jdm
paulette d. koronkevichsince blogs are trendy
https://koronkevi.ch/posts/humanity.html
https://koronkevi.ch/posts/humanity.html
atsuzaki@koronkebitch this really resonates with me bc what primarily drew me into research was how it's essentially a big conversation between a bunch of people. the tech and the math is cool and interesting but it's so secondary to the connections, the Lore and Drama, the enthusiasm, the kindness
John Regehr@atsuzaki @koronkebitch I would absolutely not be in PL, in Utah CS, in Mastodon, or anywhere at all except for the people
@atsuzaki @koronkebitch just last week I was out in the desert with a good friend who started grad school with me in summer 1995. if it wasn't for that crowd -- who I still love -- I'd probably have gone off and done some dumb shit like getting rich during the dotcom boom. and I would probably be rich and miserable now.
Patrick Lam 
@va2lam @atsuzaki @koronkebitch it is what it is. I don't suppose most people in the history of the world have been able to be proud of their country.
@regehr @atsuzaki @koronkebitch I am under no illusions that Canada or NZ are perfect countries, but many citizens are well treated by these countries, and they have net positive effects on the world scale. Partly because they are not the hegemon, they don't have to do some of the dirty work.
But an important question is how the most vulnerable are treated, and both Canada and NZ have historically failed some populations quite drastically.
@va2lam @regehr @koronkebitch the kiwis are fine but shrug, i have feelings about canada and dirty work (among many things, supported the dutch with munitions in the ridiculous 4 years of war after our independence from them before suddenly changing their tune and acting like a savior?? as well as very publicly, with the rest of the hegemon, backing the 1965 indonesian genocides)
jess@koronkebitch beautifully put. it's so easy for students to shortcut and ask the bot, robbing themselves (and us) of real connection and dialogue. it's alienating and dehumanising, but it's the path of least (initial) resistance, so it's the one many students choose
@ratherforky and thanks for reading
@koronkebitch wait blogs are trendy???? someone needs to tell me about stuff like this
Ashton Wiersdorf@regehr @koronkebitch John you meet Pavel regularly—has he not evangelized the gospel of blog-first-revise-later to you? I sent him a Slack message once and he as like, PUT THIS ON YOUR BLOG RIGHT NOW.
He wasn’t wrong; I get the most organic traffic to that page by a wide margin.
@koronkebitch I agree a lot. I kind of care about the problems we're solving, but also about who it is. On the other hand, I do not like to say who invented a thing in class, in part because the demographics can be discouraging, and in part because it can be disappointing to have heroes.
There is a Māori whatataukī (or proverb):
He aha te mea nui o te ao
What is the most important thing in the world?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
It is the people, it is the people, it is the people
@koronkebitch But also, like, when talking to someone at a conference, one often asks what they're working on. Maybe that's not the most interesting thing in their life right now?
Still---if it's someone you don't know, it's a safe thing to ask about.
HoldMyType@koronkebitch @redmp Ahmed thesis broken link
Lindsey Kuper@koronkebitch ❤️❤️❤️
I'm also in it for the people and always have been. The ideas are also cool, but it's mostly about the people who have them. I'm pretty sure that in the end, only people and relationships matter.
J Carr@koronkebitch The existence of genAI for coding has brought me significant anguish. One of the things that was always a passion for me was the way that PL was fundamentally informed by human usability, education and communication. I have become somewhat more comfortable for the benefit of accessibility, but terrified of worsening connection between humans.
bhakti@koronkebitch this is rly nice <3
markusde@koronkebitch > writing little HTML web pages, but I quickly got bored of this and didn't even manage to create even a single website.
The most relatable sentence ever written
@markusde ironic given my website html now lol
Benjamin Geer@koronkebitch That’s a wonderful, heart-rending essay, thank you for writing it! The only tiny little thing that your HTML needs is an RSS feed (please please) so we can be sure we don’t miss your blog posts.
@benjamingeer @koronkebitch I also definetly want to add this blog to my rss feed
Whine Spectator
Meven Lennon-Bertrand@koronkebitch 🫂 You're not alone! My main motivation when doing this job is to create something for others: a tool, theorem, a library, a lecture, an idea... I have fun solving the puzzles too and am addicted to the proof assistant rush, but the real deal is when someone comes and says "hey, that's neat, can I use it?". Many of us are like this, doing what they do for the humans rather than against them. Maybe right now they're a bit quiet in the midst of all the noise, but they won't go away, I'm sure of it.
@mevenlennonbertrand @koronkebitch This reminds me of something that I think Neel Krishnaswami once said. Neel was in turn relating something that John Reynolds had once said, and I don't remember the exact wording, but it was something like: a programming language design is a success if it enables someone to do something with the language that the language designer hadn't imagined. It's a really nice take on language design, because it centers people. I should ask Neel for the actual quote!
Marie Kerjean@koronkebitch Thank you for writing this article! I am also here for the people you might meet at a conference or during a research visit. My best memories are those sparks of joy that light up in someone’s eyes when they grasp something new during a discussion, whether it’s a colleague, a student or myself.
Happy to read that I am not the only one who thinks the best part of a thesis is the acknowledgements page (and I’m absolutely depressed to see that they’re becoming increasingly rare in recent theses).
Happy to read that I am not the only one who thinks the best part of a thesis is the acknowledgements page (and I’m absolutely depressed to see that they’re becoming increasingly rare in recent theses).
@mkerjean I think I've been reading a lot of older theses, so very sad to learn about this trend 😭
Lea@koronkebitch I felt a lot of this, but the bit with the empty Office Hours was a particular gut punch. Gosh do I know that one.
raphael-proust> Yes, I realize that my own field started as a way of automating and making logical arguments "objective" under some system.
some parts of cs yes, but i see pl specifically as very human oriented. it's making the tool (the computer) actually usable by humans. like how do we preserve the predictable and fast nature of electronic circuits but also make it something humans can do human things with. (the "preserving" part requires a lot of formalisms and proofs and all that, but the proof is only useful in that it allows you to confidently write correct doc/specs which is for humans.)
it's really telling that the answer to automate the human part of writing software is "use something which approximates a human-like behaviour (language)". (a bit like if the way to make a mechanical piano was to make a pair of mechanical hands.)
anyway, love the blogpost
Dave bauer@koronkebitch I have programmed since I was a kid, but open source community of folks sharing what they know turned me into a professional. Also blogs are not just trendy, they are essential!
G. Wozniak@koronkebitch I really liked this. And I agree with it.
The people are why I got into, and stuck with, what I do.
My biggest worry is that the people who made me love it are the same people who are starting to make me not love it.
That's why I'm happy here on Mastodon with the PL and compiler folks, even if I'm just hanging out, looking in the window.
Edwin Brady@koronkebitch this made me smile. PL people are the best :). Also may have been more inspiring than you realise.
burakemir@koronkebitch great post, if slightly pessimistic. Towards the end of my thesis, I came toward a similar realization that the scientific process comes down to interactions of people. Many things require a look beyond the homo oeconomicus perspective and real engineering requires a concern for safety and sustainability, not only efficiency. Yet, there is also a place for looking at economic factors because solving problems for humanity does require looking at cost.