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:
- Help kick start a writing habit
- Overcome writing anxiety
- Subdue ego-driven inhibitions that stifle creation generally
- Create a record of my activities, so I’ll have evidence to disprove (perhaps prevent) likely self-accusations of indolence
- Make some of what I learn and experience available for others, in case it can be of use for them
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.Theseto 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.Theseto OCaml
Community
- Attend some intriguing meetings and events
- Decide a pairing schedule
Writing
- Start writing earlier
- Write fewer, more focused notes