links for 2008-05-01

I’m obviously another street hacker (I like that term better than the other options in the essay). I’m especially attached to that use of “hacker” because, based on the author’s descriptions, there’s nothing hacker-like at all about the way he describes modern academics.

I still want to pursue a degree in CS at some point. The problem is finding the resources (time, money, et cetera) to do so. It’ll be put off for another couple years, I’m sure.

I think what it really all boils down to is a very simple set of conditions:

1. Street hackers are people who’ve put the “You have to be hungry for knowledge to really learn!” principle to use.

2. Computer scientists are people who’ve pursued the wisdom of the ancients.

3. Most academics aren’t even computer scientists, really — they’re bureaucrats.

4. The best option is to accept the principle that you have to be hungry for knowledge to really learn to good use pursuing the knowledge of the ancients and building the skills to make use of that knowledge — if only so you know what has already been done, and can build on that foundation.

You can get there without ever attending a University for a degree in Computer Science, simply by guiding your autodidactic studies effectively. You cannot get there without ever pursuing the path of the autodidact, the street hacker.

It sure is a lot easier to get there if you do both, though. That’s the main reason I want the University education in Computer Science.