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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Steve, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Due to a couple of sabbaticals, I had a few of those cross-pond, cross-generational conversations. Nothing better. Carry on, lad! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Nick <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Nicholas S. Thompson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Clark University<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><a href="http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/"><span style='color:#0563C1'>http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:windowtext'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:windowtext'> Friam [mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Steven A Smith<br><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, May 11, 2019 8:49 AM<br><b>To:</b> friam@redfish.com<br><b>Subject:</b> [FRIAM] Words RE: Words - Narrative Bending - Emergence, oh my!<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p><advertisement> <o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><p>I've been hosting my colleagues (Matt and Janire, who some may remember from SFx) from Wales/Spain this last week. Janire is doing a book signing at PhotoEye Gallery this afternoon at 4PM for her book on Ed Grothus and the Black Hole - "Atomic Ed" .<o:p></o:p></p></blockquote><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><p><a href="https://calendar.sfreporter.com/cal/1628254">https://calendar.sfreporter.com/cal/1628254</a><o:p></o:p></p><p><a href="https://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?Catalog=DT496">https://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?Catalog=DT496</a><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote><p></advertisement><o:p></o:p></p><p>The relevance to this braided thread is that I've been following the discussion(s) here but have not had an opportunity to engage with them until now while instead engaging in a lot of across-the-pond/across-a-generation parallax discussions woven around the theme of recognizing/weaving narratives with non-linguistic tools (immersive photography/videography/VR/etc.).<o:p></o:p></p><p>Looking for something entirely different, I tripped over the following article on the topic of Narrative and Complexity Science:<o:p></o:p></p><p> <a href="https://woods.stanford.edu/news/stranger-fiction">https://woods.stanford.edu/news/stranger-fiction</a><o:p></o:p></p><p>With a quote from James Holland Jones:<o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><p><strong><i>Jones:</i></strong><i> The human brain evolved to learn from stories. Stories encode the fundamental information that people need to know about the worlds – physical, biological, social – in which they live. We retain and retrieve information better when it is given in narrative form. I think that written fiction provides powerful tools for modeling complex systems, not that different from what we use in studying them in science. When you tweak some element in a complex system, there will be both cascading and ramifying consequences.</i><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote><p>I think this theme ties in with Nick's fascination with the "magic" he attributes to programmers (in general, or just those modeling complex systems?) and "emergence". I would claim that writing narrative (or even more acutely so, poetry) is an even more magical act. <o:p></o:p></p><p>When I think of the brevity of forms such as flash-fiction (dribble, drabble, twittiture, etc.) or a Haiku (5/7/5) or Zen Koan, I am reminded of the (useful) ambiguity in mathematics/physics/information-theory regarding data-compression, entropy, and cryptography. I am also reminded of the varied and recent use of the term "compression" here.<o:p></o:p></p><p>A superficial analysis of what makes these forms work suggests that skillful use of allusion is one key. This appears to me to be sort of a bootstrap or meta-cryptography technique. By pointing broadly toward (alluding) a large existing body of cultural understanding, a sort of code-book is invoked such that each line or even word taps into entire complex backstories. <o:p></o:p></p><p>Consider Hemingway's famous 6 word short-story: <o:p></o:p></p><p><i> "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."</i><o:p></o:p></p><p>or Masahide's famous line: <br><i> Barn's burnt down --</i><br><i> now</i><br><i> I can see the moon. </i><o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><p><o:p> </o:p></p></blockquote><p>Mumble,<o:p></o:p></p><p> - Steve<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>