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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 \u2013 physical, biological, social \u2013 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>