L&S Cat Theory: Attempted solutions to "Conceptual Mathematics" by Lawvere and Schanuel

I never really stated this goal publicly, but back when I started Category Theory Caturday in April 2023 I also made the decision to begin watching “One Piece” on Netflix.

For those unfamiliar with the anime, “One Piece” has been an ongoing series for over twenty years now. Unlike other anime series where I typically binge watch them over a few weeks, this was a series where I knew that would never be healthy option. Instead, I made a commitment to watch “one episode per day on average”. With Netflix listing over a thousand episodes and counting, I expected catching up to take at least 3 years.

On January 1st of 2025, my plans were smashed. Apparently there’s a gap in Netflix’s licensing arrangement and the series skips from episode 628 to 1089. My longstanding morning routine of watching cartoon pirates while I drink my coffee came to sudden and abrupt end.

I bring all this up now because after 90 weeks of posting math and cat pics, my streak of making weekly progress has been broken. For the first time since I started this endeavor, I simply could not make sufficient space for myself to devote the kind of attention to this work that it duly requires.

While I’m a bit sad that it came to this, the reality of my current situation means that Cat Theory Caturday may need to be put on paws for a bit.

This story is far from over. Even once I make it through L&S, there’s still Lurie waiting on my bookself. That’s enough math for years to come, and my old-man baby cats are still as adorable as ever.

If there’s something I’ve learned from all this, it’s that having a steady routine for learning is so incredibly important. A while back I blogged about the importance of mathematical-thinking skills

¹

suburbanlion.com/blog/2024/03/11/performance-assessments-and-mathematical-thinking/

but what I see now is that those skills alone are not sufficient. It’s the product of those skills with TIME to exercise them that make learning possible.

“Cat Theory Caturday” will return once I can settle in with a new routine that gives these exercises the amount of time they require. Until then, keep calm and mooch for snacks my friends!