Skip to main content

On self-indulgence and funnels

A while ago I watched a video of Jack Conte about creativity. There are two things that stood out.


The first one is about writing for pleasure vs writing to publish. That one really resonated with me because I create stories in my head but I don't write them down. Self-indulgence. It would be cool to write it all down but that takes a lot of work.


So this is the thing that I've been thinking about--having the right vocabulary. I've been having this conflict with myself and now that I saw that video I finally have terms that I can use to express this conflict.

It's the same with math research, I think. I have some idea of what the result is but not having the right terms and notations to describe it is challenging. When I stumbled upon that 2015 paper by Araujo, et.al, everything opened up for me.


Another thing is about funnels. The first connection that I can think of is about collaboration. I've been thinking about my sandwich program for a while now. And honestly I'm hesitant to email the authors that I'm interested in because I feel that I don't know enough. But to be successful in landing a good program, I should send as many emails as I can. Funnels.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

This is the greatest love story ever told (and still being written). And I’m living in it! Since this blog has been instrumental in making it happen, it’s only fitting that I post it here. And so when people (me included) think it happened so fast, it’s actually years in the making. Having this blog fast tracked the “getting to know” stage. At least, that’s the logical part of me talking. But love is rarely logical.  How it started A day after final exams for the summer term of AY 2023-2024, I received a bunch of anonymous emails. At first, I shrugged it off as a newsletter that I signed up to. A couple emails later, it became clear that it came from one of my former students. Didn’t know it was her until August 2nd. Realized feelings were mutual the day after. Made the relationship official on August 7th. I was the one who asked because “she didn’t wanna cross the line”.  I used to say, in this blog , that I’m only interested in how couples get together, not really what’s ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dream high: My ideal dissertation topic

I want my study to be foundational . Something I and others can stand on. Seminal, I would say. I don't want it to just be a dissertation. Something you write and then forget. I want it to inspire me and others. The second criteria that I want is interdisciplinarity. It has to draw on two or more fields--not just mathematics. Something people outside math can appreciate. The T-shaped model comes to mind. The generalist-specialist. Source:  Why T-shaped people? by Jason Yip I know it's a pipe dream. But if I have to dream, why not dream high, right? But I have to be careful that it doesn't stop me from even starting. I should not let perfectionism hinder me from exploring.
Post a Comment
Read more

Happy new year!

I'm done with the dissertation. I sent it to my adviser and I'm just waiting for his feedback. This past month has been tough. I realized that I couldn't make it to the deadline. I could not graduate this semester. My break was not fun. It was no break at all. But it's over now. And strangely, I don't know what to do with myself. What do I do with my free time? Guess I gotta find a job soon.
Post a Comment
Read more