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← General problem-solving ability is neither learned nor taught; what…
17 connected korrents · 14 moments on record from 28 Oct 2011 to 3 Sept 2026.
Everything filed under mathematics
mathematics
Everything filed under benchmarks
benchmarks
Everything filed under education
education
Everything filed under AI and science
AI and science
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Read this korrent: General problem-solving ability is neither learned nor taught; what transfers has to be taught explicitly rather than discovered through projects.
General problem-solving ability is neither learned nor taught; what transfers has to be taught explicitly rather than discovered through projects.
Last stated 3 months ago
27 May 2026
SY
Scott H. Young — holds since 2026-05-27 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A model that solves a hard problem has learned nothing from it: the next session has forgotten it, with no new skill to carry to related problems. — tap to centre the map on it
A model that solves a hard problem has learned nothing from it: the next session has forgotten it, with no new skill to carry to related problems.
Last stated 6 months ago
20 Mar 2026
TT
Terence Tao — holds since 2026-03-20 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Struggling with a hard problem before being shown the answer is not always the best way to learn; a hint or a worked example can beat floundering. — tap to centre the map on it
Struggling with a hard problem before being shown the answer is not always the best way to learn; a hint or a worked example can beat floundering.
Last stated 2 months ago
22 Jul 2026
SY
Scott H. Young — no longer holds since 2026-07-22 — tap for who they are
Same subject: You cannot build an AI that has only the capabilities you want, because the algorithms that solve the problems you want generalize to the ones you do not. — tap to centre the map on it
You cannot build an AI that has only the capabilities you want, because the algorithms that solve the problems you want generalize to the ones you do not.
Last stated 4 years ago
10 Jun 2022
EY
Eliezer Yudkowsky — holds since 2022-06-10 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Gradient descent finds a solution to the problems a model has seen; nothing in the algorithm makes it pick the one that generalises well. — tap to centre the map on it
Gradient descent finds a solution to the problems a model has seen; nothing in the algorithm makes it pick the one that generalises well.
Last stated 11 months ago
26 Sept 2025
RS
Richard Sutton — holds since 2025-09-26 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Emergent abilities come from generalisation turning compositional, not merely from a training set containing a lot of stuff. — tap to centre the map on it
Emergent abilities come from generalisation turning compositional, not merely from a training set containing a lot of stuff.
Last stated 12 months ago
12 Sept 2025
SL
Sergey Levine — holds since 2025-09-12 — tap for who they are
Same subject: AI learning to generate good conjectures will never show up as a benchmark being knocked down; it will show up as a shift in how mathematicians talk about the tools. — tap to centre the map on it
AI learning to generate good conjectures will never show up as a benchmark being knocked down; it will show up as a shift in how mathematicians talk about the tools.
Last stated 2 months ago
30 Jun 2026
GS
Grant Sanderson — holds since 2026-06-30 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A worked example whose scaffolding is progressively removed teaches faster than making a child figure the problem out unaided. — tap to centre the map on it
A worked example whose scaffolding is progressively removed teaches faster than making a child figure the problem out unaided.
Last stated a week ago
31 Aug 2026
JL
Joe Liemandt — holds since 2026-08-31 — tap for who they are
Same subject: To reward the instinct that a new idea is worth having, training would have to score the smallness of the concepts a solution needs, not just whether it solved the problem. — tap to centre the map on it
To reward the instinct that a new idea is worth having, training would have to score the smallness of the concepts a solution needs, not just whether it solved the problem.
Last stated 2 months ago
30 Jun 2026
GS
Grant Sanderson — holds since 2026-06-30 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A benchmark result should be reported under a stated budget, or as a curve against test-time compute — never as a single number. — tap to centre the map on it
A benchmark result should be reported under a stated budget, or as a curve against test-time compute — never as a single number.
Last stated 2 months ago
26 Jun 2026
NB
Noam Brown — holds since 2026-06-26 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A benchmark that ranks Claude Code last while it stays first in use is measuring the wrong thing, and has been for a year. — tap to centre the map on it
A benchmark that ranks Claude Code last while it stays first in use is measuring the wrong thing, and has been for a year.
Last stated 5 days ago
3 Sept 2026
DR
Dax Raad — holds since 2026-09-03 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A company's staff-engineer bar should be set against the best companies in the industry rather than against its own history, which is what makes title inflation a real cost. — tap to centre the map on it
A company's staff-engineer bar should be set against the best companies in the industry rather than against its own history, which is what makes title inflation a real cost.
Last stated 5 months ago
1 Apr 2026
TP
Thuan Pham — holds since 2026-04-01 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A proof and an explanation are different things, and a theorem can stay an unsolved expository problem long after it is proved. — tap to centre the map on it
A proof and an explanation are different things, and a theorem can stay an unsolved expository problem long after it is proved.
Last stated 2 months ago
30 Jun 2026
GS
Grant Sanderson — holds since 2026-06-30 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A stream of AI-written papers with any error rate at all becomes insufferable, because finding the error costs more than the paper is worth even at ninety-nine percent. — tap to centre the map on it
A stream of AI-written papers with any error rate at all becomes insufferable, because finding the error costs more than the paper is worth even at ninety-nine percent.
Last stated 2 months ago
30 Jun 2026
GS
Grant Sanderson — holds since 2026-06-30 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Academic credentials — grades, major, the prestige of the degree — barely matter to industry hiring. — tap to centre the map on it
Academic credentials — grades, major, the prestige of the degree — barely matter to industry hiring.
Last stated 15 years ago
28 Oct 2011
PM
Patrick McKenzie — holds since 2011-10-28 — tap for who they are
Same subject: AI could compete with human mathematicians once it acquires a mathematical sense of smell: knowing which way of splitting a problem makes it easier rather than harder. — tap to centre the map on it
AI could compete with human mathematicians once it acquires a mathematical sense of smell: knowing which way of splitting a problem makes it easier rather than harder.
Last stated a year ago
14 Jun 2025
TT
Terence Tao — holds since 2025-06-14 — tap for who they are
Same subject: AI in chess and mathematics does not explain anything; it says which position is better, and humans build the theory from that. — tap to centre the map on it
AI in chess and mathematics does not explain anything; it says which position is better, and humans build the theory from that.
Last stated a year ago
14 Jun 2025
LF
Lex Fridman — holds since 2025-06-14 — tap for who they are
Same subject: AI will transform how scientific discovery is done, and within two or three years a working scientist's job will already look dramatically different. — tap to centre the map on it
AI will transform how scientific discovery is done, and within two or three years a working scientist's job will already look dramatically different.
Last stated 3 weeks ago
18 Aug 2026
MK
Michael Kratsios — holds since 2026-08-18 — tap for who they are
same subject or similar wording a cloud: claims about one subject, named for it bar: when it was last stated, on a scale from 2011 to today (stretched back to the oldest claim here) — full is today a face: someone on record holding the claim — tap it for who they are faded, dashed ring: they no longer hold it — they changed their mind
At the centre
General problem-solving ability is neither learned nor taught; what transfers has to be taught explicitly rather than discovered through projects.
Last stated 27 May 2026 · 3 months ago
Holds SY Scott H. Young
Read this korrent →
Similar wording
A model that solves a hard problem has learned nothing from it: the next session has forgotten it, with no new skill to carry to related problems.
Last stated 20 Mar 2026 · 6 months ago
Holds TT Terence Tao
Similar wording
Struggling with a hard problem before being shown the answer is not always the best way to learn; a hint or a worked example can beat floundering.
Last stated 22 Jul 2026 · 2 months ago
No longer holds SY Scott H. Young
Similar wording
You cannot build an AI that has only the capabilities you want, because the algorithms that solve the problems you want generalize to the ones you do not.
Last stated 10 Jun 2022 · 4 years ago
Holds EY Eliezer Yudkowsky
Similar wording
Gradient descent finds a solution to the problems a model has seen; nothing in the algorithm makes it pick the one that generalises well.
Last stated 26 Sept 2025 · 11 months ago
Holds RS Richard Sutton
Similar wording
Emergent abilities come from generalisation turning compositional, not merely from a training set containing a lot of stuff.
Last stated 12 Sept 2025 · 12 months ago
Holds SL Sergey Levine
Similar wording
AI learning to generate good conjectures will never show up as a benchmark being knocked down; it will show up as a shift in how mathematicians talk about the tools.
Last stated 30 Jun 2026 · 2 months ago
Holds GS Grant Sanderson
Similar wording
A worked example whose scaffolding is progressively removed teaches faster than making a child figure the problem out unaided.
Last stated 31 Aug 2026 · a week ago
Holds JL Joe Liemandt
Similar wording
To reward the instinct that a new idea is worth having, training would have to score the smallness of the concepts a solution needs, not just whether it solved the problem.
Last stated 30 Jun 2026 · 2 months ago
Holds GS Grant Sanderson
Same subject: benchmarks
A benchmark result should be reported under a stated budget, or as a curve against test-time compute — never as a single number.
Last stated 26 Jun 2026 · 2 months ago
Holds NB Noam Brown
Same subject: benchmarks
A benchmark that ranks Claude Code last while it stays first in use is measuring the wrong thing, and has been for a year.
Last stated 3 Sept 2026 · 5 days ago
Holds Dax Raad
Same subject: benchmarks
A company's staff-engineer bar should be set against the best companies in the industry rather than against its own history, which is what makes title inflation a real cost.
Last stated 1 Apr 2026 · 5 months ago
Holds TP Thuan Pham
Same subject: mathematics
A proof and an explanation are different things, and a theorem can stay an unsolved expository problem long after it is proved.
Last stated 30 Jun 2026 · 2 months ago
Holds GS Grant Sanderson
Same subject: mathematics
A stream of AI-written papers with any error rate at all becomes insufferable, because finding the error costs more than the paper is worth even at ninety-nine percent.
Last stated 30 Jun 2026 · 2 months ago
Holds GS Grant Sanderson
Same subject: mathematics
Academic credentials — grades, major, the prestige of the degree — barely matter to industry hiring.
Last stated 28 Oct 2011 · 15 years ago
Holds PM Patrick McKenzie
Same subject: AI and science
AI could compete with human mathematicians once it acquires a mathematical sense of smell: knowing which way of splitting a problem makes it easier rather than harder.
Last stated 14 Jun 2025 · a year ago
Holds TT Terence Tao
Same subject: AI and science
AI in chess and mathematics does not explain anything; it says which position is better, and humans build the theory from that.
Last stated 14 Jun 2025 · a year ago
Holds LF Lex Fridman
Same subject: AI and science
AI will transform how scientific discovery is done, and within two or three years a working scientist's job will already look dramatically different.
Last stated 18 Aug 2026 · 3 weeks ago
Holds MK Michael Kratsios