TITLE: Today's Thinking Prompts, in Tweets
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: May 19, 2021  3:07 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
 On teaching, via
<a href="https://twitter.com/RobertTalbert/status/1394987202317328385">
   Robert Talbert</a>:

<blockquote><em>
 Look at the course you teach most often.  If you had the power to
 remove one significant topic from that course, what would it be,
 and why?
</em></blockquote>

 I have a high degree of autonomy in most of the courses I teach,
 so power isn't the limiting factor for me.  Time is a challenge
 to making big changes, of course.  Gumption is probably what I
 need most right now.  Summer is a great time for me to think
 about this, both for my compiler course this fall and programming
 languages next spring.

 On research, via
<a href="https://twitter.com/krismicinski/status/1395083112313495553">
   Kris Micinski</a>:

<blockquote><em>
 i remember back to Dana Scott's lecture on the history of the
 lambda calculus where he says, "If Turing were alive today, I
 don't know what he'd be doing, but it wouldn't be recursive
 function theory." I think about that a lot.
</em></blockquote>

 Now I am, too.  Seriously.  I'm no Turing, but I have a few years
 left and some energy to put into something that matters.  Doing
 so will require some gumption to make other changes in my work
 life first.  I am reaching a tipping point.
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