Back again...

Got back from our weekend trip to Pune a few hours ago. Pretty ok, as trips go - especially since we took one of the airconditioned Volvo buses back and forth. Did some interesting reading en route - and actually solved a couple of TopCoder problems from the last SRM(which I sadly missed).

Unlike some places I've been(like Lucknow - blech!), Pune has a lot of stuff to read - my uncle has a Ph.D in Geography, so National Geographic is all over the place, plus other stuff. I lugged over three books to be on the safe side, but thankfully there was no trouble on that front.

The real trouble was the lack of computing support - halfway through the stay I had already begun to experience acute withdrawal symptoms...

Also got a call from my GRE class - have to go over tomorrow for something to do with CompSci GRE that I plan to give. Looked that up a while ago - except for software engineering stuff, all the stuff covered is related to what we've already done in college. Nothing surprising there - the design of our syllabus is perfect - it's the implementation that fails miserably...Anyway, the test is multiple choice, so no need to sit and cram - I've made a point of absorbing most of that sort of stuff anyway - it's the useless details that kill me...

I suspect the real challenge for MU students will come in the mathematical background that they expect us to have - our computer engineering and IT courses don't emphasise it to any great extent - and the maths that we were taught was almost completely unrelated to computing. Thankfully I've already begun a program of increasing my skill in algorithms, discrete mathematics, problem solving, data structures, and so forth...

So here's my itinerary for the vacations:

• Go through all the stuff we've learnt over the past 2 years(First year was a complete waste) and absorb the stuff that really matters.
• Pay special attention to the mathematical aspects. This should be no trouble - TopCoder will take care of algorithms, data structures, complexity, and discrete mathematics.
  
• Start hacking Greasemonkey.
• Do some more Python - in particular, learn some of the libraries so I can do advanced stuff.
• Read like blazes.
• Do puzzles and problems, and actually generate new problems if possible - this skill comes in real handy, and cements understanding.
• Last but not least - watch Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, Kung Fu Hustle, and so on...

All this business about generating problems reminds me of a certain thing from Dune. For those unfortunates who haven't read this magnificent saga, here's a little background. The thing I'm talking about involves Mentats - human beings with minds trained to the greatest extreme so they can function as computers. Back story - all thinking machines were outlawed after humans defeated a bunch of AIs that had enslaved them for generations. Since people still felt the need for computational help, the order of Mentat was formed...All this is set in a general atmosphere of humans forsaking a lot of technological help and developing their own capabilities...

Anyway, the thing I'm talking about has to do with a certain attitude that Mentats adopt. This quote from Chapterhouse: Dune should be a good introduction:

Mentats accumulated questions the way others accumulated answers. Questions created their own patterns and systems. This produced the most important shapes. You looked at your universe through self-created patterns -- all composed of images, words, and labels(everything temporary), all mingled in sensory impulses that reflected off your internal constructs the way light bounced from bright surfaces.

Notice the bit about accumulating questions. I think it's true that most of us go through life gathering answers - not many of us consider shifting focus to the questions instead. Indeed, such a shift might really shake up one's mental moorings. Everything would take on a temporary flavour - every fact would be reduced to the status of 'the current answer' and few absolutes would remain. Dune actually cautions against absolutes - adherence to too many absolutes can cause terrible problems in the long run...

Here's a little bit more on Mentats from the same book - the person mentioned in it is Duncan Idaho, who received Mentat training in several incarnations, and gained access to his old memories and training in the last book:

A Mentat's real skills lay in that mental construct they called "the great synthesis." It required a patience that non-Mentats did not even imagine possible. Mentat schools defined it as perseverance. You were a primitive tracker, able to read minuscule signs, tiny disturbances in the environment, and follow where these led. At the same time, you remained open to broad motions all around and within. This produced naivete, the basic Mentat posture, akin to that of Truthsayers but far more sweeping.

"You are open to whatever the universe may do," his first instructor had said. "Your mind is not a computer; it is a response-tool keyed to whatever your senses display."

The fleeting, ephemeral nature of a Mentat's world view is captured here:

Doing this, you never thought of yourself as clever, that you had the formula to provide the solution. You remained as responsive to new questions as you did to new patterns. Testing, re-testing, shaping and re-shaping. A constant process, never stopping, never satisfied. It was your own private pavane, similar to that of other Mentats but it carried always your own unique posture and steps.

"You are never truly a Mentat. That is why we call it 'The Endless Goal.' "

And in conclusion, one of my favourite parts:

A Mentat came at his universe fresh in each instant. Nothing old, nothing new, nothing set in ancient adhesives, nothing truly known. You were the net and you existed only to examine the catch.

I'm thinking about twisting my consciousness into this mold. Wonder if it's humanly possible...The image of an annoyingly precocious kid asking "Why?" at every opportunity comes to mind - only now, the kid is in your own head, and the questions aren't as limited.

The kid metaphor actually has another important characteristic - the famous Mentat naivete. That is the real challenge - throwing away preconceptions and older knowledge, and developing a sense of idealism that we lose all too easily today...As the Mentats learn, it isn't old age that prevents learning, but an accumulation of "things I know."

Socrates would have loved this...

That's about it for this post. Confusion to your enemies...

PS: The 'the' experiment - see previous post - turned out as expected. The posting was named blog-post.html.