Focus On Process
Now that we are in a time where generative AI can produce ‘results’ with ease. The process of what we do becomes much more important.
This is something that I am thinking about a lot and I believe will be an important element within the research.
Capturing Process
Two concepts that I have come across in my research so far are, that centre around a showcasing of process are:
a digital garden is a publicly accessible, evolving space for personal knowledge—not a polished blog nor a stream of social-posts. It emphasises continuous growth and learning in public, where links between ideas matter more than linear build up of posts over time. Notes are draft-like, imperfect, interconnected, and self-owned rather than locked into social platforms. appleton-2020-brief-history-of-digital-gardens
A Zettelkasten Method is a system of note-taking and thinking in which each note (‘Zettel’) has a unique address, contains a single idea or concept, and links (or references) other notes. This means the collection isn’t just a linear archive, but a web of thoughts, where each note connects to others via addresses and references, enabling non-linear navigation and emergent insight. sascha-2020-intro-to-zettelkasten
Additionally, as part of my-practice, I am also a live-coder. Live coding as a practice is very much about the practice of sharing your process as it is forming. This led me to think about the idea - what if I could ‘live code my PhD’ - how and what would that look like?
thought: perhaps collecting all of the places that I am developing work, like my github, obsidian, notion, youtube(?) and creating a platform that this is being shared on. Or perhaps doing broadcasts or something? Need further thought, but I am really interested in exploring this.
Developing a platform
I have started to develop a platform here -> <www.phd.mm-hr.com> called ‘PhD-Live’. This will act as a central hub tracking my work and progress, showcasing the journey and process of my learning throughout the PhD. As generative AI increasingly allows shortcuts to learning and in creating works, I feel that the process of making and building knowledge becomes more important and valuable in this context. Showing your process is a way to demonstrate your journey and showcase learning in ‘real-time’.
Additionally, this platform represents a deliberate effort to demystify the PhD process - by sharing my journey openly, sharing the often opaque nature of PhD research.
Historically, PhDs have been accessible primarily to a privileged few. This fact motivates my commitment to making my research process open and accessible, with the hope that the insights gained within academia, are relevant to a wider audience - I hope this space will be a place for anyone curious about the research process.
I have scaffolded a system that works between my local obsidian system and the site the builds and displays all of this. More details here: phd-live-about-page