How Successful Was the MIT Challenge? | scott young mit
ByfarthemostpopularprojectI’vedonepubliclyhasbeentheMITChallenge[1].Startingnearlysevenyearsago,inthefallof2011,theideawastolearnthecurriculumofMIT’sfouryearcomputerscienceundergrad,evaluatemyselfbytryingtopassthefinalexams,completetheprogrammingprojectsandfinishinoneyear.Insimpleterms,theprojectwasasuccess.IdidwhatIsetouttodo,undertheconstraintsIhadimposeduponmyself,withinmyoriginaltimelimit.However,behindthosesimpletermsrestedalotofimplicitassumptions.NowthatI’vehadmoretime(andhopefullywis...
By far the most popular project I’ve done publicly has been the MIT Challenge[1]. Starting nearly seven years ago, in the fall of 2011, the idea was to learn the curriculum of MIT’s four year computer science undergrad, evaluate myself by trying to pass the final exams, complete the programming projects and finish in one year.
In simple terms, the project was a success. I did what I set out to do, under the constraints I had imposed upon myself, within my original time limit.
However, behind those simple terms rested a lot of implicit assumptions. Now that I’ve had more time (and hopefully wisdom) between me and the project’s completion, I’d like to dig into some of those assumptions and see how well they’ve held up over time.
Whenever you set a goal in life, there’s a certain simplification of reality. Say you set a goal to lose 15lbs. Implicit, although maybe not articulated, behind that goal are a whole host of assumptions: that you’ll be healthier, look bett...