Geek Sublime: writing fiction, coding software.

Vikram Chandra.
Geek Sublime: writing fiction, coding software.
Faber & Faber. 2013

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Chandra writes novels, and also writes software. Here he explores the fundamental differences between these two forms of writing, and whether software developers, in striving for ‘beautiful code’, can really be considered to be producing ‘art’.

In this discursive writing on the topic, we learn why Chandra believes the answer to be ‘no’. In particular, the process is so different. Writing is hard; it is a conscious anguished-filled ‘hell’, where every word is sweated over. On the other hand, although programming is also hard, it is hard in a different way: it requires a depth of concentration, and the developer can get lost in the process, unconscious of time passing, trying just one more thing. (Oh, how I recognise this description!) He doesn’t say whether the writing of this book was more like the hell of fiction, or the flow of programming.

We also learn a lot about the differences between Indian and Western philosophy and approaches to art. And one thing I learned was how the Indian philosophy explains how one can enjoy reading about something that one might never enjoy directly experiencing:

[p114] The pleasure of rasa comes from the meta-experience of experiencing oneself experience the stable emotions.

That is a sentence that will definitely resonate with programmers!

An interesting different look at programming, and art, through a non-Western philosophical lens.

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all good things come to an end

The final day and a half of the Erice Unconventional Computing workshop were also good, but without photos.

The Tuesday was also scheduled 9am to 7:10pm, but due to some unfortunate cancellations, we had “free” time from noon until 5pm.  A small group of us took the opportunity (moving leisurely from the gelato shop, to a Pizza restaurant, to the conference refreshment room) to sketch out a 20 year research vision, and a shorter term research plan, based on our previous work plus what we had learned at the workhop itself.  Next we have to consolidate the ideas, and write some research proposals (oh, and do the research if we win the funding, of course).

Tuesday evening was the workshop dinner, in the posher of the various restaurants we have been exploring, and not the standard set menu either.

Wednesday was only a half day, and mostly a discussion session of what we had learned, and what to do next.  A slot for andother workshop in 2024 has already been booked, so that’s something to look forward to!

The drive back to Palermo airport was in the light, so I could see some of the scenery I missed on arrival.  Since my flight wasn’t scheduled until 9:45pm, I had the oipportunity to experience the airport cuisine.

The flight was delayed. Surprise.  Not as bad as the over 3 hour delay on the way out, but "only" an hour and a half.  This meant I was passing through Stansted at 1:30am, rather than just before midnight as planned.   The drive home was also longer than planned, since the motorway was closed for roadworks, and I had to use the back roads.  So I got home at 3am, rather than the 1am I was hoping for.  Still, at least I didn’t have to get up early this morning to go to a workshop!  Hopefully I’ll be less zombie-like and sleep deprived tomorrow.

All in all, a great workshop, with excellent talks and ideas and conversations, plus gorgeous weather, and delicious gelato.  If only one could be at these places without having to travel.

excursion to Segesta

The early morning weather has been getting clearer each day, and this morning I could actually see a, still slightly hazy, view from my room window when I got up.

I experimented with panoramic settings to get a great, if slightly curvy, view from the tearoom window.

Then down to the lecture room, where today’s schedule of talks started at 8:30am, but finished 1pm, as today is excursion day.  We all piled on to a coach, which took us to the even more historic site of Segesta.

As we arrived at the entrance, we could see a hint of the Doric wonders to come.

the top of the temple just visible above the trees

But first, we hopped onto a shuttle bus (that for some reason was called free, yet cost 2Euro) that took us up to some ruins and a Greek theatre.  Both the acoustics and the view were fabulous.

We inspected various ruins for a while, then hopped back on the shuttle bus to take us back down the hill.  The winding trip down gave us several glimpses of the temple from a distance.

Once back down to the entrance, it was only a short walk up to the temple itself.  (Despite not being far, I needed a short stop part way up, due to post-Covid lack of puff.)

wow !

The roof hasn’t fallen down: it was never erected.  The temple was never completed, and has stood like this for two and a half thousand years.  Signs of partial completion include no internal structures, lack of fluting on the columns, and the construction “knobs” on the base stones, used for attaching ropes.  These construction signs are not visible on completed temples, as they would have been chiselled off to give a smooth final finish.

Unlike the ruins up the hill, the temple was never dismantled by the locals for its stones, as it is “too remote”.  (Mind you, the ruins up the hill aren’t all that accessible, either!)

The temple is 6 columns wide by 14 columns long, breaking the standard “n by 2n + 1” formula.  It was difficult to get a good shot of the side, due to the length.  Panoramic view gives a weird curve.  But I eventually managed to get far enough away, taking care not to hurtle down into a chasm, to take a normal shot of the entire side view.

wow !!

a view from below

fearful symmetry

Back down to the entrance, and just time to get a gelato before piling back onto the coach, and back to Erice.

a walk around the town

Sunday at the Erice workshop is another packed schedule: 9am until 7:10pm (with again the 9pm-11pm poster session).  Despite the long days, we do get scheduled a 2 hour lunch break.  Lunch is available at a selection of the many restaurants, and there is a workshop set lunch: a plate of pasta and sauce, followed by a plate of meat and green salad.  After ordering, it takes a while to arrive, because it is gloriously, freshly cooked.  (Hence the need for 2 hours.) However, today I wanted a look around the town, so skipped the restaurant option, and just had a cheese and salami roll from the local catering, before setting off with a colleague to explore.

Narrow streets led down past a bell tower to a walk around the perimeter, with views of castles and the rest of the town just seemingly growing directly out of the rock.

bell tower glowing in the sunshine

castle growing out of the rock

castle close up

the whole town just growing out of the rock

On our way back up to the venue for the afternoon session, we passed a gelato shop, realised what we had seen, retraced our steps, and went in.  I had the most amazing and darkest chocolate ice cream I’ve ever seen.  I think we’ll be visiting there again.

an old town

Although it is a Saturday, we had a full schedule of talks, timetabled 9am to 7:40pm, then a poster session after dinner!

After getting a full night’s sleep, I have been feeling a lot more alert today.  Apart from when some boiler or fridge rattles for a few minutes, my room is utterly silent: thick stone walls and essentially no traffic contribute to this.

On the way up to breakfast in a different building, I took this photo of the corridor out of the building where my room is:

gorgeous

My room is just around the corner from the main conference venue, which has this magnificent entrance:

The streets are all paved with this form of cobbling.  After hundreds of years of wear, it is somewhat slippery.  That’s not a problem on level surfaces, but most streets in Erice slope dramatically.

This is the street up to the breakfast room, and tonight’s poster session; many streets are much steeper than this.  I picked my way up it carefully, to have a look at the posters, then picked my way back down again even more carefully.

An extremely full day, of wonderful talks and posters.  Off for another good night’s sleep, to get ready for more sessions tomorrow (yes, on Sunday!)

view from a conference accommodation window

I am attending the Unconventional Computing workshop an the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily.  I’ve wanted to attend an Erice event for a long time now, as it is a famous location for scientific conferences.  So I was concerned when I caught Covid, but fortunately I recovered in time.  I arrived at the centre about 3am (due to a more than three hour delay in my flight; thanks Ryanair).  The weather forecast is full sun all week, so I was surprised to see this out of my window this morning:

However, the early morning mist had mostly lifted by the first break.  We trooped up a stone sprial staircase from the lecture room to the tearoom, to be greeted by a most fantastic view: the room is open to the scenery:

The photo just doesn’t do justice to the effect.  The light is amazing.  Going closer to the opening (taking care to avoid falling down the unmarked black steps against the black floor on the way) gives a wonderful view over the historic town of Erice:

Look closely at the roofs, and you will see lines of rocks on the tiles.  Why?

And looking further out we see this magnificent view over the Mediterranean:

After this break, it’s my turn to present, on less than five hours sleep and with a bit of a post-Covid cough. Let’s see how it goes!

oh well

 Inevitable sooner or later, I suppose: