How to Discover the Binary System as a Child
You need to be signed in to add a collection
Simon Peyton Jones – Royal Society member, Haskell language maintainer, and computing education advocate – discusses how a simple math problem about bank envelopes led him to discover the binary system 55 years ago, and why that moment of authentic problem-solving remains crucial for today's students. From his transition from Microsoft Research to founding Computing at School, Simon argues that computing education should be foundational rather than vocational, giving children agency in the digital world just as we teach them basic numeracy and science. He explores how to maintain the essence of computational thinking in an era where AI can instantly solve coding problems, emphasizing concrete, motivated contexts over abstract algorithms. The discussion spans from elementary programming with Scratch and physical computing devices to his unique role as a computing fellow at Epic Games, where he works with CEO Tim Sweeney to design the Verse programming language, proving that even billion-dollar companies can prioritize denotational semantics over quarterly profits.
Transcript
Simon Peyton Jones – Royal Society member, Haskell language maintainer, and computing education advocate – discusses how a simple math problem about bank envelopes led him to discover the binary system 55 years ago, and why that moment of authentic problem-solving remains crucial for today's students. From his transition from Microsoft Research to founding Computing at School, Simon argues that computing education should be foundational rather than vocational, giving children agency in the digital world just as we teach them basic numeracy and science. He explores how to maintain the essence of computational thinking in an era where AI can instantly solve coding problems, emphasizing concrete, motivated contexts over abstract algorithms.
The discussion spans from elementary programming with Scratch and physical computing devices to his unique role as a computing fellow at Epic Games, where he works with CEO Tim Sweeney to design the Verse programming language, proving that even billion-dollar companies can prioritize denotational semantics over quarterly profits.
