[2474]

I think people overthink tattoos. I believe it's perfectly fine to get tattoos of things that have always meant something to you, meant something for you for a short period, or don't mean anything to you at all. I think people get stuck thinking it has to be super personal and define who you are.

Scott Campbell equates his body to looking like a truck stop bathroom stall. He has poorly done tattoos, great tattoos, tattoos that have no meaning, tattoos that have great meaning, but no tattoo he regrets.

These tattoos help remind him of where he has been and where he wants to go.

[qubex]

When I was in my late teens (in the latter half of the 1990s) I read a lot of Clifford Pickover’s scientific/mathematical books. There I came across my first mention of lambda calculus, exemplified by a very imposing diagram taken from To Dissect a Mockingbird by David Keenan. Years later I started to think seriously about having a tattoo of one. I thought about that for about seven years, and now I have a rendition of Turing's Theta Combinator (a fixed-point combinator much akin to the Y Combinator after which Hacker News’ mother organisation is named).

I've had it now for a few months. I’m just a bit embarrassed by owning up to having had myself tattooed to my very closest family members. My sister and my girlfriend both sport multiple tattoos, but somehow mentioning it to my father or anybody more senior unsettles me.

http://dkeenan.com/Lambda/Graphical_lambda26.gif

[2474]

Thanks for sharing, qubex.

While I can understand opening up to friends and family about getting a tattoo can be hard or embarrassing I am glad you are beginning to do so.

I am sure you don't need my advice but if it helps just remember that your tattoo is a part of you but not the whole you. It's just a physical manifestation of something of interest to you. It doesn't make you any more or less of a person than the person your friends and family love.

From the link your provided I'm sure your tattoo looks awesome.

[qubex]

Here’s a photograph of it...

Make no mistake, I love it. It reminds me of the beauty and underlying pattern of the universe.

https://imgur.com/gallery/a9KhF

[miranda_rights]

This is very, very cool - both the idea and the implementation. I've thought about a CS-themed tattoo for a while but haven't found one that I'm in love with - but yours is exactly like something I'd want!

[2474]

Nice clean lines. Dig it!

[betenoire]

Exactly, and I'd add that not all meaning is relatable. It could take you back to a feeling you had, like sights and sounds and smells can.

Just a few of my tattoos have meaning, the rest don't. But they all take me down memory lane and remind me of various times of my life.

[2474]

Agreed