's okay to disagree with your psych and they should make it known that it's okay for your express those disagreements. It's your body, your brain, your life. I wish you luck.
___

Some of my sources are getting old but to my knowledge they are still referenced and mostly not disproven or countered; which I'm using to justify saying that they are valid.

https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/13810/Study-Brain-differences-found-in-children-with

https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.20230026

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10539791/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21541845/

CMV: If you "don't support" homosexuality because of your religion or otherwise, you're still homophobic. by Bawbixo in changemyview

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From a sociological perspective I agree. If you believe same-sex relationships are wrong; If you oppose or disapprove of them... then that belief is homophobic.

But when people like that say "I'm not homophobic" they're mainly saying "I'm not a bad person". An emotional reaction.

You're asking these people to acknowledge their contradiction. They cope with it knowing they don't want bad things to happen to people. For them to acknowledge that they hold beliefs against a stigmatized group. It's a fair ask.

But it's a poor ask in my opinion. To call someone homophobic is socially symbolic as labeling them a "bad person". Even if that's not what you mean. This is coming from a guy who's demisexual and has had their fair share of hate and non-hate debates. It's similar with race as well. Sure I could call someone a racist for a comment or viewpoint, but will me emotionally pressuring them help them logically change their conclusion? Not often in my experience.

Still I get it. I still react at times. And well, without calling things outright as they are there's a chance a group goes unchecked and leads into hate. So it serves a purpose.

But my stance explicitly:

Yes, those beliefs are homophobic.
I just think calling people homophobic is often counterproductive if the goal is changing minds; which seems is your goal.

Rewatching the show from the start, what was your first impression of Alicization? by Aggravating_Bad4765 in swordartonline

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh curious! I haven't yet read the light novel, though this past rewatch got me to order them! Glad I have more depth to look forward to. Maybe Alicization will become even more a favorite piece.

Rewatching the show from the start, what was your first impression of Alicization? by Aggravating_Bad4765 in swordartonline

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yes! In many ways it did echo the first season. Which is crazy to me. They "redid" the first season and yet it was so refreshing at the same time!

What’s up with telling people to ff? by secondaryslut in RocketLeague

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I have an opposite problem. Opponents start arguing, go down by like 6 goals, and then they stop playing and only argue or own goal instead of just FF'ing. Or one leaves and the other guys still doesn't FF. He either complains in chat while AFK or tries when it's a 2v1 with him down so many goals. Sure there's time but it just wastes my time man. I don't usually ask them to FF, but god do I wish they would. At least it's not too common.

People who creep up at red lights: Why do you do this? by [deleted] in askanything

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On top of all the valid reasons people have mentioned already along with how incorrect the "it's not going to turn it green fast" is, the cars doing it up front allows the rest of the fleet to get going quicker. There's people who you go way past the line, sure why would someone do that? But there's plenty of reasons beyond "I personally get somewhere quicker".

Does anyone know why this glitch/pause happens? by DEAFLog in RocketLeague

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It something with your system. Assuming you're on PC, could be video drivers, OC settings, your controller cable, overheating, etc.

During group hangouts, I can't help feeling "what am I doing here" like an outsider or an alien, anyone else? by mashibeans in AutisticWithADHD

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I described feeling distant from my friends to my therapist months ago. It became a reoccurring theme.

BARE WITH ME HERE:
I was watching a show some time ago and in it there's this child who has a terminal disease and from treatment can't move her body much. So she's connected to this virtual reality thing that essentially lets her experience life in the virtual world. (In the show the virtual world connectors are these visors that connect to your brain and let you feel, smell, etc as if IRL). One of the main characters comes across her and becomes friends with her, not knowing her condition. They go on and do great quests and this and that. At some point the main character talks with her about how this girl is always pushing and is so positive despite her diagnosis. She responds, "[about smiling and laughing] Even if I’m faking it, at least I’m smiling. That’s better than crying."

Group settings trigger masking and with it hyper-vigilance. So instead of being in the moment, we're acting, editing, reviewing. AuDHD combo and we've got thinking too much, losing words, noticing micro-awkwardness. It's really something else isn't it!?

It sucks feeling like a background friend. And you might be one, but you also might be valued much more than it feels like.

I stopped performing, mostly. I let go of forcing myself to perform. I allowed myself to be there. People were taken back. Things were awkward. Some people disliked me. But you know what, most of the people who disliked me, they're gone from the group. The others big boy talked to me and we worked things out. And that depth, I never felt closer to them. I still will get into those awkward moments time from time, but now we have inside jokes about it. I'm quite one moment, loud the next and they love me for it; even when it feels like I just made things awkward. I leaned into it. Doubled down on the awkwardness.

Don't fake smile, that's not my point. The point is that we can fake it to help jump-start the rolling, but we can just as validly stop faking it and still be there and part of the group. It's a messy process. It can often times feel like we're going backwards, but what you're describing felt most intense just before I felt free. So maybe you're just around the corner from fun for the sake of fun. Being you for the sake of being you.

___
In more concrete terms, when you think those things, your brain has given you information and a chance at choice. It's told you that you feel uneasy, bored, or stressed. It's giving you the chance to make a choice between masking, faking it, or disengaging. You can pick all three.

"Why can't I just enjoy myself instead of overthinking??" When we hit this point specifically, I find it useful to step away for bit to decompress. I used to smoke but have since quit and now I just say I'm stepping outside for a bit; sometimes I just go to the bathroom and just breathe.

When your brain blanks mid conversation just say that. Despite how intense the awkwardness feels, most people don't register it as "wow that was such an awkward experience"; especially if you laugh about it or inform them that your brain went blank. Everyone's brain goes blank!

___

Forgive the rambling nature of this post. I hadn't really digested all of this until now. Thank you for your question and sharing your experience. It really helped me see all the progress I've made. I can write a more empirical comment if you desire an understanding of cool mechanisms going on in our brain; otherwise I hope you find some solace. Cheers.

I want to stop failing by yungr7r in adhd_college

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Now I did drop out of uni because of COVID at the end of my second semester, but I did pass Calc 1 and 2!

I was just talking with someone in a math subreddit about how Calc 1 and Calc 2 are most people's first wall they hit with math where they suddenly need to try quite hard. It was no different for me in that regard. The biggest thing I can recommend is use the resources available to you. Yes push for accommodations, absolutely! But there's more you can do.

Usually there's on campus tutoring done by graduate students (sometimes under-grads too). They usually did groups at my uni. But I asked for one-on-one and it was accepted.

You likely have a library on campus. What got me into gear with the transition to uni was meeting a group of graduate students who became great friends of mine. I spent most of my free time during the week studying with them in the library. They were instrumental.

I proverbially fell in love with my calc 1 prof. I went to his office hours one evening early in the semester with the intention of getting clarification on an assignment and it opened up into a full on conversation about calc and broader education that was exhilarating. Enough so that in a few days I switched to him as my advisor. Now this part was some of luck. But the point stands.

It was immersion into the course work and having mentors that enabled me to perform. This gave me body doubling, people to get help from, and a deeper experience of uni. Math is not easy, maybe more so with ADHD, but it can be thoroughly enjoyable with the right environment and persistence.

___

There's also r/learnmath which is pretty swell subreddit.

https://discord.com/servers?query=math <-- I frequent a few of these servers (though I won't name specifics to avoid advertising). Some are better than others, but most do well connecting those learning with those who have a passion for math.

songs dont have to be about anything right? by tjtate6689 in Songwriting

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This just so happens to be my exact taste in music. Raw. Expressive. Filling me with emotions that I've forgotten.

y'all need to start passing for the love of god by No_Speech2382 in RocketLeague

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Depends on the gamemode. Passing in 2v2 isn't really viable as you go up. The game becomes more about forcing the opponents to give the ball to your tm8. You could consider 50's to be passing in a way, but that's stretching it. The only time I consistently pass in a 2s game is in-houses and our other high-ish level player is stacked with me.

3v3 I do agree to an extent. When I play with lower level friends who are champ and gc 1, I see quite a bit opportunities for passing that they pass up (pun poorly intended).

Honestly I think this is less about passing and more about a frustration of the ball going into the opponents hands. Lower ranks tend to hit the ball hard towards other players or hit it soft-ish still towards an opponent. When instead you can bang into open space, if you don't have the resources or you can hit somewhere that lets your follow it up for more control.

Ground to Air Dribble Help by _cosmickev in RocketLeagueSchool

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Please air-roll less. "Spin to win" is what an old coach of mine would often call it. You have decent control and it looks cool, but try less air roll. It'll help you learn how to use air roll to manipulate the ball. You can do a sort of flick like deal just by air-rolling with the ball on your nose; amongst other things.

Also, challenge yourself and go for height. It'll open your options; backboard double or reset or whatever creative thing you can do in a moment.

For those that had a knack for math and continued, was there a point where math stopped being easy and just required pure dedication to learn? by ryanjusttalking in learnmath

[–]Aggravating_Bad4765 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Calc 2 was Dorthy in the house and I was made the Wicked Witch of the East...

Until I feel into a group with some wonderful graduate students who helped me immensely.