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raison_d_etre.html
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<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<!--
Editorial by HTML5 UP
html5up.net | @ajlkn
Free for personal and commercial use under the CCA 3.0 license (html5up.net/license)
-->
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<head>
<title>Raison d'être</title>
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<h1>Raison d'être</h1>
</header>
<span class="image main"><img src="/images/einstein_figure_eureka.jpg" alt="Einstein figure eureka" /></span>
<hr class="major" />
<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></li>
<li><a href="#we-are-better-together">We Are Better Together</a></li>
<li><a href="#the-power-of-history">The Power of History</a></li>
<li><a href="#the-importance-of-aesthetics">The Importance of Aesthetics</a></li>
<li><a href="#improving-communication">Improving Communication</a></li>
<li><a href="#sources">Sources</a></li>
</ul>
<hr class="major" />
<h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>
<p>I decided to make this website and its contents in hopes of providing value to myself and others. Its founding principles are listed below.</p>
<hr class="major" />
<h2 id="we-are-better-together">We Are Better Together</h2>
<p>The more minds, the better.</p>
<p>When we try to learn about something new, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias">confirmation bias</a> alters our perception such that we learn in alignment with what we previously believed. When discussing ideas with others, I frequently find that they have made observations that I have not, and vice versa. Exchanging novel observations adds depth and objectivity to our collective understandings.</p>
<p>By sharing my thoughts publically and providing a means for communication, I hope to teach others by answering their questions, and learn by trying to answer questions that I have not asked. Being receptive to feedback and iterating on my content will improve the quality of my thoughts and content. Talking about ideas is also just very fun.</p>
<p>The philosophy of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source">open source software</a> encapsulates these ideas nicely. A great example of the cons of learning in isolation is the parable of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant">blind men and an elephant</a>.</p>
<hr class="major" />
<h2 id="the-power-of-history">The Power of History</h2>
<p>After just learning about or making something, I tend to be well-researched on the matter. Consequently, I feel confident in my ability to do a good job talking about my experience with others. The problem is, as more time passes, my sharpness decreases: I butcher explanations, forget details, etc.</p>
<p>Logging these experiences somewhere while I am well-researched creates a high-quality repository that I can refer back to, and refer others to. I often want to share my novel experiences with the people close to me. Instead of telling the same story multiple times, of varying quality each time, everyone can read from the same source (see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_source_of_truth">single source of truth</a>). This increases the chances of having higher quality conversations, and improves my ability to facilitate group conversations.</p>
<p>By logging my mistakes and learnings, I can enable people to learn from my history, promoting the creation of better thinkers and engineers.</p>
<hr class="major" />
<h2 id="the-importance-of-aesthetics">The Importance of Aesthetics</h2>
<p>Reading a stream of texts about something complicated is ugly. So is fighting the urge to fall asleep when listening to a rambler's poorly chosen words, and not being able to recall or Google something on the fly.</p>
<p>Web pages are a great medium to present information. One can embed text, images, references, and sounds, and structure everything with size, font and color.</p>
<p>I would like to improve my ability to create pretty information, so that the information I create is easier to understand, and is more memorable. Furthermore, in the case of projects, if I have produced a prettier code base with nice <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/README">README</a>s and an extensive project description, I am more likely to reuse parts of the code base in the future, and am less likely to produce buggy code.</p>
<hr class="major" />
<h2 id="improving-communication">Improving Communication</h2>
<p>I've noticed that over the past few years, my heavy exposure to and use of technical jargon with my peers has impeded my ability to communicate ideas without using such jargon. Furthermore, when explaining ideas, I struggle to resist taking the scenic route. The scenic route entails a myriad of details and detours, which are fun and interesting for those who are able to follow along, but is extremely confusing and unpleasant for those who cannot.</p>
<p>In hopes of maximizing fun and interest, and minimizing confusion and unpleasantness, I aim to improve my ability to tell multiple versions of the same story. Namely, I hope to do this by writing an 'in a nutshell' version of every technical blog post.</p>
<p>A good <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface_design">user interface designe</a>r does not merely design for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_user">power user</a>; they also design with the beginner in mind. I would like to improve my ability at providing a range of interfaces for understanding the same idea.</p>
<hr class="major" />
<h2 id="sources">Sources</h2>
<p><strong>Main image</strong>: "Einstein Thinking" by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@andrewjoegeorge">Andrew George</a>, hosted by <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/g-fm27_BRyQ">Unsplash</a>, <a href="https://unsplash.com/license">license</a></p>
<strong>We Are Better Together</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias">Confirmation bias</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source">Open source software</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant">Blind men and an elephant</a></li>
</ul>
<br>
<strong>The Power of History</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_source_of_truth">Single source of truth</a></li>
</ul>
<br>
<strong>The Importance of Aesthetics</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/README">README</a></li>
</ul>
<br>
<strong>Improving Communication</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface_design">User interface design</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_user">Power user</a></li>
</ul>
</section>
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