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SarahC comments on A Rational Education - Less Wrong
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I haven't got enough time perspective to know what's useful in the long run. I also just graduated in math.
Fun/easy: a class in ethics and public policy. I find that it's much easier to deal with contemporary debates from the perspective of political philosophy.
Fun/not so easy: Fourier analysis, complex analysis, random processes.
Classes I wish I had taken: any computer science. I had an irrational fear that I'd be blown out of the water by "hacker kids" -- now that I realize there are things I want to do that require more advanced programming, I'll have to self-teach.
Classes that changed how I see the world: intro econ, Fourier analysis
Could you explain how Fourier analysis has changed the way you see the world? I can't imagine how it would change anything.
well, looking at things in terms of a decomposition into frequencies is kind of a universal insight. At least to me. And it inspires different kinds of bases and dictionaries for signal processing. "What's the best basis to expand this in?" is a question I find myself asking about just about everything these days. Getting meaning from observations is, to me, finding a sparse basis representation.
In other words: it kind of only changes how you see the world mathematically, but for me that's a big part of the world.
Totally rational. If you take a CS course at a major university, you will be, even if you think you're a good programmer. But you'll still learn a lot.
Depends on what is meant by "hacker kids," I suppose, but I took plenty of CS courses without substantial prior programming knowledge or hacking experience and was not blown out of the water by anyone.
Being a good general problem solver / logic puzzle solver / game manipulator (3 innocent spells/items = infinite wishes) seems more important to programming than being a l33t hax0r with prior experience. Maybe these goes away with sufficient experience, but not for the level found in experienced college students.