Writing as a thinking tool

Early struggles with reading

In middle school I could not get through long passages no matter how hard I tried.

Mind maps in the 1980s

This was the late 80s, and Tony Buzan's mind maps had just reached Turkey.

Notes as thinking tools

I started taking notes out of desperation to make sense of what I was reading.

The finite automaton insight

You are all computer scientists. You know what FINITE AUTOMATA can do.

“You are all computer scientists. You know what FINITE AUTOMATA can do”

Turing machines and thinking

Turing machines can compute any computable function.

Writing as external memory

Without writing, you are reduced to a finite automaton.

“Without writing, you are reduced to a finite automaton”

Out-of-core execution

When we write, we are externalizing our thinking onto paper.

Reviewing papers

I read a paper, thought I understood it, then wrote a review to understand it fully.

Freewriting discoveries

In 2018, I wrote about Paxos and Nakamoto consensus connections.

Writing as memory

I refer back to my blog constantly because writing re-fires the same neurons.

LLMs and writing

LLMs know literature but not your half-formed intuition about why standard framing may be wrong.

Rule 1: Mess up

The first rule of writing club is to produce in bulk with no restraints at all.

Rule 2: Tidy up

Now you must become the critic, the editor. Forget that you wrote this.

Rule 3: Keep it simple

Strunk and White got it right, and their writing still reads fresh decades later.

Rule 4: Write without expectations

Write for yourself. The audience I have in mind is me.

Rule 5: Schedule writing

Put writing on the schedule to keep it in a writing frame of mind.