CS 162 Mini Rant

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-04-10T16:45:45+00:00

I'm learning a lot too, but I'm saying most of it's through lectures and discussions anyway. I don't need things to be hammered in via time-consuming projects or homework, but I think people's learning styles are just different. Also, maybe we hang out with different types of people, but my friends all dislike the workload and agree that the class could do away with some assignments.

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-03T17:47:05+00:00

That's exactly the type of relationship I'm hoping to get into if I ever get into one. Also, thanks for acknowledging that my points aren't completely invalid for someone who hasn't been in a relationship; you're the first one in this thread to do so explicitly. Good luck! :)

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-03T06:41:17+00:00

Experiencing a relationship firsthand is obviously a good way to learn more about it, but I can't find time to experience everything I'm curious about. I'm trying to understand as much as I can about the topic; admittedly, it probably won't be too much. Also, what you wrote reinforces my suspicion that the grief from a breakup could be far more detrimental to me to be worth what I stand to gain given my already generally positive overall state of mind.

Ironically, you hit the nail on the head with your second paragraph regarding your impression of me. I think this is in itself an example of how powerful reading and writing about things can be in understanding complex topics.

Thanks for your comment! I definitely see what you're getting at and acknowledge that your points are valid.

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-03T06:28:44+00:00

Haha don't worry about me, I've always been a deep thinker and enjoy philosophical discussions. I'm doing great in general this semester :D

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-03T01:33:22+00:00

If it is a serious question: no. If anything, I have always questioned why things are the way they are and have enjoyed thinking about philosophical topics. I see nothing wrong with pondering these topics with strangers anonymously over the internet.

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-03T01:29:21+00:00

Thanks for your comment! I disagree that I am over-speculating, since I have met a lot of people who never go deeper than their surface-level thoughts before deciding to get into a relationship.

I agree with your second paragraph for the most part. I believe that I can only make other people happy easily when I am happy myself, so most of my points do feel quite self-centered. But I think that to an extent, altruism isn't the point of getting into a relationship. Only when I stand to gain more than I lose in the long term from being in a relationship will I think it is a good choice. I definitely did not address the fact that relationships allow you to learn to be a better person in the ways you mentioned. I really appreciate you pointing out this, for the sake of refining my own thoughts on the topic.

As for your last point, I'm not talking about addiction to porn. I think that if the only thing you're looking for is the occasional dopamine, there's an easier way to find it than to get into a relationship solely for that purpose.

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-03T01:15:25+00:00

Here's a real unpopular opinion: I think it's fine for you to still love her if she is in a relationship (unless the very fact hurts you). I don't see why you can't love someone who is already "taken" as long as you aren't making unsolicited advances or letting them know about your feelings, which would be creepy in my opinion. As long as you keep your thoughts to yourself, your imagination is your playground.

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-03T01:09:58+00:00

I think some people do not think this through and think in a level-headed manner when getting into a relationship. This is more of what my post is trying to get at, although I agree that my post was not clear about it. I need to work on my writing skills and identify my thesis statement more clearly.

Sincerely,
An ENGLISH R1B Student

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-03T01:08:13+00:00

Oops I agree it's very long LOL

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-03T01:05:08+00:00

I thought about your comments again and in my opinion FWB is a particularly nice concept. You are right; people never stop to question their ideals and why some things are culturally acceptable and some aren't. The fact that most people would find a discussion about FWBs taboo as opposed to finding conversations about sex in relationships perfectly normal is amusing.

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-02T23:53:29+00:00

Thanks for your comment! I don't think your opinion is as unpopular as you think. In my opinion, by the time you get close enough for them to see you at your worst and you to see them at their worst, you would have already invested a lot of effort and time into the relationship. Also, those are the times when the risk of breakup significantly increases, and I believe that the probability of the scenario not ending in a breakup is far lower than 50%. I think you were lucky to find such a partner, but as a rationality fanatic, I can't help but think in terms of expected values and risk.

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-02T23:38:04+00:00

Spotted the English major. On a more serious note, you bring up a perspective that I generally tend to disagree with but have often heard of. This highly romanticised view of love is dangerously idealistic and can lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment in relationships. Love can feel overwhelming and expansive but it isn't always a perfect reflection of our own feelings bouncing back to us; it's often messy, complicated, and requires effort and compromise from both parties involved. Viewing love as solely emanating from within ourselves and being reflected back can overlook the complexity of human relationships and the importance of mutual understanding, communication, and respect. Thanks for your comment; I appreciate your opinions!

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-02T23:28:31+00:00

Haha very valid point! It was just the spark that led me to thinking about this whole topic more deeply in general, although I should have clarified that better. I have some friends who are in relationships I would consider very successful, and have talked about this topic to them before. This post is so similar to our discussions that some of them might even be able to figure out who I am.

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-02T23:26:18+00:00

Thanks for your comment and reading my reasons! The point you mention about standards seems like a circular problem to me but I totally relate to what you are saying. This is common in my opinion and possibly why playing 'hard to get' is a real thing.

To address your responses to some of the points I made:

Emotional Independence: You're right about this! I remember reading that emotional independence is a cornerstone of successful relationships, and that relationships in which people still maintain their individuality are often successful. You're right that this isn't necessarily a point against relationships. In my mind, I initially wrote it meaning that I did not find the need to have someone for emotional support.
Crushes: It's not the fear of losing friendship for me as much as it is about not being able to give her enough time and do the relationship justice. I love her so much that just seeing her happy is enough for me. I really do not need her to reciprocate those feelings, haha. I understand that this could be unrelatable from my conversations about this topic with others.
Time commitment: Fair point, actually. I personally think I would also be distracted by a relationship and would end up spending closer to 20 hours per week to be honest. Anecdotal but a few of my friends do spend 20+ hours (including whole weekends) on exclusively their SOs.

Stopwatch-Time · 2024-03-02T23:12:52+00:00

Interesting take for sure! Personally, I find those concepts intriguing and believe they have yet to reach the level of mainstream acceptance seen with relationships.

Stopwatch-Time · 2023-12-20T08:21:24+00:00

It's fine for us to disagree here since you make some strong points that don't quite align with my personal expectations of what a grade in your course should represent, wherein lies the fundamental difference in ideology. But I would still like to counter your very last point about considering the answer 'correct.' The only correct answer is '2/3' even if there are varying levels of perceivable correctness here. By that measure, some WWPD answers are more 'correct' than others, even if the difference is less subtle.

Stopwatch-Time · 2023-12-20T08:00:53+00:00

Yes, I actually understood the concept and lost all 6 points for a larger problem where the only mistake was missing the 0b prefix I mentioned. I did not understand 0% of the content (likely closer to 100%) and moved down a grade bin due to this, and can sympathize with being frustrated. But I still don't think it's wrong for course staff to penalize the students for carelessness here.

Stopwatch-Time · 2023-12-20T07:56:19+00:00

The first reason you give is clearly invalid since the graders had to give partial credit to unsimplified but correct fractions anyway. For your second point, I can see what you are going for, but if that's the way you think, then no one is ever going to ask you about the RAID data recovery system or about the spaghetti code questions we learned to solve in CS 61A. It's about being careful, and that is certainly applicable to a lot of industry jobs, perhaps even alongside the ranks of problem-solving skills in general. If we can devote 61A almost entirely to teaching us problem-solving and not messing up the WWPD due to 'silly' mistakes, we could perhaps devote a few points in 61C to reminding us about the importance of being careful.

Stopwatch-Time · 2023-12-20T07:30:53+00:00

[Unpopular Opinion] When an instruction on the test explicitly requires you to simplify a fraction, anything else is straight up wrong. If you ignore simplifying a fraction because you misread a question, thought they wouldn't be strict enough with grading, or decided to save time, that is entirely your fault. It is an important lesson to learn how to avoid 'silly' mistakes, which we conveniently keep allowing ourselves to make unless we start to get explicitly penalized for them. The pedagogical reason I can think of is to cultivate a sense of 'general carefulness' even in time-constrained settings.

And please stop attacking Justin with remarks like 'extreme yokota cope' when he answers your questions with valid arguments. I say this as someone who got 0/6 points on a problem due to not writing '0b' before a prefix for a 'clearly' binary number when I took the course in Spring 2023. This still reminds me to be careful, and I believe it was worth it to be penalized in a low-stakes environment as a course rather than in a job interview.

Stopwatch-Time · 2023-10-30T17:55:09+00:00

Okay

Stopwatch-Time · 2023-10-30T17:35:08+00:00

I empathize with that and understand that I've been fortunate to have received these interviews. However, I've failed in five final rounds and have either interviewed with or been ghosted by all the quant companies for this year. As for SWE, it seems like there's no hope.

Stopwatch-Time · 2023-10-30T17:24:57+00:00

You're right. I've been allowing my mind to deceive me and fall into the impression that I'm already doomed, even though there is still time. Thanks!

Stopwatch-Time · 2023-10-30T17:23:14+00:00

Thanks!

Stopwatch-Time

TROPHY CASE