68 lines
4.1 KiB
HTML
68 lines
4.1 KiB
HTML
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<title>gome — notes</title>
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<a href='..'>back to gomepage</a>—<a href='.'>journal</a>
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<article>
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<h1 id='title'>Share your notes</h1>
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<time datetime='Fri, 6 Jan 2023 10:30:00 CST'>6 Jan. 2023, 10:30 PM</time>
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<p>
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Twice now, I’ve tried to write a post with the title “Share your notes” and ended up writing something else.
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The first time, I started by trying to explain a supporting idea, that people learn more easily by example.
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I ended up having enough to say about it that it became <a href='examples.html'>its own post</a>.
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For the next attempt, I started with an example from my experience with learning music composition, but that took <a href='toolbox.html'>a whole post</a> to drill into as well.
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</p><p>
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At this point, I dropped the concept for the time being.
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The more I tried to write about it, the less sure I became that I had much coherent to say about the main point.
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But I’m pressed for time tonight, so I’m going to share whatever I have and finally put this title to rest.
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</p>
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<img src='img/notebooks.webp' width='300' height='450' />
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<p>
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Imagine a programmer who discovers a technique they think is useful.
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When this happens, they might consider two different ways of sharing the discovery.
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>They could write a code library that implements the technique and makes it available to other programmers through some convenient interface.</li>
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<li>They could write a blog post that explains the reasoning behind the technique and gives examples of how it might be applied, but leaves implementation up to other programmers.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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My core thought here is that, from the point of view of building knowledge, it seems more useful to share the blog post.
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A user of the library doesn’t even have to learn about the technique*, but a reader of the post will.
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Furthermore, that living knowledge can then be repurposed in contexts that the originator never even considered.
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</p><p>
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This is the key benefit of “sharing notes”, as I call it.
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In the case of the library, you see a single application of a single technique.
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The concepts shared by the post can be applied unlimitedly, and as people remix these concepts, they can spawn unlimited new techniques.
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</p><p>
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Taking notes, in the sense of recording your learning and observations in a more easily digested form, is a critical tool for growing one’s own knowledge and generating new ideas.
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When these notes are shared, it plants knowledge in other minds, where it can flourish into a million more ideas.
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With a single, finished solution, which hides the insights that lead to its creation, no such flourishing can occur.
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</p><p>
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Do you keep notes on anything?
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Do you think they would be useful to other people?
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Has access to someone else’s notes been useful to you?
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Let me know your thoughts at my Ctrl-C email: <code>gome<span style='user-select: none;'> ​</span>@<span style='user-select: none;'> ​</span>ctrl-c.club</code>.
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</p>
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<p class='footnote'>
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* Of course, if the library is open-source, then other programmers could learn the technique by reading the source code, but the blog post is generally more accessible, and not all code is open-source.
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</p>
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