In this episode I speak with Paul Chiusano (@pchiusano), creator of Unison, about his ambitious vision for the future, where we can abstract over distributed computing, and there are no apps.

In this episode I speak with Paul Chiusano (<a class="ProfileHeaderCard-screennameLink u-linkComplex js-nav" href="https://twitter.com/pchiusano">@pchiusano</a>), creator of <a href="unisonweb.org">Unison</a>, about his ambitious vision for the future, where we can abstract over distributed computing, and there are no apps.

A romp through the field of computer programming, grapling with our history and wondering what should come next. A mix of deeply technical talk, philosophy, art, dark lore, and good takes. Hosted by Ivan Reese, Jimmy Miller, and Lu Wilson.

A romp through the field of computer programming, grapling with our history and wondering what should come next. A mix of deeply technical talk, philosophy, art, dark lore, and good takes. Hosted by <a href="https://ivanish.ca/">Ivan Reese</a>, <a href="https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/">Jimmy Miller</a>, and <a href="https://todepond.com/">Lu Wilson</a>.

Future of Coding

An imaginative, ruminative romp through the land of poisoned sand. What even are computers, where did they come from, and how might we make them radically different. Hosted by Ivan Reese, Jimmy Miller, and Lu Wilson.

An imaginative, ruminative romp through the land of poisoned sand. What even are computers, where did they come from, and how might we make them radically different. Hosted by <a href="https://ivanish.ca/">Ivan Reese</a>, <a href="https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/">Jimmy Miller</a>, and <a href="https://todepond.com/">Lu Wilson</a>.

Unison's Paul Chiusano on how Abstraction Will Save Distributed Computing

You know Alan Turing, right?

And the Turing test?

Have you actually read the paper that introduced it,

Computing Machinery and Intelligence?

No?!

You… you are not prepared.

With very special guest:Felienne Hermans

Notes

$ Patreon
Mystery AI Hype Theatre 3000 podcast, from Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna. "Always read the footnotes"
[The Language Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_game_(philosophy) by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Can Machines Think? by W. "Billy" Mays
Lu's paper with Dave Ackley, Dialogues on Natural Code describes how the symbiote will spread to consume all of humanity.
Reclaiming AI as a Theoretical Tool for Cognitive Science by Iris van Rooij et al.
Ned Block's Blockhead
Nick Cave's thoughts on AI song lyrics. For instance: "Writing a good song is not mimicry, or replication, or pastiche, it is the opposite. […] It is the breathless confrontation with one’s vulnerability, one’s perilousness, one’s smallness, pitted against a sense of sudden shocking discovery; it is the redemptive artistic act that stirs the heart of the listener, where the listener recognizes in the inner workings of the song their own blood, their own struggle, their own suffering."
What Computers Can't Do by Hubert Dryfus
Wittgenstein on Rules by Saul Kripke
Is chess the drosophila of artificial intelligence? by Nathan Ensmenger
Computers as Theatre by Brenda Laurel

! Send us email, especially questions or topics you'd like us to discuss on future episodes, share your wildest ideas in the Slack, and:
IVAN: 🐘🦋🌐
JIMM: 🐘🦋🌐
TODE: 🐘🦋🌐
FELI: 🐘🦋🌐

See you in the future!

https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/076

You know <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing">Alan Turing</a>, right?
And the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test">Turing test</a>?
Have you actually read the paper that introduced it,
<a href="https://courses.cs.umbc.edu/471/papers/turing.pdf">Computing Machinery and Intelligence</a>?
No?!
You&hellip; you are not prepared.
<hr>
With very special guest: <a href="https://www.felienne.com/">Felienne Hermans</a>
Notes
$ <a href="https://www.patreon.com/futureofcoding">Patreon</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.dair-institute.org/maiht3k/">Mystery AI Hype Theatre 3000</a> podcast, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_M._Bender">Emily M. Bender</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Hanna_%28research_scientist%29">Alex Hanna</a>. "Always read the footnotes"</li>
<li>[The Language Game](<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_game_(philosophy)">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_game_(philosophy)</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Wittgenstein">Ludwig Wittgenstein</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/13C1D582F132D7F24734C48683AA3552/S003181910002266Xa.pdf/can-machines-think.pdf">Can Machines Think?</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfe_Mays">W. "Billy" Mays</a></li>
<li>Lu's paper with <a href="https://www.cs.unm.edu/~ackley/">Dave Ackley</a>, <a href="https://www.todepond.com/code/">Dialogues on Natural Code</a> describes how the symbiote will spread to consume all of humanity.</li>
<li><a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s42113-024-00217-5.pdf">Reclaiming AI as a Theoretical Tool for Cognitive Science</a> by <a href="https://irisvanrooijcogsci.com">Iris van Rooij</a> et al.</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Block">Ned Block</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockhead_(thought_experiment)">Blockhead</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Cave">Nick Cave</a>'s thoughts on <a href="https://www.theredhandfiles.com/chat-gpt-what-do-you-think/">AI song lyrics</a>. For instance: "Writing a good song is not mimicry, or replication, or pastiche, it is the opposite. [&hellip;] It is the breathless confrontation with one&rsquo;s vulnerability, one&rsquo;s perilousness, one&rsquo;s smallness, pitted against a sense of sudden shocking discovery; it is the redemptive artistic act that stirs the heart of the listener, where the listener recognizes in the inner workings of the song their own blood, their own struggle, their own suffering."</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Dreyfus%27s_views_on_artificial_intelligence">What Computers Can't Do</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Dreyfus">Hubert Dryfus</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittgenstein_on_Rules_and_Private_Language">Wittgenstein on Rules</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Kripke">Saul Kripke</a></li>
<li><a href="https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/nensmeng/files/Ensmenger2012-Chess.pdf">Is chess the drosophila of artificial intelligence?</a> by <a href="https://luddy.indiana.edu/contact/profile/?profile_id=197">Nathan Ensmenger</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~social/reading/Laurel-ComputersAsTheatre.pdf">Computers as Theatre</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Laurel">Brenda Laurel</a></li>
</ul>
! Send us <a href="mailto:admin@futureofcoding.org?subject=Email%20from%20a%20listener">email</a>, especially questions or topics you'd like us to discuss on future episodes, share your wildest ideas in the <a href="https://futureofcoding.org/community">Slack</a>, and:
<ul>
<li>IVAN: <a href="https://mastodon.social/@spiralganglion">🐘</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/spiralganglion.com">🦋</a> <a href="https://ivanish.ca/">🌐</a></li>
<li>JIMM: <a href="https://hachyderm.io/@jimmyhmiller">🐘</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/jimmyhmiller.bsky.social">🦋</a> <a href="https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/">🌐</a></li>
<li>TODE: <a href="https://mas.to/@todepond">🐘</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/todepond.com">🦋</a> <a href="https://www.todepond.com/">🌐</a></li>
<li>FELI: <a href="https://mastodon.social/@Felienne">🐘</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/felienne.bsky.social">🦋</a> <a href="https://www.felienne.com/">🌐</a></li>
</ul>
See you in the future!
<a href="https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/076">https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/076</a>

Computing Machinery and Intelligence by Alan Turing (feat. Felienne Hermans)

In the academic field of programming language research, there are a few prestigious conferences that you must present at to advance in your career. These conferences are rather selective about which presentations they'll accept. If your research work involves proving formal properties about a programming language, you'll have their ear. But if your work looks at, say, the human factors of language design, you might as well not bother applying — and thus, not bother pursuing that work in the first place. Why is the formalistic, systems-focused work elevated, and the human-focused work diminished? And what are the downstream consequences, the self-reinforcing feedback loops that come from this narrow focus?

In this episode we discuss a paper by Felienne Hermans and Ari Schlesinger titled, A case for Feminism in Programming Language Design. It applies the lens of intersectional feminism to reveal a startling lack of "Yes, and…" in academic computer science, where valuable avenues of inquiry are closed off, careers are stifled, and people are unintentionally driven away from contributing to the field, simply because their passions and expertise don't conform to a set of invisible expectations. Through heartbreaking personal anecdotes and extensive supporting references, the paper makes the case that there's a lot of high-value greenfield work to be done, and people who would love to do it — but we will need to collectively identify, understand, and then fix a few broken incentives before it'll happen.

Notes

$ Patreon
Polypad, dubbed the "best piece of education software for smartboards" by published academic Luke Wilson
Or is it Mathigon? "Looks like a nice Desmos", opines enterprise sales expert Ivan Reese.
Market💡Facts.ca
Hedy, a multi-lingual programming environment for the classroom created by Felienne.

Welcome to the TALK BLOC:


Felienne Hermans at Onward! 2024: A case for Feminism in Programming Language Design


Ivan and Alex Warth at LIVE 2024: Inkling


Lu at LIVE 2024: Arroost


Lu at Onward! 2024: Dialogs on Natural Code


Discovering Your Software Umwelt by Rebecca Wirfs-Brock, Allen Wirfs-Brock, and Jordan Wirfs-Brock


A New Cognitive Perspective on Simplicity in System and Product Design by FoC community member and previous bonus episode guest, Stefan Lesser


Redressing the Balance: A Yin-Yang Perspective on Information Technology by FoC community member Konrad Hinsen


Foremost among the contributions to society by Icebergs are their inspiration of the meme


Alex McLean as in Insane in the Membrane


FOUR FOUR


Mary Shaw, previous guest


Zachtronics make some hard puzzle games.


Define Define, a really great video about that.


Oh, you question toxic masculinity, yet you live within the gender binary?

! Send us email, especially if you're an avid listener who happens to work for a placement agency and knows an AI thought leader who has advised 5000 startups and would be a great fit for our show, share your ideas in the Slack, and:
Eats: Mastodon • Website
Shoots: Mastodon • Website
Leaves: Mastodon • Website

See you in the future!

https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/75

In the academic field of programming language research, there are a few prestigious conferences that you must present at to advance in your career. These conferences are rather selective about which presentations they'll accept. If your research work involves proving formal properties about a programming language, you'll have their ear. But if your work looks at, say, the human factors of language design, you might as well not bother applying &mdash;&nbsp;and thus, not bother pursuing that work in the first place. Why is the formalistic, systems-focused work elevated, and the human-focused work diminished? And what are the downstream consequences, the self-reinforcing feedback loops that come from this narrow focus?
In this episode we discuss a paper by <a href="https://www.felienne.com/">Felienne Hermans</a> and <a href="https://arischlesinger.com/">Ari Schlesinger</a> titled, <a href="https://www.felienne.com/archives/8470">A case for Feminism in Programming Language Design</a>. It applies the lens of intersectional feminism to reveal a startling lack of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_and...">"Yes, and&hellip;"</a> in academic computer science, where valuable avenues of inquiry are closed off, careers are stifled, and people are unintentionally driven away from contributing to the field, simply because their passions and expertise don't conform to a set of invisible expectations. Through heartbreaking personal anecdotes and extensive supporting references, the paper makes the case that there's a lot of high-value greenfield work to be done, and people who would love to do it &mdash;&nbsp;but we will need to collectively identify, understand, and then fix a few broken incentives before it'll happen.
Notes
$ <a href="https://www.patreon.com/futureofcoding">Patreon</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://polypad.amplify.com/">Polypad</a>, dubbed the "best piece of education software for smartboards" by published academic Luke Wilson</li>
<li>Or is it <a href="https://mathigon.org/">Mathigon</a>? "Looks like a nice <a href="https://www.desmos.com/">Desmos</a>", opines enterprise sales expert Ivan Reese.</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241124083409/https://www.marketfacts.ca/home/">Market💡Facts.ca</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.hedy.org">Hedy</a>, a multi-lingual programming environment for the classroom created by Felienne.</li>
</ul>
Welcome to the TALK BLOC:
<ul>
<li>
Felienne Hermans at Onward! 2024: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Br66SUjsdQ&amp;t=12129">A case for Feminism in Programming Language Design</a>
</li>
<li>
Ivan and Alex Warth at LIVE 2024: <a href="https://www.inkandswitch.com/ink/notes/inkling-live-presentation/">Inkling</a>
</li>
<li>
Lu at LIVE 2024: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GOeYylCMJI&amp;t=12480">Arroost</a>
</li>
<li>
Lu at Onward! 2024: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Br66SUjsdQ&amp;t=15105">Dialogs on Natural Code</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Br66SUjsdQ&amp;t=23984s">Discovering Your Software Umwelt</a> by Rebecca Wirfs-Brock, Allen Wirfs-Brock, and Jordan Wirfs-Brock
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://stefanlesser.substack.com/p/video-and-transcript-of-my-presentation">A New Cognitive Perspective on Simplicity in System and Product Design</a> by FoC community member and previous <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-physics-with-99281699">bonus episode guest</a>, Stefan Lesser
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://archive.org/details/onward-redressing-the-balance">Redressing the Balance: A Yin-Yang Perspective on Information Technology</a> by FoC community member Konrad Hinsen
</li>
<li>
Foremost among the contributions to society by Icebergs are their inspiration of <a href="https://suricrasia.online/iceberg/">the meme</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_McLean">Alex McLean</a> as in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RijB8wnJCN0">Insane in the Membrane</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://ivanish.ca/four-four/">FOUR FOUR</a>
</li>
<li>
Mary Shaw, previous <a href="https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/069">guest</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachtronics">Zachtronics</a> make some hard puzzle games.
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMklf0vUl18">Define Define</a>, a really great video about that.
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/we-should-improve-society-somewhat">Oh, you question toxic masculinity, yet you live within the gender binary?</a>
</li>
</ul>
! Send us <a href="mailto:admin@futureofcoding.org?subject=Email%20from%20a%20listener">email</a>, especially if you're an avid listener who happens to work for a placement agency and knows an AI thought leader who has advised 5000 startups and would be a great fit for our show, share your ideas in the <a href="https://futureofcoding.org/community">Slack</a>, and:
<ul>
<li>Eats: <a href="https://mastodon.social/@spiralganglion">Mastodon</a> &bull; <a href="https://ivanish.ca/">Website</a></li>
<li>Shoots: <a href="https://hachyderm.io/@jimmyhmiller">Mastodon</a> &bull; <a href="https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/">Website</a></li>
<li>Leaves: <a href="https://mas.to/@todepond">Mastodon</a> &bull; <a href="https://www.todepond.com/">Website</a></li>
</ul>
See you in the future!
https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/75

A Case for Feminism in Programming Language Design by Felienne Hermans

"Is the whole universe a computer?", ask Jack Copeland, Mark Sprevak, and Oron Shagrir in chapter 41 of the book The Turing Guide. They split this question in two, first asking whether the universe itself is a computer, then whether the universe could even be computed. These are lofty, unanswerable questions, sure, but they encroach on our territory — philosophy, automata, nonsense. So, in our usual reverent style and with attentive pacing, the three of us explore the paper, the questions, the answers they choose to highlight, and even share a few perfectly reasonable answers of our own.

Links

$ Patreon

In no particular order:
Carl Sagan
What it means to be open was Lu's talk at Heart of Clojure
Rudy Rucker
Is the brain a digital computer? by John Searle
The Plankth of time.
C is Not a Low-Level Language by David Chisnall
The Connection Machine!!
Komgloverav… Komolgorov…
Outer Worlds?
Outer Wilds?
The Witness

Music featured in this episode:
No! That's a spoiler. No way I'm telling you.

! Send us email, share your ideas in the Slack, and catch us while you still can:
Carl: Mastodon • Website
Jimmy: Mastodon • Website
Lu: Mastodon • Website

See you in the future!

https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/74

"<a href="https://marksprevak.com/pdf/paper/Sprevak---The%20Computable%20Universe.pdf">Is the whole universe a computer?</a>", ask Jack Copeland, Mark Sprevak, and Oron Shagrir in chapter 41 of the book <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turing_Guide">The Turing Guide</a>. They split this question in two, first asking whether the universe itself is a computer, then whether the universe could even be computed. These are lofty, unanswerable questions, sure, but they encroach on our territory &mdash;&nbsp;philosophy, automata, nonsense. So, in our usual reverent style and with attentive pacing, the three of us explore the paper, the questions, the answers they choose to highlight, and even share a few perfectly reasonable answers of our own.
Links
$ <a href="https://www.patreon.com/futureofcoding">Patreon</a>
In no particular order:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan">Carl Sagan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJzV0CX0q8o">What it means to be open</a> was Lu's talk at Heart of Clojure</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Rucker">Rudy Rucker</a></li>
<li><a href="https://courses.cs.umbc.edu/graduate/671/fall21/resources/searle_2002.pdf">Is the brain a digital computer?</a> by John Searle</li>
<li>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_units#Planck_time">Plankth of time</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3212479">C is Not a Low-Level Language</a> by David Chisnall</li>
<li><a href="https://mastodon.social/@spiralganglion/112578884737169457">The Connection Machine!!</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolmogorov_complexity">Komgloverav&hellip; Komolgorov&hellip;</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Wilds">Outer Worlds?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outer_Worlds">Outer Wilds?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHt4uJyhJo8">The Witness</a></li>
</ul>
Music featured in this episode:
<ul>
<li>No! That's a spoiler. No way I'm telling you.</li>
</ul>
! Send us <a href="mailto:admin@futureofcoding.org?subject=Email%20from%20a%20listener">email</a>, share your ideas in the <a href="https://futureofcoding.org/community">Slack</a>, and catch us while you still can:
<ul>
<li>Carl: <a href="https://mastodon.social/@spiralganglion">Mastodon</a> &bull; <a href="https://ivanish.ca/">Website</a></li>
<li>Jimmy: <a href="https://hachyderm.io/@jimmyhmiller">Mastodon</a> &bull; <a href="https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/">Website</a></li>
<li>Lu: <a href="https://mas.to/@todepond">Mastodon</a> &bull; <a href="https://www.todepond.com/">Website</a></li>
</ul>
See you in the future!
<a href="https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/74">https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/74</a>

Unison's Paul Chiusano on how Abstraction Will Save Distributed Computing

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