It's a long way to the top...

I love the thought of creating learning systems.  Artificial intelligence seems like a great goal to me, and I think so degree of created intelligence is possible.  It just requires the right degree of knowledge and the right degree of thinking. 

I know where the gaps in my knowledge have been in learning artificial intelligence, I just haven’t put in the effort.  I found a rather interesting website, www.lightandmatter.com that provided the physics and calculus knowledge necessary to complete the goal.

So what I did is I collected all the books I need to read to accomplish the goal of learning a decent amount on artificial intelligence.  Before I can learn artificial intelligence, I have to cover the basics of pre-knowledge to even understand what the books are talking about. 

Great.

It’s about 6,000 pages.

That does include a Server 2008 book I’ve been reading on Active Directory, and book on Security+.   But the rest of it is incredibly dense material.  Beyond that, I know what I need to accomplish in order to get where I want to go.

The problem is getting through 6,000 pages is just a large degree of labor.  There’s nothing easy about reading and understanding 6,000 pages.  And these are textbooks, so you also have a certain degree of practical application that comes with the learning. 

But I have to admit, even staring at the density of the task is much more empowering that staring at an empty computer program and trying to will genius out of lack of knowledge.  Because the idea that a novice is going to come in and produce a program that learns is laughable.  It just is.  I guess it’s doable, but highly unlikely.  There’s always the person capable of making tremendous intuitive leaps. 

But I’m generally not that person, so I’ve got 6,000 pages to read.

But most of us aren’t that person, so if you want to learn some interesting stuff, you are going to need to read a few thousand pages of material before just so you aren’t completely lost when you start covering the material you intend on learning. 

I guess it is similar to the thought that any random person could come in and run a large corporation.  This is also not the case.  There’s a level of experience and knowledge absolutely necessary to keep a large company running and doing well. 

Or the thought of a random person going to compete in the NFL or NBA without ever having played the sport.  Because really, that’s how it is all portrayed.  The CEO of a large company is generally at the same level of professionalism in their job as an NBA or NFL player.  There are varying degrees of each, but just to make it to that level indicates talent.    

And to get NBA, NFL, or CEO talent, you have to pay some money.   Joe Burgerflipper who barely made it through high school doesn't have the talent, skill, or knowledge to do any of the above.  

But Joe Burgerflipper's life isn't a snap shot, it's a moving picture.  If Joe wants to improve his life, he's got to put in effort.  

It’s a long way to the top, if you want to rock and roll.