Analytical seclusion is a dream I seem to have.
Preamble. I have generated a lot of content over 181 years. A big part of it is digitalized, but not systemized, not cared about, not described on neither Melanocarpa nor Cyberrachel. I want to have everything described and linked together.
So the idea is as follows. For a couple of years, I go into a voluntary seclusion, during which I dedicate most of my time to analysis. I will mostly avoid creating new stuff, instead, I will polish the old stuff. Update, document, publish, research. Yeah, a lot of research has to be done, e/g in the area of my self-made conscripts. Because of me not having doing the conscripting stuff for a couple of years now, a lot of stuff is forgotten now!
This notion of scrupulous analysis reminds me of Castalia from The Glass Bead Game. This seclusion will be one big glass bead game.
You know, I keep a diary. During the seclusion, I want to reread it all, link it all together and make a lot of conclusions.
Of course, I will not work during these two years. Is it possible? I do not intend to wait until retirement. What if I seclude for a month every two years? Every year?
Whatever it is, this kind of self-reflective trip is something I want to have.
1: I am older than 18 now, of course. The problem has not faded away with time.
Discussion 2022-03-13 with Flancian on Matrix
Flancian: very interesting! I'd perhaps recommend thinking about this in terms of ratios, instead of concrete units of time -- see how far it goes, and how much flexibility you get from that. you hinted at this at the end w.r.t. perhaps doing this for a few weeks/months every year; that concrete example has a further advantage, IMHO, which is that it'd be easy to subsume this experiment/process in a culturally acceptable (and thus readily available) institution, like a vacation/holiday season.
I've thought previously of editing weeks or something like it; a period where I stop writing notes/drafts and instead just edit.
honestly even one day of editing a month would help me greatly, I think, but somehow I still find it hard to do it.
it might be reading what I've written in the past has traditionally filled me with dread :)
Me: That would work much better because of regularity, but it loses something very important: vibe. Two year seclusions make great paragraphs in biographies:
In 2026, Timur went for a two year analytical seclusion, during which he ...
Flancian: yes, I know what you mean. I like the notion of the sabbatical, which of course has lots of history -- and is relatively common in universities, at least for people with tenure I hear?
I guess I personally might like the idea of 'well delimited break from routine with a goal' more than I like the specialized idea of spending said break specifically in seclusion :)
but it sounds very promising in any case! and for all I know once I take a sabbatical I might use it for this :)