alt Hacker NewsThis was quite a fun read and I appreciate the insight. A couple of my peers have suggested me to write a “stuff you should know” book. Some technical in nature (like linear algebra. It blows my mind how many engineers hardware or software do not understand linear algebra) and some not technical (why stuff cost the way they do. “Why does this cost $200 when I can make it for $20!”). But reading your post was encouraging to see that self publishing for fun might be the way to go. Though I guess people would argue you can just ask a LLM now instead of reading my book.
Replies
I think I could ask an LLM to explain linear algebra. I think it would be less good at the 'here are some things you should know' aspect. One reason for this is that people might not ask, but the LLM might not agree with your list anyway.
I think there is still a place for a book here. I think I might buy a book (or may have done 10 years ago when I was still coding) of things you should know (especially from a respected publisher), that being a longer form book I could work through over time.
that'll only be the case if you actually write the book so that the LLMs have that info. Until then they can't regurgitate your know-how.
Why should I know linear algebra, ooc?
Udemy and Coursera both have Math for Machine Learning courses that start with Linear Algebra. Then, Calculus and Probability and Statistics. They're often $25-50.
You might want to look at their outlines to see what they're teaching. Then, decide if you can do something similar and/or cheaper.
> Though I guess people would argue you can just ask a LLM now instead of reading my book.
I would certainly not argue that. LLMs do not understand anything, and are thus prone to non-deterministic inaccuracies in their output. Due to that, I think it is extremely foolish to use one for learning unfamiliar topics. Give me a book every time, because (if it's a good book) I am guaranteed to actually learn something. Not so with LLMs.