After stumbling across The Odin Project, I thought how could I approach this but using data science instead; perhaps I could write a rails application! But then after thinking about it just a little deeper I realised that it would be difficult to be comprehensive (though it is possible).
Why is it difficult? Well people come to data analytics from a variety of backgrounds:
- IT backgrounds (databases)
- Computer Science backgrounds (programming and software engineers)
- Mathematics, engineering (hard sciences)
- Economics, social sciences (soft sciences)
Each one would take a different path for data science. For example, someone with a heavy programming background, reading Collective Intelligence, or Probabilistic Programming & Bayesian Methods for Hackers right off the bat would be immensely helpful. Though the same could not be said if you came from a mathematics or economics background.
This in itself reveals the very non-linear way in which we learn. We learn by using our previous experiences and leveraging it. By doing so, we make our experience personal, memorable. We own it and make it ours.
Lets consider the act of walking or talking. We didn’t pick up a book on how to walk. Most parents probably would not have picked up a book on how to teach their kids to walk or talk. We learn individually at our own pace in our own set of circumstances.
Learning comes from experience. You can not swim without jumping into a (somewhat deep) pool of water. No one is a “natural” born swimmer. You would undoubtedly swallow water when learning to swim. This forms our experiences and causes swimming to be an act that is memorable.
Perhaps we have lost something in all these books and studying. Lets remember to be more childlike.