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pandeypankaj · 4 months ago

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How long would it take to master Python?

Mastering Python, like any complex skill, is a journey, not a destination. There's no fixed timeframe for reaching "mastery" – it depends on several factors:

Prior Programming Experience: If you're new to coding altogether, expect to invest more time compared to someone with experience in other languages.

Time Commitment: The more dedicated time you can invest in daily or weekly practice, the faster you'll progress.

Learning Style: Some people grasp concepts quickly through hands-on exploration, while others prefer a more structured approach with courses or tutorials.

Mastery Goals: Define what "mastery" means to you. Are you aiming for basic proficiency to automate tasks, or do you want to become an expert data scientist building complex applications?

Here's a breakdown to give you an idea:

Basic Proficiency (2-3 months): With dedicated practice, you can learn Python fundamentals like variables, data types, control flow, and functions within a few months. This equips you to automate simple tasks and write small scripts.

Intermediate Level (6-12 months): By continuing to practice and exploring libraries like NumPy, Pandas, and Matplotlib, you can reach an intermediate level in 6-12 months. This allows you to work with data, create visualizations, and solve more complex programming problems.

Advanced Skills (1+ years): Mastery, especially in data science, takes more than a year. It involves delving into advanced libraries like scikit-learn and TensorFlow, mastering object-oriented programming concepts, and continuously learning new frameworks and techniques.

Lejhro Can Be Your Guide on Your Python Path:

No matter your experience level or goals, Lejhro can be your partner in learning Python:

Start with the Basics: Our blog posts provide clear explanations of Python concepts, making them easy to understand, even for beginners.

Practice Makes Perfect: Explore online resources like Kaggle for practice problems, and keep an eye out for our blog posts featuring Python challenges with solutions.

Structured Learning: Consider our Data Science Specialization course for a comprehensive introduction to Python in the data science context.

Deep Dive with a Bootcamp: If you're serious about mastering Python for data science, Lejhro's Data Science Bootcamp offers an intensive program that equips you with advanced skills and project-based learning.

Remember: The key to mastering Python is consistent practice and a love for learning. Embrace the challenges, and you'll be amazed at what you can achieve! Here are some additional tips:

Work on Personal Projects: Find a project that excites you and use it to apply your Python skills in a real-world context.

Join Online Communities: Engage with other Python learners and developers online. There are many forums and communities where you can ask questions, share your progress, and get inspired by others.

Don't Get Discouraged: Learning Python takes time and effort. There will be challenges along the way, but if you persist and keep practicing, you'll be well on your way to mastery.

With dedication and the right resources, you can unlock the power of Python and use it to achieve amazing things!

#data analytics #datascience #machinelearning #python

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spidertrapper-blog · 6 months ago

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But why school?

Public schools are an important and necessary function of a modern society. They give us a place to put our kids while we go out and try to earn enough to stay in our homes, they ensure that even the worst of us can't have 100% influence on the outcome of another human, and that most people will have a basic understanding of how to exist around other people. That said, it also teaches kids how to turn off intuition, ignore passions, only engage in structured play, and destroy creativity.

So what can we do about it? We just went through a period where a bunch of kids were stuck at home 24/7. Some had a hard time with it, but others thrived. The difference? Besides expensive tutors, stay at home parents, and... well... money, a lot of kids learned and kept up with friends through free online games. Some are actually decent educational games too!

Kids learn through play. Not just kids, ALL young creatures. How does a cat learn to hunt, bird learn to fly, or child learn that egg whites can give you that cool slicked back hair look? Some of it, they're born with, but it's not until they do it for fun that they'll get any good.

So just park the kids in front of a computer all day, right? Problem solved! Or not. We don't want them sitting all day or going blind in front of a screen, plus, why would we even need teachers? Kids will happily play educational computer games for 30-45 minutes at a time, and then, teachers can do something truly amazing. Teachers can give the kids practical, real world, hands on experiences using what kids learned on the computer to help them understand why it's important to know. Field trips, experiments, discussions, crafting/building, challenges, trivia, games, you name it!

Not only will the kids get more out of this type of structure, but they'll also have the ability to learn at their own pace. Teachers can get reports indicating which kids need more help in which subjects and then provide practical lessons to kids, not based on age, but based on skill level. Everyone has their strengths, so why are we forcing everyone to go at the pace of the weakest in the subject?

Programs can even be developed to provide games and information more closely associated with a child's interests. For example, a word problem in math can go from "Xavier got four mosquito bites on his arms and twice as many on his legs. How many mosquito bites did Xavier get?" to "Claire ate 4 ice cream cones before lunch and twice as many after. How long before she gets diabetes?", or something like that. Keeping the information more closely connected to a child's interests based on data collected through their game play, and maybe even asking them, suddenly we have an environment where kids can get excited about learning!

Or not, it's just a thought.

#education #children #school #teachers #artificial intelligence

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cripplecharacters · 2 years ago

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What would be your most general suggestions in order to write a character with intellectual disability respectfully and accurately? It’s hard to find many first hand accounts of people with IDs writing about what they’d like to see in these characters.

Hi, thanks for your question!

I will try to give a few general dos and don’ts on how to make an ID character - the question is vague so I won't be too specific but I hope you find something here helpful! First of all: please keep in mind that ID people are very different from each other in both personality and how exactly their disability impacts them. Some people won't be able to perform any ADLs (short for activities of daily living; things like bathing, dressing, using the bathroom or eating by yourself), some will be able to do all of them and a lot will be somewhere in-between. That makes it more complicated to figure out what is accurate and what not because it just varies greatly between people. Even people similar ability levels can be completely different - they can have different verbality levels, different physical conditions, some of them could be very stubborn while others could be the complete opposite and give up very fast, you get the picture.

What to do while writing:

Seems very obvious but make sure they're an actual character and not just their disability - give them a personality, relationships, hobby etc.

Portray the common signs of ID - a lot of us struggle with things like planning (especially long-term), organizing, abstract reasoning, problem-solving or are just slower with understanding/doing things in general. It's fine for your character to need help and ask for help with those things! They don't need to compensate for it with savant-like abilities or some amazing feats, it's ok for them to just be a regular person who struggles in some or most areas and gets adequate help so they can function better.

A lot of people with ID struggle with understanding language that isn't clear or simplified. Very elaborate sentence structure or weird wording can make it hard or impossible for your character to correctly understand what is spoken to them so if you want your characters to communicate properly they should probably use more clear speech. That doesn't mean babytalk or only giving them the bare minimum - try looking at this simplified version of this article to get an idea of what I mean (both links lead to Wikipedia). Simpler sentence structure and more common words make things more accessible.

Give your character agency over their identity and feelings. We can struggle with understanding things, but it doesn't mean we can't be gay, trans or any other LGBTQ+ identity and it's not fair to question our ability to do so. A person with ID should be able to decide about things regarding themself. Even if your character requires 24/7 care, they (ideally) should be able to have a say in who will be their caregiver, for example.

Getting someone's high needs met is not infantilization, it's just care. A character that needs help with bathing themself isn't "bad representation" or being treated like a child just because of it.

Make sure you look up how ID works medically so you don't commit any basic medical misinformation (like having it start in adulthood). Specifically look out to not confuse brain injury symptoms with ID. ID also doesn't directly affect someone's life expectancy on its own.

Connected to the last point, but you might want to try and decide on the cause of why the character has ID just because it will probably make your job as a writer a bit easier with figuring out what specific symptoms they might be experiencing. Someone who has ID because they went through severe meningitis as a little child might have different symptoms than someone born with Rett Syndrome. There are a lot of conditions that cause ID, but the most common are Down Syndrome, FASD and Fragile X Syndrome.

Try to remember: people with intellectual disability can be anyone and be anywhere! You can write a sarcastic autistic princess with ID, a loud love interest with Angelman Syndrome or a shy goth classmate with CRS and none of these would be “forced”.

What to NOT do:

Avoid the “always happy” character trope (goes double or even triple for characters with Down Syndrome because that's where it's the most prevalent). This one is a real issue with how people see real life intellectually disabled people. A character with ID should be allowed to have a full range of emotions just like everyone else.

Don't use the mental age theory - it's an ableist and harmful concept that claims that people with ID are mentally X years old (X never being their actual age). A 40-year-old character who can't eat or bathe by themself is 40 years old, not 3.

Avoid having your character compensate for their ID with some specific type of intelligence ("they're not booksmart but they have high emotional intelligence!) because that's neither how this works or what is helpful when it comes to representation. Your character shouldn't have to be smart "in some way" to be treated with respect.

Don't make your character extremely violent or brutal, especially if they're also unaware of what they're doing (basically don't make your character Lennie from of Mice and Men). I feel like this one is mostly about the impact on how some people see ID people (especially ID men of color) by painting them as inherently violent which is not true. That's not to say your character can't get into a fight but just try to be aware of this trope, especially if your character is marginalized in other ways as well.

Most people who seek any advice regarding writing disabled characters will probably know that using the r-slur is a big no, but words like moron, imbecile, feeble-minded or idiot also come directly from outdated medical terminology regarding intellectual disability. Personally, I'm very much against using them without acknowledging their origin and they can be genuinely upsetting to read.

Sorry it came out so long! I tried to put together both very basic advice and some more complex points so hopefully as much people as possible can take something away from this. If you have any more specific questions feel free to send another ask. good luck with your writing ❤️ (heart emoji)

mod sasza

#anonymous #mod sasza #writing intellectually disabled characters #intellectual disability representation

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kkaebsongstudies · 7 years ago

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Hi! I was wondering if you could give some tips on learning korean? I have learnt the alphabet but i don't really know how to continue now... Do you have any tips for this? (I know you say you're a beginner but let's be real you know more than i do) Thank you!

Hi anon~! Thank you for your question!

I assume there are more people who have this question, so this will be a long post. Please do keep in mind that I am not an expert in learning languages or Korean for that matter, and I learn languages as a hobby so these will just be my personal tips and recommentations!

Where to start?

So as you mentioned you already taught yourself Hangul, the Korean alphabet. To those just starting out I would recommend starting with Hangul as you did, because many have said it before me, but I will say it again: learning Korean through romanized text only is very difficult. You will sabotage your own progress by doing this, because romanization of Korean is very variable and confusing at times. Please take a couple of hours in your first week to fully master reading and writing the script before you continue learning. It will help you a lot!!

Together with this you’ll want to work on pronunciation. Don’t worry or feel bad when it doesn’t sound well the first few times. Just keep trying. I recommend listening (see a little further down for some resources): pausing after sentences and repeating them. Imitation after all is one of the most important ways in which a human learns!

When it comes to theory, I think it’s best to follow online courses or buy textbooks that fit to your way of learning. You can also learn from separate resources but generally books/websites have a set order in which you learn things - and these orders are there because you need to know certain things before you can understand other things, so I recommend you just follow a series of lessons.

Online Theory Resources

I personally use the website howtostudykorean.com. It is completely free (except for the PDF files and exercise books, which go for a couple dollars a piece - which is still cheap AF tbh) and I really like the way and extend in which concepts are explained. The concepts are explained in such a way that you always understand WHY a piece of grammar works in the way it does, which I think is one of its strong points. I strongly recommend this website for learning Korean and I personally feel like this site as pretty much everything you need to get a good theoretical grasp. It starts on complete beginner level and extends out to hanja lessons even, so 10/10 points to them.

I have also tried Talk To Me In Korean (TTMIK) which seems to be really popular amongst most Korean learners but personally, I think the concepts aren’t explained very thoroughly and the way they explain the material makes me feel like a small child. BUT I am really positive about their YouTube channel so make sure to check that out!

Talking about YouTube, there are loads of interesting channels that can help you out! Some of my personal favorites are the TTMIK channel and the ever-sweet and funny Korean Unnie!

I think these are the most popular websites for learning Korean and I am about 99,99% sure that you won't need any textbooks if you use these, really.

Tumblr is also a really nice source of vocabulary lists andpeer-teached grammar lessons, and there is also a nice amount ofcultural lessons if you search good enough. Do pay attention though,because these types of materials are more likely to contain mistakesor typos. Besides that Tumblr is a really nice community to come intocontact with lots of other (Korean) language learners!

So. Besides getting your share of theory you will need practice. Especially if you don't live amongst Koreans (which I assume you don't) you will need to fill that up. How do we do that?

Listening

For practicing listening there are a couple things you can do.

Listen to Korean radio and/or K-pop

Korean radio is a good source of naturally occuring speech. Make sure you put on a station that has a DJ that talks (some stations just play music). You get commentary, interviews, conversations and as a bonus you get to listen to Korean music.

Korean listening exercises

You can find plenty of listening exercises on YouTube. Maybe give these a try:

- Korean Class 101

- TTMIK Listening in Slow Korean series

- TTMIK IYAGI - Natural Conversations in 100% Korean

Korean videos/TV/dramas

The internet offers access to loads of Korean video material. You can check out Korean TV programs (Running Man is very popular) or dramas (try Viki.com). Another way I like to incorporate listening practice into my learning is by watching Korean youtubers. The more popular channels are likely to have both English and Korean subs so that might help you out.

Speaking

The best way to learn to speak Korean naturally, fast is of course to talk to Korean speakers. Finding someone to chat with if you have no Korean friends can be somewhat of a challenge. My university organizes monthly 'language cafe's' that bring together students who are learning another language. Try searching for something similar in your own neighborhood. If you really can come into contact with native speakers, I recommend trying apps such as HelloTalk. I personally really like this app and have already earned a new friends because of it. It allows users to come into contact with others who are learning another language, and are willing to teach their own language to others. It is chat based but if you want to, you can also send voice messages or call.

Reading

As someone who doesn't have English as a first language, I canconfirm that reading is one of the best ways to gain proficiency in alanguage. It provides you with lots of vocabulary and makes youfamiliar with sentence structure, grammatical rules and more. Trystarting with simple texts such as children's books and slowly try towork your way up to news articles, short texts and ultimately actual(simple) books. A simple google search quiry will get you to loads ofKorean news pages and downloadable kids' books.

Other tools I use

Website: Naver English Dictionary

Basically the holy grail for Korean language learners. Gives you excellent detailed definitions and translations for both korean-english and english-korean. It also provides you with tons of example sentences, common word combinations, and my personal favorite: V-LIVE subtitles that have the word you searched in them. This function is AMAZING because you get to see how a certain word is being used in real, actual conversations. You can even click a link to go to the original video so you can hear the pronunciation and the context (conversation) in which it was used. Actual gold.

App: Rieul Korean (Android)

My go-to dictionary app. Has a link to four different online dictionaries (DAUM English, Naver English, DAUM Korean and Naver Korean), a vocab lookup section with hanja testing function, a conjugation section, pronunciation section, numbers section and a section on Korean idioms.

App: K'way and Grammar Haja (Android)

Both apps that explain grammar theory. Not recommended for learning but very handy to have as a reference.

App: TOPIK ONE (android)

Lets you take a fake version of the TOPIK I exam. Gives simple feedback. Very handy to keep track of your progress and to practice for the TOPIK exam if you plan to take that.

App: 라디오 한국 FM (Radio Hanguk) (android)

Just a very simple app with a list of Korean radio stations. I like listening to NCT Night Night on SBS Power FM!

These printable handwriting sheets - for giving your handwriting a fancy boost

Tips & Tricks

I like to set devices and applications to Korean to get some more exposure to the language. You can set sites like Google to Korean. The nice thing about this is that you learn new words that are used mostly online such as “닫기” (close) and “구독” (subscribe).

Try keeping a language journal. It is a fun way to bring your knowledge in to practice. I am actually making a post on that right now so keep an eye on my blog if you want to read it!

Get a study buddy. Nothing motivates better than a healthy dose of mutual support and a slight dose of pressure, hehe.

Study regularly, daily if you can. Even if it’s just half an hour a day, try to keep your study sessions consistant. Adapt the amount of time you put into the language based on your schedule and the goals you want to achieve. Want to keep up a decent conversation within a year? Plan on at least 8 hours a week.

Posts by others

List of free Korean resources by @onestopkorean

Nice lil’ list of resources by @elkstudies

I probably forgot to mention a TON of stuff but I hope this will help you on your way~! Lots of success and happy studying! 열심히 공부 하자!

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sagebodisattva · 6 years ago

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Free Will & Determinism: The Dark Room Test

Alright, so getting back into the arena of free will and determinism, I'd like to address some general points raised in contemporary thought concerning these matters. Apparently, a common problem that many of my online philosophical colleagues seem to struggle with, but is also a common predisposition among people in general, is this tendency of getting caught up and distracted by the illusions of sensory perception. This is the apparent extent to the event horizon for their philosophical ruminations. They accept sensory data at face value, don't find any motivation to question it, and refuse to devote any cognition to a reassessment of the subject from a meta analytical standpoint. Don't get me wrong, they all have some good points, and perhaps understand fragments to the appearance of the truth, but overall, they generally don't want to have anything to do with the actual raw truth, which is why they consistently ignore it.

I think one of the reasons why they don't deal with the truth, is because they can't. For to deal with the truth means a possible end to the constant aimless meandering of all this philosophical masturbation. What they want to evade is the fact that what they call reality, that is, the information contained in the sensory data, is a product of the actual reality, the awareness of sensory data. They don't wanna deal with this. Instead, they want to convolute and get caught up in a whole bunch of abstractions expounding upon the value, meaning, and purpose of the information assumed as an objectified construct. This is the essence of their positions: intellectual narratives about the proposed concrete inner workings of a so called objectively existing mechanical system that is really nothing more then incorporeal experiential phenomena that is completely mental in nature. This is an undeniable fact, which needs no support from evidence, as it is already inherent. It's all of their faith based intellectual beliefs about this mental phenomena that bare the burden of proof here, which can't even be put through it's paces with genuine sincerity without first addressing that which provides context to the phenomena.

Some idealist philosophers come closer to the truth then the rest of the lot, as they seem to somewhat understand that the purpose of an existential manifestation lies within experience itself, while other materialist philosophers stand their ground as literalists, who completely reject their own agency in favor of their structured abstractions of the intellect, while hardcore soft boiled determinists lag not far behind, caught in the traction of their numerous contradictions, seemingly unable to decide if feelings and experiences are integral to reality, which will often depend on the mood for the day, while trying to maintain an outward appearance of hard determinism, all the while continually spouting rhetoric laced with emotional appeals to agency.

So some of them are further along then the others, but all of them seem to get snagged by the illusions of perception, and the externalizations ensue. So then it becomes a game of pointing. Pointing at their own abstractions and intellectual narratives concerning the sensory illusions of properties, identities, materials, conceptual film strips, feelings, evolution and the universe. What they don't seem to appreciate is that all of these things represent intellectual constructs about experiential phenomena produced in a purely mental context. They seem mesmerized and transfixed on the face value of it, so it's no wonder they can't engage in any meta cognition, and instead remain stuck in the tight confines of the self restricting protocols of logic. I guess the razzle dazzle of the sense candy, coupled with the constant yammering of their internal narratives, are just too distracting for them, hence preventing them from ever seeking to obtain an outside reference... and that's a shame. But it is what it is.

I have already gone over the implications of the scientifically backed findings that show that the point of effectuation, that is, that which acts as the force of will, initiating movement and creative inspiration, happens prior to conscious awareness of it, and is seated as a deeper inherent function of the subconscious mind. This is important to understand, as a common misconception, as demonstrated by the soft boiled determinist’s likewise erroneous assumption, is that thoughts and ideas happen first, and then a will is developed accordingly, but the research shows just the opposite. The will happens irrespective of what thoughts or desires are brewing in the sentience of the conscious mind. Not to say that the conscious mind cannot give suggestions to the subconscious, it can, but they are just suggestions, not commands that must be obeyed.

It's amazing how little people know about the subconscious. The fact that people are so out of touch with this, and come up with all kinds of strange ideas that this aspect of themselves is somehow prior, separate or independent from themselves, is, once again, due to what they have been conditioned to believe about sensory information. So much misunderstanding is all due to confusions with sensory perception.

If you want to propose determinism as a truth in an objective format, then you have to be able to present it in an experimental demonstration. Of course, the simplest way would involve locking a launching device into a fixed position, aimed at a pool of absolute still waters, in an airtight chamber. If you shoot a rock at the water, it should create a pattern of ripples. Now, when the water has returned to absolute stillness, and you take another identical rock and shoot it at the still waters again, is the pattern of ripples exactly the same each time?

A more complex way involves a little experiment that I like to refer to as the dark room test. It is an experiment that falsifies the basic tenant of determinism, which, ironically, boosts determinism’s credibility, while at the same time creating space between awareness and the illusion of sensory data, so as to reintroduce ourselves to that which we take for granted and have lost basic intimacy with. If determinism is true, then there should be very little room left for variation when it comes to casual relationships. A punch to the face should always elicit the same reaction. Exposure to the same type of conditions in repeated experiments should always produce reliable consistent results, without fail. If there is any variation, or effects that differ from the same type of cause, this basically destroys the notion that the dictums of cause and effect originate from an external source, which is the underlying assertion at play in all deterministic argumentation. This experiment involves a degree of sensory deprivation, which is beneficial, as the illusions of perception are the major contributing factor to the distraction that renders us unable to discern the truth of the origin of reality.

So this experiment mostly takes perception out of the mix, and lets one tighten up the focus of the attention. And that’s key here. Because, a dark room test is a bit of a literal exposition. Something like this must be contrived because people are unaware that reality is awareness, and therefor don’t have the process utility necessary for progress in meditation. Meditation would be the easiest method to disprove objective determinism. The deep meditative state is a return to potentialism; the absolute zero point. The state of complete freedom from any commitments to realized possibilities. Cause and effect is temporarily suspended in this mental superposition.

So, coming out of deep meditation, the deep empty imaginary space devoid of all causal connection, one should emerge back into the layer of causality the same way each time; completely stripped naked, so to speak. A bit of uniform innocence, leaping feet first into the same cold waters. So, the question becomes, if a certain causal condition can be duplicated exactly the same way each time, and if a perspective can enter this condition from the exact same state each time, will the reaction when emerging from this empty position always be the same? If so, why? If not, why not?

Knowing why the state would always be the same, and thus the reaction to the causal condition would always vary, would be an understanding of the idealism that composes a reality that is fundaMENTALLY mental in composition. Answering the ‘why not’ would be a defense of an abstraction about reality; that is, in this case, the hard boiled objective realism of the determinist position. The former is an object of reality. The latter is a concept of reality.

So, since most of us are totally disconnected from reality and clueless when it comes to meditation and freeing the mind from mental slavery, we’ll have to contrive some kind of method with more tangible practicality. Hence, the dark room test...

What you're gonna need is a windowless room, or a room that you can achieve pitch black in, a bed situated in this room, a pair of ear plugs and a journal. You should always be in normal health for the experiment to ensure a reliable default state. If you are sick or are otherwise impaired, skip the that day and wait till you are in normal health again. The experiment should be conducted as follows: you go to sleep every night in this room and wake up the next day in the pitch black with your hearing suppressed. These conditions should never be altered and should be exactly the same every time the experiment is repeated. Once awake, you must remain in the room and are not allowed to leave, until an idea comes into your mind about what to do that day. When the idea comes into your mind, remember it. Once you have the idea, you can then turn the lights on, remove the ear plugs, leave the room and record your results in the journal. Repeat the experiment numerous times. After repeating the experiment for at least 10 times or more, the more the better, review the journal and compare the ideas that you received.

Seeing as how the external conditions of the experiment are identical each time, the only thing that should be a factor in the test, considering that, according to determinists, the feelings and experiential configurations of a subject are inconsequential and irrelevant to objectified material reality, you should be getting the same exact idea in your head every single time. This is solid proof of determinism. But, if you have any results that vary in any way, determinism cannot be said to be true.

Give it a try, and let me know what you come up with.