Post #2265316
2026-05-07 07:40 UTC
I have come to dislike the remark "what you are doing is actually...", usually followed by a step up the mathematical abstraction ladder. I find it somewhat condescending, as it implies the recipient do not know what they are doing. Also, why are we "actually" doing something *more* abstract than we think? Why not the other way? When I write a program, what I "actually" am doing is moving voltages around in a CPU. Or hitting plastic keys on my keyboard.
Replies (2)
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@athas@freeradical.zone 2026-05-07 07:43
I don't mind recasting some programming problem in a more abstract setting, but call it a "model" or a "generalisation", or maybe say "this is an instance of...".
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@u0421793@toot.pikopublish.ing 2026-05-07 08:17
@athas@freeradical.zone maybe, but what you are doing is actually being a living organism, as opposed to, you know, something like an igneous rock