A recent, popular Internet video of Destin Sandlin riding a bike with reverse steering led me to reflect on our tendency to equate knowledge with things that computers do. If we could formulate a “science of learning,” we would be able to design algorithms that help people learn faster and much more reliably. As Destin struggles to understand why he cannot ride the bike, he reveals how our common sense is blind to embodied knowledge. Continue reading Why We Don’t Know Know-How
All posts by Peter Denning
Are We Wrong About Innovation?
We are gripped by madness about innovation. The popular press has latched on to the notion that creating ideas and imagining new worlds fashioned around these ideas are the keys to innovation. This notion is all wrong. Continue reading Are We Wrong About Innovation?
A Shortage of Technicians
Through a long and bumpy ride from 2000–2008, enrollments in CS departments declined by 50% from their peak in 2000. This caused considerable introspection and an identity crisis about who we are and who we serve.
Starting in 2008, the trend began to reverse. Continue reading A Shortage of Technicians
Algorithm-less Information Processes?
The opening article of the symposium on computation suggested that some information processes may not have a controlling algorithm. A reader said that would be a profound claim. As author of the opening statement, here’s my take on it. Continue reading Algorithm-less Information Processes?