Qingqing Mao - Quantum Country interview - 2019-11-20

Qingqing Mao Quantum Country interview 2019 11 20 - YouTube

Qingqing joined Quantum Country in June. They’ve done 23 review sessions—only one in the new style. They’re 3/4 done with 2 months on QCVC and just reached 5 days on search (saw the announcement in their most recent session). https://quantum.country/debug/userJourney?email=maoqingqing@gmail.com

maoqingqing@gmail.com
876Uzpe61mZI85zKMw8ipWiTFJm1

Highlights

• Qingqing is learning QC out of general curiosity and a vague feeling of obligation. He has a QC-focused friend, but social motivations don’t appear to be terribly strong. Has no real context of serious use.
• Generally believes that the SRS builds durable memory of the material, though has some concerns about pattern matching.
• Feels he can explain the Hadamard gate.
• Believes that explaining things to someone else is a good way to reinforce understanding.
• Not particularly moved by the progress mechanics, but we didn’t ask here in detail.

Raw notes

• PhD in astrophysics 3-4 years ago, works as data scientist
  • Worked on computer simulations of galaxies
  • Has a friend with PhD in quantum computing
  • Motivated because he’s curious, because of buzz, and because of his friend
  • Took QM in grad school
  • Doesn’t remember how he found it—maybe Chinese social media
• About learning QC:
  • Tried to read papers about QC, but found them too specific.
  • But the other end is pop sci articles, which are too shallow
  • Thinks Quantum Country is a good mix given that he already has some background
• Has done SRS before:
  • Was familiar with the forgetting curve
  • In China used edu institutes which publish a schedule for you to use
  • “I know this thing works”
  • “For some of the concepts, if I reinforce a bit, I’ll definitely remember it”
• About site:
  • He’d learned about X, Y, and Z before, but he hadn’t remembered them. Now he really remembers them!
  • Feels he’s pattern-matching the questions
• Has he used this in conversation with friend?
  • Not really
  • Doesn’t get a chance to talk about it with people, a bit wistful
• What would be a win?
  • It would be a win if he understood what was going on when reading a research article
  • Tell me a story about a win in your other learning experiences
  • When reading Quantum Country… “I get what’s going on, and the whole system starts to make sense.”
  • Sometimes when reading other things, it takes a conversation with someone else. “You try to explain, and it hardens your understanding.” Sometimes comes up with explanation in conversation
• How does the memory system help your understanding?
  • “Hardens your memory”
  • “Gives you reflection”
  • Believes that having the reviews prepares you to make quick leaps about whether something’s possible or not
  • “I don’t expect the questions to be perfect. I don’t expect to remember every detail.”
  • “I want to grasp a general idea so that later in other articles I’m not a complete stranger.”
  • Could you explain the Hadamard gate?
  • Initially wasn’t sure why it was useful
  • Saw why it was useful in the search algorithm (that’s a synthesis!)
  • “So at least I know why it’s useful in the end”
  • Rambling, I confused the question, but I think he thinks he could explain this to someone with a general science background
• What did you study in QM?
  • Hydrogen atom model, Dirac notations
  • Qubit was mostly new
• More on the Chinese educational materials:
  • Were the flashcards integrated into the books?
  • Their textbook is organized alphabetically by vocab! A-Z
  • Another instructor broke the textbook down into concrete schedules and plans
  • This is like the companion app!!
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