Establishing a context window

For as long as I can remember, I have not been particularly fond of memorizing things. It seems pointless remembering information you can easily look up or knowing solutions to problems you don't understand. I discovered at an early age that whenever I truly understand a problem space, solutions are almost self-evident. Unsurprisingly, my brain
gravitates towards subject areas where solutions to a large number of problems can be deduced from a small number of fundamental principles.

Ironically, understanding does not mean that problem solving is effortless. There are usually many steps between fundamental principles and adequate solutions. Moreover, the path taken usually includes simplifying assumptions resulting in approximate solutions. However, understanding does allow you to reliably reproduce all steps and arrive at the same answer each and every time.

Developing an understanding requires a context window, or as Maya Angelou so eloquently put it:

You can't really know where you are going until you know where you have been

In other words, you need to keep track of multiple pieces of information, simplifications, and manipulations at the same time. Your first path to a solution is usually erratic because your understanding is still shallow. However, stay with the problem and chances are that you will discover additional solutions and more elegant paths as your understanding grows.

In order to maintain a context window of sufficient size to develop an understanding of meaningful problems, I need to write things down. In my day job where I work on scientific problems, my go-to resources for cracking the really hard problems are pencil and paper. The purpose of this publication is to establish a context window to help develop a better understanding of intersections between democracy, economy, and technology. I hope you will find the posts meaningful and look forward to fruitful discussions.