Synechepedia

Day 1: Orientation

I aim to write daily logs recording some of the things I think and feel and do during the course of this Fall 2 batch at the Recurse Center. I hope this practice will provide some of the following benefits:

Vibe

Today was incredibly exciting (I’ve dreamed of being in this space for years). It was also intense and a bit overwhelming: there are so many cool reading groups and discussions and people and projects and books and activities – I want it all! I was exposed to so many enticing prospects that I ended up feeling a bit disoriented. I think this is quite ideal.

A meaningful orientation should probably include some disorientation: since origination ex nihilo is impossible (and contradicts the synechistic conviction), any orientation is properly a reorientation, and the re- likely calls for a preceding dis-.

Advice given by alumni

A number of recursers offered tips and advice on how to make the most of a session. The following points particularly resonated with me and my current state of mind:

  • Don’t be afraid to abandon initial plans
  • Give presentations
  • Write (voila!)
  • Don’t be afraid to follow a course lead by inspiration and true caring instead of the courses suggested by industry needs and marketability.
  • Combat the paralysis of over-thinking with experimentation
  • Build something every day (even if very small)
  • Don’t compare or compete!
  • Play with robotics (this is a tough one for me, as I am somewhat hardware adverse, but likely important for me to prioritize for that same reason)
  • Keep a list of things done each day (voila!)

Today’s Progress

Community : People × Zulip × Events

  • Met lots of wonderful people and had inspiring introductory conversations.
  • Got set up, entered into interesting/important streams, configured settings, profile, etc.
  • Reviewed all events for the week, and RSVPed to relevant ones.

Tooling : Emacs × org-mode × blog

  • Added and configured org-ref for easier entry and tracking of citations in my org-mode based note-taking/publishing workflow.
  • Extended my org-mode-publish configuration to add a blogging component for publishing these logs.

Writing

  • This.

PLT: 1ML × Type Theory

  • Scoped out my intended “big” project. This just amounts to various studies of Andreas Rossberg’s 1ML. My principle motives for this focus:
    • Gain deeper knowledge of type theory and modularity by studying (and maybe extending) the implementation of the language.
    • Improve my practice of writing, finding, and using dev tooling by helping to build out the start of language tooling (editor support, packaging etc.)
    • Improve knowledge of algebraic structures, data structures, and algorithms, while exploring the potential of 1ML qua language by implementing standard library modules.
  • Decided on my low-hanging fruit side project: port of Haskell’s Data.These to OCaml

Tomorrow’s Program

PLT

  • Implement some essential data structures in 1ML: Getting a firmer grasp of the current state of 1ML’s implementation is a necessary step for orienting my further work. To do this, I should spend time programming in the language. I will therefore begin implementing some standard data structures in 1ML. These should be useful as the start of a standard library.
  • Backup, in case I am stuck or need a break: Begin porting Data.These to OCaml

Community

  • Attend some intriguing meetings and events
  • Decide a pairing schedule

Writing

  • Start writing earlier
  • Write fewer, more focused notes