[FRIAM] words RE: words

[Nick Thompson]

Glen, 

 

You see, this conversation just confirms me in my belief that you-guys have lost touch with just how remarkable your craft is.  

 

As I think Lee would say (dammit, Lee, where are you?), don't ask a fish about water; he knows nothing of it.  

 

What's the miracle of epigenesis?  E uno pluris.  We start with one thing, we make a few exact copies of it, and then, all of a sudden, we are making different things, tissues, organs, etc.  We are surprised when uniformity generates variety.  What’s the miracle  of organisms?  E pluribus unum.  When the lion charges us on the Veldt, we face a huge collection of cells that somehow manages to act as a very concerted whole.  We are surprised when variety coalesces into uniformity.  

 

Both phenomena are amply presented in the pages of Wolfram.  Every day you go to work, you make both of these things happen on your screen.  And yet you are not amazed by it?  

 

Nick

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com] On Behalf Of u?l? ?
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2019 11:55 AM
To: FriAM <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] words RE: words

 

I would talk about analog computers, not digital ones. But I don't intend to rely on any persnickety concept of "computing". So, it might be better to talk about any physical system that produces counter-intuitive results. I suppose the question is what type of physical system would help target "emergence" best?

 

I don't know... I built a Lorenz wheel that behaved in unexpected ways. Jigsaw puzzles are interesting tools for getting close to the idea that the parts and their arrangements both do and don't contribute to the final product. Spiro-graph is interesting:  <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirograph> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirograph You can buy sets of aperiodic tiles. Etc.

 

It all depends on what it is you think you're trying to understand, I guess.

 

On 5/7/19 10:38 AM, Nick Thompson wrote:

> Given that my question about programming and emergence is a lifeless, flatulent piece of crap ... conceding ALL of that .. how would you breathe life into it?

 

 

--

☣ uǝlƃ

 

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