A monoid is a category, a category is a monad, a monad is a monoid
In most of the category theory posts on HN I&#x27;ve seen, there&#x27;s at least one person asking ahead this stuff is useful for. This comment is about why I find it useful.<p>Why I learn this stuff: to more effectively change things about myself.<p>Category Theory is an abstract math of relationships. I use it to better understand how my mind and body work. How parts of me are related in the moment and&#x2F;or across time. Understanding how things in me are related is essential to me dealing with PTSD &amp; recovering from addiction, both of which can color every aspect of a person. Untangling them is insanely hard and has gotten much easier through CT.<p>I apply my programming intuition to my brain &amp; body through CT. There exists a path from neuroanatomy to theoretical computer science that passes through category theory. I&#x27;ve been experimenting on myself for 6 months with the goal of changing my mind and body. I&#x27;ve been doing it by developing an intuition for category theory, developing an intuition for how neutral networks learn, adapting machine learning models with concepts from neuroscience and psychology, and mixing it all with my intuition for programming.<p>So far, I&#x27;ve:<p>• changed how I walk through a handful of sessions lasting a few minutes and no longer experience back pain I&#x27;d been seeing a chiropractor (saw him weekly for 3-4 months with little improvement, ending about 10 months people changing my gait)<p>• began learning how to identify and stop believing anxious thoughts<p>• accidentally started developing the ability to focus and direct my attention (way beyond anything I&#x27;ve ever experienced on my ADHD meds)<p>• accidentally stumbled on the Buddhist practice of deity visualization, which created a second conscious voice in my head. She helps me learn how to embody more than one new personality trait at a time easier than if I simply focused on being those things. It&#x27;s weird&#x2F;complicated, and I&#x27;m willing to go into more detail if people have questions.<p>Here are some of the few bits supporting my claims about neuroanatomy and category theory:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.researchgate.net&#x2F;publication&#x2F;280219255_Conciliating_neuroscience_and_phenomenology_via_category_theory" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.researchgate.net&#x2F;publication&#x2F;280219255_Conciliat...</a><p>One of the coauthors wrote the only book on the brain and category theory:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;tierra.aslab.upm.es&#x2F;documents&#x2F;PhD&#x2F;PhD-JGomez.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;tierra.aslab.upm.es&#x2F;documents&#x2F;PhD&#x2F;PhD-JGomez.pdf</a><p>If you understand a good bit of CT and would like to help me flesh out my framework, my contact info is in my profile.<p>I live in the Seattle area and would love to meet up with anyone interested.