Donald Knuth - My advice to young people (93/97)

To listen to more of Donald Knuth’s stories, go to the playlist: • Donald Knuth (Computer...
Donald Knuth (b. 1938), American computing pioneer, is known for his greatly influential multi-volume work, 'The Art of Computer Programming', his novel 'Surreal Numbers', his invention of TeX and METAFONT electronic publishing tools and his quirky sense of humour. [Listener: Dikran Karagueuzian; date recorded: 2006]
TRANSCRIPT: If somebody said what advice would I give to a... a young person - they always ask that funny kind of a question. And... and I think one of the things that... is... that I would... that would sort of come first to me is this idea of, don't just believe that because something is trendy, that it's good. I'd probably go the other extreme where if... if something... if I find too many people adopting a certain idea I'd probably think it's wrong or if, you know, if... if my work had become too popular I probably would think I had to change. This is, of course, ridiculous but... but I see the... I see the... the other side of it too... too often where people will... will do something against their own gut instincts because they think the community wants them to do it that way, so people will... will work on a certain... a certain subject even though they aren't terribly interested in it because they think that they'll get more prestige by working on it. I think you get more prestige by doing good science than by doing popular science because... because if... if you go with... with what you really think is... is important then it's a higher chance that it really is important in the long run and it's the long run which... which has the most benefit to the world. So... so usually when I'm... when I'm writing a book or... or publishing a book it's... it's different from books that have been done before because I feel there's a need for such a book, not because that... there was somebody saying please write such a book, you know, or... or that other people have... have already done that... that kind of thing. So follow your own instincts it seems to me is better than follow the... the herd. I... my friend Peter Wegner told me in the '60s that I should, for Art of Computer Programming, I shouldn't write the... I shouldn't write the whole series first, I should... I should first write a... a reader's digest of... of it and then expand on the parts afterwards. That would probably work for him better than... much better... but I... I work in a completely different way. I have to see... I have to see something to the point where I've surrounded it and... and, sort of, totally understood it before I'm comf... before I can write about it with any confidence and so that's the... that's the way I work, I don't... I don't want to write about a high level thing unless I've fully understood a low level thing. Other people have completely different strengths I... I know but... but for me, I... you know, I wrote a book about the... a few verses of the Bible, once I had... once I understood those verses and... and sort of everything I could find in the library about a small part of the Bible, all of a sudden I had firm pegs on which I could hang other knowledge about it. But if... but if I went through my whole life only under... without any... any in depth knowledge of any part then it all seems to be flimsy and... and to me doesn't... doesn't give me some satisfaction. Well the... the classic phrase is that liberal education is to learn something about everything and everything about something and... and I like this idea about learning everything about... about an area before you feel... if you don't know something real solid then... then you never have... have enough confidence. A lot of times I'll have to read through a lot of material just in order to write one sentence somehow because... because my sentence will then have... have... I'll choose words that... that make it more convincing than if I... than if I'm... than if I really don't have the knowledge it'll somehow come out implicitly in... in my writing. These are little sort-of-vague thoughts that I have when reflecting over... over some of the directions that distinguish what I've done from what... what I've seen other people doing.

[@preacher066]

The Yoda of Computer Science.

+Aman Singh 10 points for a perfectly balanced compliment and insult.

[@thatsgottahurt666]

Holy shit I thought I was crazy... U nailed it

[@Si-Al-Ti]

nailed it he did

[@MrSushant3]

@Aman Singh, Dude you just predicted the *future* _new's article title_ 😍 www.nytimes.com/2018/12/17/science/donald-knuth-computers-algorithms-programming.html

[@preacher066]

@@MrSushant3 OMG nice!

[@MegaStupidMonkeys]

"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something."

[@anuraghooda8439]

@Álvaro de Bazán So true, it resonates with me.

[@jamiehannigan4607]

Jack of all trades, Master of one

[@Kobe29261]

This really is the optimal curve; beautifully stated! Thank you!

[@MoSylla45]

That has always been my philosophy. Since i was a kid.

[@MoSylla45]

@@jamiehannigan4607 That's negative thinking. The mind is a muscle. You can grow it and master many. Ask the renaissance guys.

[@jackofnotrades15]

"Sometimes, to write a sentence about something I have to read a lot about it....."- Donald Knuth I can relate to that.

[@Beebo]

Very similar advice as Bjarne Stroustrup: Don't over specialize too early, stay adaptable. Don't over prioritise the field of computer science. Appreciate other areas of life outside of CS.

[@rockets4kids]

I was never a fan of that trendy new C++ thing...

[@Geza_Molnar_]

@@rockets4kids 😂

[@wlycdgrTheEverydayWorld]

I'm moved to tears by his absolute, humble, sincere, and disinterested commitment to maximum excellence

[@mareksicinski3726]

well not to 'excellence', 'excellence' is sucha tacky word

[@michatarnowski580]

Perfection is underrated.

[@albertpiekarski4569]

@@mareksicinski3726 And "maximum excellence" sounds even worse ( I wrote this reply so 3 polish gentlemen can invade comment above )

[@TheLuminousOne]

Honestly, pull yourself together!

[@error.418]

@@michatarnowski580 Perfection doesn't exist. And that's not a bad thing. We reach with the goal of perfection, and it will always allude our grasp, but in so reaching we may snatch excellence.

[@TuriyAbsolute]

This guy is something else. Exception

[@booleandilemma]

finally { System.out.println("Nice thread"); }

[@wizofe]

So much respect Professor Knuth. For TeX, Art of Computer Programming and your thought mastery. As a human being and as a researcher. I wish and hope more people of my generation can become something, even distantly close to what you are.

[@StankyPickle1]

No lie, this advice helped me complete a master's degree with multiple offers to continue onto a PhD. If I hadn't seen this video I would probably still be spinning my wheels.

[@Dj992Music]

How's the PhD going now?

[@StankyPickle1]

@@Dj992Music I decided to go into industry. I needed a break from academia. I might go back one day.

[@tjsm4455]

​@@StankyPickle1What was your specialization ? I am also heading toward the research domain.

[@StankyPickle1]

@@tjsm4455 Essentially computational physics with an emphasis on fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Good luck with whatever direction you take.

[@navjot5445]

Thank God you didn't go down the QFT/String Theory Route...

[@eldewen]

This was way more profound/practical/experiential than I was expecting. It's what I needed to hear, too. Study what you want to study, not what the herd is studying.

[@christopherellis2663]

I'm 73, and agree with him. We have seen what becomes of popular culture. It's called Fashion, then Fascism.

[@dubey_ji]

That's a great line first it's fashion later it is facism

[@tiffles3890]

My type of guy. Unless I understand the exactly how the thing works at the ground level, there is always this knot of dissatisfaction, even anxiety, with just knowing the high level descriptory logic.

[@semcanal224]

I also this tendency. But we should remember than inteligent abstractions are essential. Here it is the problem: the line between valuable abstractions and alienation is not always easy to discern

[@tiffles3890]

@@semcanal224 Abstractions are useful only when: 1. You understand what exactly is it you're abstracting. or 2. Even if you don't, the abstraction itself has a closed system of logic that you understand and can use.

[@semcanal224]

@@tiffles3890 Agreed. Good criteria

[@semcanal224]

@@tiffles3890 I am thinking againg about your ctiteria. How do you know that outside your closed coherent system you are not alienating yourself from something fundamental to your exiatence

[@tiffles3890]

@@semcanal224 Till the point it fulfills my practical needs. For instance, does your average software engineer even understand how the bits/gates/electronic patterns etc. of work when executing his program? He just knows the working logical system of his programming language. But that gets the job done, doesn't it?

[@jessstuart7495]

Understanding at a fundamental level is not stressed enough in engineering curriculum. It is much easier to just memorize abstractions, then convince yourself you actually understand something.

[@StephenColes]

Thank you, Donald. So much wisdom packed into 5 mins. I know you are addressing primarily scientists and engineers, but as a designer/journalist it feels like you are speaking directly to me. Your advice works on so many levels.

[@raf.nogueira]

The master of every programmer in the world!

[@sanantoniotonight5569]

Indeed....

[@wtfuredead]

He's a true hipster at heart :D

[@srinivaschakrapani4395]

One of the Legends of algorithms

[@pacrat90]

This man is one of the greatest.

[@hansugu3265]

I read Knuth's books, then I start to understand what is computer science.

[@nguyendangson1989]

a well-known artist in science.

[@PelczarTomasz]

My deeper and not only appreciation ... Studying His book had helpt me to pass very interesting exam and had helpt within my future master degree after bachelor degree studying ... Let's also for instance BBC Earth, Eurosport and National Geographic ... My appreciation, just awesome ...

[@SphinctersForever]

Yes, DN has it right. I never did better in my own life than when I saw a path no one was taking, but seemed correct, and followed it alone. Eventually, people wondered what I was doing and why I was succeeding when they were only following the crowd, imagining prestige would come, but it never did for them. Study what you WANT to study and be great at it. Do NOT study what you *think* will be good someday just because others are.

[@anticeon]

how can a geek live so long? please tell me Master.

[@conscarcdr]

Best 5 minutes of life ever spent watching KZbin...

[@dandymcgee]

conscarcdr If you like this sort of thing, I highly recommend Randy Pausch's Last Lecture. Easily the most fulfilling video I've ever watched.

[@conscarcdr]

dandymcgee Thank you, sir!

[@tiffles3890]

+conscarcdr overkill

[@linhvu7892]

"follow your instinct is better than follow the herd"

[@razorblaze8259]

Such simple yet intelligent life advice. Beautifully told, Donald Knuth has a fundamental grasp on the sincere idea of minimizing risk by coming to a strong and thorough grasp of something before fully committing to an idea of something.

[@TohnoTakaki]

Спасибо, учитель Кнут!

[@cdl0]

Words or wisdom from a humble genius.

[@majorgnu]

An overwhelmingly trendy idea that pulls in a lot of people seeking to be relevant and prestigious, despite their gut instinct telling them it's awful? That sounds like Javascript.

[@danielwanner7252]

idk, i like JavaScript. And btw, youre wrong: JavaScript has been around for almost 2 decades now, and its still quite popular. i would dare to call that more than a trend.

[@majorgnu]

+Daniel Wanner JavaScript development only became trendy lately, after many incremental improvements to the language and big improvements in JavaScript engines. It's still a terrible language, and any developer worth their salt writing nontrivial applications will use a language that compiles to JavaScript source instead. The only truly good thing about JavaScript is the quality and ubiquity of JavaScript engines, which it got not through its own merit as a language, but by piggybacking on the popularity of the web as the only standardized way to execute programs in the web browser.

[@danielwanner7252]

Major Gnuisance​ i quite enjoy writing in JavaScript. Its all a matter of preference, really. Im currently writing my game engine (yes i really am), and for scripting support, i went with javascript instead of lua. Because preference. Also, many micro controllers/SoC's use JavaScript. and they have nothing to do with web development. See Endruino(?).

[@SB-hs4yn]

+Major Gnuisance No, it sounds more like Java.

[@majorgnu]

***** You can compile any Turing-complete language into any other Turing-complete language. Does x86 assembly look "extremely flexible" to you, too?

[@mushroomsoup007]

He also knows the art of advicing, excellent, thank God for this.

[@burningknight7]

Data Analysis has certainly become a trend.

[@XueyongQian]

This is more relevant for people who are of the "researcher" type, rather than the business type, I think.

[@jacobtran4010]

I love this guy. He's the James Cameron of the Computer Science field and most new millennial tech kids don't even know this. . .

[@classicalmusic8601]

I am really really really very much thankful for uploading this video ,and the man himself for waking me up to some of my question about self. Regards

[@ireneguessarian3656]

How right... and said so truly and sincerely : Thanks !

[@VincentBMathew]

In addition to his writings on computer science, Knuth, a Lutheran, is also the author of 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated, in which he examines the Bible by a process of systematic sampling, namely an analysis of chapter 3, verse 16 of each book. Each verse is accompanied by a rendering in calligraphic art, contributed by a group of calligraphers under the leadership of Hermann Zapf. [From Wiki] In some his books he uses the joke John .316 too. GBU

[@maxheadrom3088]

This guy speaks Babylonian, is still writing the remainder books of "The Art of Computer Programming". He stopped after the 3rd volume because he needed a better text editor - created Tex (most people use the collection of macros called LaTex). He proved no sorting algorithm could have complexity less than n*log(n). After his retirement he planned the rest of the series (4 books) and is almost finishing the 5th at age 82.

[@tolkienfan1972]

Do you happen to have a link? I'd love to see that proof

[@PMA65537]

@@tolkienfan1972 I think I saw it (or somethiing similar) in the 6001 MIT course by Grimson.

[@tolkienfan1972]

@@PMA65537 many thanks

[@hooray4paradiddles]

Literally just leaving a comment here to remind myself to look this up later, haha.

[@YTGhostCensorshipCanSuckMe]

And your fingers type faster than your brain. This is a truly legendary man, a Genius in the truest sense.

[@filipetamaral]

So, avoid nodeJS...

[@bighands69]

Maybe or maybe not.

[@bigmofo1122]

And C++. Anything can be done in C, there is no need for trendy crap.

[@jpratt8676]

Big Mofo I use C++ because the programs that I write are more easily comprehensible and modifiable when I do so. I don't think C is nearly as easy to read.

[@gdhameeja]

tried using a library? bloats as fuck

[@sebastianelytron8450]

And Angular. And React. And Express.

[@anirudha1987]

the intensity in his voice is inspiring

[@AlexandreGurchumelia]

This video resonates so much I'm downloading it.

[@raghavansanthanam]

Exactly. Good that you noticed it. Often some people might see it as lack of fluency or confidence, which is not the fact when it comes to great people like Knuth!

[@alleninvesting]

Thank you !! Great advice!!

[@artemzymovets1194]

Follow your own passion

[@JacekRadajewski]

Donald u r the master

[@abhijitborah]

Among other things, thanks for TeX

[@ChrisDjangoConcerts]

Thank you for your amazing advice! I was immediately thinking about string theory

[@mishalubich7141]

Wow, great interview! Great advice: Unless you understand all the nuances, complexities and details, you know everything superficially.

[@coolmania8991]

Thank you.. Appreciated

[@MoSylla45]

So i sum up his advice to this: educate yourself a lot before you make a move to make sure you hit the target right on spot.😊 He is right. Read,read,read!!!

[@DocMacLovin]

Thank you for TeX. And everything else!

[@andrewhancock2451]

My take away is 2 ideas: (i) Popularity doesn't equate to truth, and (ii) build your understanding & expertise from the ground up. Of course, (i) is true, but ideas and trends that become popular usually have some grain of merit behind them. They just get blown out of proportion sometimes. Sometimes, this is deliberate, since it helps certain interested parties (just think of a very popular operating system or cell phone). Idea #(ii) is really a matter of personal preference. Society needs both bottom up folks and top down folks. My view (and it's just a view) is that bottom up folks make ideas happen while top down folks create the general landscape and direction. There is a lot more risk in top down ideas because of the greater uncertainty.

[@tylerneylon]

Thanks for your good summary and added perspective. I mostly agree, although I'd say that "bottom up" folks can also influence the general landscape as well. Knuth did, as did the creators of unix (as two examples). Maybe altering the landscape is more about doing good and getting people interested, whereas your style (generalist vs specialist) is an independent attribute from this.

[@GeoffreyBernardo]

You guys really did a good job with Web of Stories.

[@MrRodsby]

His message is "analyze the situation first before making a decision."

[@fartzy]

I identify with what he’s saying! I have thought this do many times. Basically him and I are the same

[@quaxiscorporationforresear5557]

So worth it...

[@amansinghbhadauria2818]

Now I feel so great that I've the honor to exist in his time.

[@thefakenewsnetwork8072]

Long live freedom and democratic equality

[@tetsuoiiii]

Follow your own instincts! Thanks Donald you are a true legend.

[@Funtasmia]

Thank you!

[@gmshadowtraders]

I have a lot of respect for this man and believe he is right. However in the real world the market unfortunately rewards conformity and punishes originality. I don't think scientists understand or appreciate this, even though they themselves experience it no doubt. It's a very sad and difficult position to be in.

[@malcomyork1789]

In my opinion, I find the society being wrong about science. It is knowledge what brings us the good things, and science usually elaborates knowledge. We have to take advantage of this knowledge and free the people from this oppressed society we live on.

[@classicalmusic8601]

Malcom York Exactly what I think too :)

[@YoAddicts]

That's right. It's sad that science has become increasingly reliant on funding from other companies because government funding has been dwindling. I think that's the main reason for why applied research is so prominent. As an individual research student, I am quite reluctant to join a popular field. Just like Dr. Knuth said, I prefer to go my own way but it's difficult if you don't have the background to back it up.

[@StupidIdiot12345]

I love this guy.

[@landaumanify]

For me the main message was to criticize everything and to think by ur own head. He did not say that trendy things are bad or good. He urged us to think about trendy approaches ourselves and make our own conclusion. May be think how we can improve that things or may be implement them in completely other way more efficient (in any needed aspect). And also from my point of view not everyone can afford this. Cause mr. Knuth has very strong knowledge background (in physics, math, cs etc) and he can afford such things and may be if he get lucky he will create something really great (as he did). But most of us cant do that due to lack of knowledge, persistence etc. But anyway we should not surrender and try to do that from day to day. And may be finally we also will create something great. These were main thoughts which i got after that video.

[@MrPikminlord]

This guys a genius..

[@PilotProsoft]

superb.

[@chrisbowofadeking8415]

He talks like Rick in Rick and Morty series. Legend.

[@sanantoniotonight5569]

The king of all programmers

[@luckylove72]

This is enough to inspire someone to do great work. The GOD has spoken his secrets.

[@NeoHoshi]

Great advice :)

[@dulcemariasolis]

Liked in more ways than one, your video.

[@souvikghosh5668]

What a great advice. Never follow a trend blindly.

[@4gnostic]

He has been a hipster before it was cool.

[@Joyfulminimalist]

Half of hipsters aren't even progressive or artistic, they're just following the crowd. The other half may not be as humble as this guy. If you find a humble artistic progressive hipster, they're fun people.

[@4gnostic]

So, not being a hipster is the new hipster? Or not using the word "hipster" is the right way to have some swag? I'm just so confused. But I now for sure, that not being ironic is the new sarcasm :-)

[@nathanalexander28]

Turdy if the worry you have regarding what people generally think of you alters who you naturally are, then you are living by some make believe outside notion of yourself. What other people are or aren't doing with their lives should not be of so much concern.

[@nathanalexander28]

delicatethings "if they were really hipsters, there wouldn't be so many of them."

[@4gnostic]

nathanalexander28 So if I do, what I normally shouldn't do but I normally do, I do exactly what I should to to show people what they shouldn't? So if I don't care, what other think, do I care, what the do? My problem: I care a lot what people did't do. Do I care what you've said? :-D

[@wilraul9695]

whisper of wisdoms

[@linardni]

Amazing

[@quaxiscorporationforresear5557]

C and assembly language!! I started a java and got mad because I wanted to understand what was going on. So I paused java and started learning the madhouse of c/asm

[@DanielNyong]

same from JavaScript -> C++ -> x86 Asm

[@JasonAmato]

I agree with his comments about "trends", I think unique thoughts are more powerful than the ones everyone else agrees with.

[@wherethehellisbo]

Something too popular may be wrong. Follow your gut instinct, don't follow the herd. Learn something about everything and learn everything about something. Thank you Donald! I remember those!

[@yash1152]

0:25 yeah, same with me... i had this tendency to be extremely critical of popular things

[@ivoriankoua3916]

I admire this MAN!

[@sojourner060885]

ironically, the opposite of his 5 advices are what most of us have been doing all these years ... sad!

[@ShroobDestroyer]

"Don't just believe that because something is trendy, that it's good." This statement seems incredibly more relevant in the age of AI.

[@cirriusrogue]

Couldn't agree more!

[@SuperBen1009]

excellent

[@ranjitp43]

great thought

[@pguti778]

Bless him!!

[@LV-426...]

Donald Knuth - The legend! Very humble though.

[@RahulOne1]

He is the Real Legend

[@lavankumarganji]

awesome

[@MZITinfo]

so true in all areas of life

[@michaelross9546]

I wish I'd have seen this video before I went to university. It wasn't for me. I shouldn't have gone. I wasted three years.

[@JasonAmato]

Unique thoughts have a way of becoming popular! :)

[@makketron8521]

I so much agree with this and I have seen it happen

[@webofstories]

@gmpota Hi gmpota, sorry, I have only just seen this comment. If you go to the Web of Stories website you can find this story will a full transcript attached. Thanks for watching!

[@hermesmercuriustrismegistu4841]

A true authority

[@ElonBing]

It's a sad thing that intelligent people with incredible social skills who create a product that builds on work of others become famous and wealthy(e.g. Mark Zuckerberg), while absolutely brilliant people with very little social skills who build the very foundations of this all, remain relatively unknown(e.g. Donald Knuth, or even rms)

[@patrickscholl7919]

Don Knuth is wealthy and a famous professor at Stanford university. His work is considered seminal in effectively every field of computer science. How is that unknown? What about his social skills seems subpar to you?

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

@@patrickscholl7919 What about his social skills ...? Shure doesn't seem to know what "three volumes" means...

[@manishsingh-vk8if]

Zuckerberg does not have good social skills. He is autistic somewhat.

[@turolretar]

Zuck is not a human first of all, he’s a cybernetic lizard, it’s a well known fact, so applying social skills to him (it?) isn’t right. He’s just like an “AI” as they call it today - he simply learns some patterns in people’s speech, tries to use them to be perceived as a human and does a pretty poor job at that. But hey, at least there’s the memes, which we are all thankful for.

[@hil449]

@@turolretar wow so funny

[@awakenedsoul2638]

GOOD ADVICE!

[@alef7236]

True.

[@eda1533]

I've found that learning English not even CS from his writings is absorbing XD

[@adriannkhomasomba8173]

Donald Knuth is the Yoda of computer science!

[@gmpota]

It`s difficult to understand english clearly for me. Where I can find subtitles from this video?

[@hojaeson4162]

Legend

[@QuanSai]

He's so smart that he super-analyzes seeing. Look at how he blinks and how his eyelids stay so distant from each other on each eye -- he's so alert. Incredible watching a genius, isn't it? I'd love to personally thank him for writing TAOCP and Concrete Mathematics for Computer Scientists.