It is quite fortuitous that my current job requires me to figure out a bunch of stuff where the best too to do the job is statistics. As part of my job, I downloaded the R programming language and R IDE called R Studio. I have been watching YouTube videos on how to Factor Analysis, Principle Component Analysis, and other stuff I do not really understand. I am going to go through some learning pain, but I have been hoping for the chance to do this for quite awhile.
Day: January 17, 2013
Day 514 of 1000
I have always loved to read the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. I arrived there today in my current read through the Old Testament. It is traditionally attributed to King Solomon and it seems like there are a lot of parallels to his life and what is going on in the world today. Back then, the average man did not have access to as much free time and access to knowledge to pursue whatever whim the think might make them happy. Since that is now available, it seems like a lot of people are attempting to acheive self-fulfillment in pleasure, fame, accumulation of knowledge, accumulation of wealth, and a lot of other vain pursuits. Solomon rightly identified all these as vain pursuits.
How does this apply to “doing hard stuff”? Well, the point I hammered home to the kids that it is not worth going to college unless you are going to do something that is both academically difficult and that will lead to a good job. I think the reasons for that are self evident and will not go into that now. I still think that is good advice, but my start into Ecclesiates helped me remember that even this is a vain pursuit if it is not accompanied by the admonition at the end of the book:
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
The kids are probably in the hardest semester of their entire college career right now. They have no time to do anything but study. It consists of large volumes of work understanding very complex material–Mathematical Statistics, Analysis, Modern Algebra, programming, electrical engineering. Hard, hard stuff. It will help them get a good job. I will probably help them build character and a work ethic. The problem is that if it develops into pride of self, it is self defeating; it does not conform to the admonition.