Wake_me_up_not @rankiejiang@qoto.org

I worked over 5 days on this one and I am so glad I turned out like this. I feel like I improved so much with ink and watercolor recently.

This is St. Nicholas Church in Malá Strana, Prague

30x40 cm ink, watercolour and gouache on paper

It always felt wrong to start a programming language design already having a type system in mind. I couldn't put my finger on it before, but now I think I understand why.

There is well known tradeoff between exploration and exploitation when it comes to solution search.

During *exploration* you try to open undiscovered areas. Something that might not be very viable at the beginning but in the long run could lead to outstanding results. During *exploitation* you try to find best solutions in selected area, relying on already accumulated assets.

Eventually exploration and exploitation would be in conflict, since resources are limited. You can resolve this conflict differently depending on the task you're trying to accomplish.

If you want to design a PL that is more convenient for humans, starting with a type system in mind would pull you away from exploration too early. There might be a brilliant solution that is incompatible with that type system.

You can always think how to limit flexibility and reduce space for errors later.

2021-03-16, 10:20, Tuesday

So I had an anxiety attack last night. Managed to get some sleep, but clearly not enough. Trying to relax and do some errands like pruning my houseplants and organizing drawers. Come to think of it, I might get a bonsai…

Anyhow, the name of the game is taking advantage of the situation. I now have a uniqye opportunity to watch all of my classes recorded from zoom, and that’s why I can relax now for a bit and catch up later. Gotta write some of that novel now.

I love language. Image source https://i.redd.it/7syim1p0e6n61.jpg, no idea what thread, I don't use Reddit.

ねむい

Happy #PiDay! 🍕

https://twitter.com/Snoopy/status/1371112653888847888

Can someone think of an example of a scientific theory that got superseded by a better one and then got re-incorporated into scientific consensus again?

In my field, I can name only one such theory: Lamarckism - the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime.

It became superseded by Darwinian notion of evolution but since discovery of epigenetics, it became more and more obvious that things are not nearly as simple and cracking the genetic code of the individual would tell only a fraction of information about it's genetic expression.

All the genes' expression are influenced by epigenetics which is in part influenced by the lifestyle of the progenitors.

#science

2021-03-12, 08:43

Right, forgot an important thing. I’m on my third day without caffeine (not counting tea, but I need to drink something hot). I feel slightly less alert in the mornings, sleep better, way less jittery and anxious. I do miss the taste though. Not quite sure if the tradeoff is worth it, but it’s good to have some stability for once.

An important feature is pain tolerance. When I have caffeine in my system it gets harder to tolerate pain, especially sharp one. And I get injections for avitaminosis every second Sunday, so it makes sense to keep this “fast” going for at least another few days.

@rankiejiang welcome 🤪🤪🤪