Vladimir Gordeev @vladimir_vg@qoto.org

There is an animal inside each of us. You can allow it to take over, you can fight it.

I was playing with this metaphor for a while and decided to write down a short article on it: https://telegra.ph/Animal-inside-04-11

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.

When I was about 17 to 20 years old I rejected everything external. I believed that value was within. I thought that your appearance doesn't matter as long as there's something valuable inside.

I would walk with long and greasy hair, wear dirty shit-kicking boots and ripped jeans. Ripped not due to sense of style, but due to rusty nail I caught somewhere.

Changing yourself to please someone outside -- isn't it a self betrayal? I am who I am right now, take it or leave it. That's what I thought back then.

Artificially making yourself look better is a reality distortion, sounds like something not that far from lying. If people can't recognize something valuable inside me with this appearance, then they shouldn't see anything valuable in more pleasantly looking version of me.

I had quite a radical monk-like attitude back then. Years have passed and my position changed.

These days I am trying to dress well, keep my body attractive, and see nothing wrong in it.

I still believe that value within dominates the appearance. I still don't give much credit to external things. I just realized that appearance is a form of communication.

I've learned that it is very hard to see value inside other person. Pretty much all the time we only see a heavily distorted version of that person. When one tries to look better he replaces one distorted image with another, that tells who he is inside more efficiently.

Striving to pleasant appearance is akin to selecting most understandable words in dialogue. You modify your initial thought to make communication more efficient.

It seems like it is okay to distort reality in eyes of others, as long as you do it honestly, without pretending to be someone you are not.

As long as you're staying yourself.