<div dir="ltr">OH AND: What was Owen's question. </div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 1:40\u202fPM Steve Smith <<a href="mailto:sasmyth@swcp.com">sasmyth@swcp.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div>
<p>Nick -</p>
<p>You haven't met my dog. He has a stare that very explicitly
means "please pass me the salt<kibble>" and he means it, he
will followup with a pawing gesture if I ignore him for more than
about 2 minutes. </p>
<p>My chickens have a very acute body-language-gesture that tells
the foraging big-birds in their yard "get the H3ll outta here!"
and similarly to the small-birds, their body language seems to
say "I can't see you!"?</p>
<p>Though both may in fact be doing it in their own mythopoetic
form, my linear-linguistic self turns it into a simple directive.
<i>Humans can be so effing linear!</i></p>
<p>- Steve</p>
<div>On 2/4/26 1:32 pm, Nicholas Thompson
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Communication has occurred when your behavior directed
toward me has designed my behavior to suit your needs.
"Please pass me the salt" is a communication when, as a
consequence of its utterance, I pass you the salt. We could
bicker about what we would call it if I passed you the pepper,
but the basic principle is as above. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>To say that communication is impossible is nonsense. We do
it all the time. It is what makes humans special. Other
animals are happy to do poetry, art, or music, but they have a
heluva time asking for the salt. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Grrrr</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Nick</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 1:12\u202fPM
Steve Smith <<a href="mailto:sasmyth@swcp.com" target="_blank">sasmyth@swcp.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div> <br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I think you\u2019ve answered Owen\u2019s
question?</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<p>and to paraphrase/convolve glen and the five-man-electric
band: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><i>"Words, words, everywhere words, can't you bleep the
words?"</i></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Glen has regularly asserted here (paradoxically) that he
<i>doesn't believe in communication at all </i>(my lame
paraphrase, demonstrating the point?!). I'm inclined to
(paradoxically) believe him.</p>
<p>I have been chattering with the *swarms* of Robins which
are (re)migrating through the area again (heading back
north I suppose?)... their group dynamics are unfamiliar
to me this year. Usually we get groups (not flocks as
such) of 10-20 visit... but yesterday I saw tens and tens
in my yard, around my pond (they love the pond) but when I
disrupted them, they fled to a large cottonwood tree where
there were perhaps hundreds who joined them in flight,
almost "murmurating" away... fascinating. </p>
<p>And of course, they don't give a birds-ass about my
words, about "groups", or "flocks" or "swarms" or
"fleeing" or "flight" or "birds-ass" for that matter...
this is the first year in my memory (25 years at this
location, 45 in the general area, 69 in the southern
Rockies and nearby high deserts) that Robins have remained
present through the winter. My chickens tolerate "little
gray sparrow-like-birds" in their "pasture" scavenging for
grain, but run off anything bigger (at least jays, robins,
flickers)... I never noticed that before.</p>
<p>And do the ClawdBot Agents thrashing around on MoltBook
have the same conversations as we do here? Maybe
indistinguishable? </p>
<p>What kind of Stochastic Parrot-Farm (nod to Doug) are we
anyway?</p>
<p>- Steve (the Stochastic Parrot and erstwhile Underdog
Character who flies off in all directions at once like a
ChatterBot running on a TPU cluster?).</p>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div style="border-width:1pt medium medium;border-style:solid none none;border-color:rgb(225,225,225) currentcolor currentcolor;padding:3pt 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Friam
<a href="mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com" target="_blank"><friam-bounces@redfish.com></a>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Nicholas Thompson<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, February 4, 2026 11:12 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> The Friday Morning Applied Complexity
Coffee Group <a href="mailto:friam@redfish.com" target="_blank"><friam@redfish.com></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [FRIAM] Dead Stack?</span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ok, so here is an example of
the KIND of thing we might have discussed at a
FRIAM meeting in the old days:</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">NICK: iF friction is
negligible between two layers, how in fact do two
layers come to affect one another?</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">FRIAM MOB:: (affectionate
exasperation) When you have read a physics book,
a philosophy book, and 8 math books, come back and
we'll explain it to you. </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">NICK TO MOB: Nuthn' doin'. If
you are so smart, you should be able to explain it
to me NOW.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">MOB TO NICK: Oh, God. Do we
have to? OH, OKAAAAAAAAAAY. </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">SUB MOB 1 TO NICK: Any idiot
knows that THIS is how it works</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">SUB MOB 2 TO NICK: Any idiot
knows that THAT is how it works. </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">NICK TO MOBS: Any idiot knows
that THIS and THAT can't both be true.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">ETC. </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I learned almost everything I
know from those conversations. I miss them
terribly.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nick</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 11:32<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">\u202f</span>AM
Gary Schiltz <<a href="mailto:gary@naturesvisualarts.com" target="_blank">gary@naturesvisualarts.com</a>>
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote style="border-width:medium medium medium 1pt;border-style:none none none solid;border-color:currentcolor currentcolor currentcolor rgb(204,204,204);padding:0in 0in 0in 6pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">My feeling is that there was
a bubble of activity in Santa Fe about
complexity in the late 1990s (see Wired\u2019s
article about \u201cSilicon Mesa\u201d) that burst in
about 2001. Many who were there are now old
farts <span style="font-family:"Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif">\U0001f606</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at
7:47<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">\u202f</span>PM Jon Zingale
<<a href="mailto:jonzingale@gmail.com" target="_blank">jonzingale@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote style="border-width:medium medium medium 1pt;border-style:none none none solid;border-color:currentcolor currentcolor currentcolor rgb(204,204,204);padding:0in 0in 0in 6pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in">
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">I
know I came to this group in what
appears to be its twilight. The
in-person meetups are weirdly sad. I
feel pressed to ask if it is the case
that everyone is either:</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">1.
on vacation/ too busy</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">2.
too depressed / failing to find
inspiration</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">3.
moved on to greener forums</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">4.
preferring the company of LLMs</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">...</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">N.
waiting for someone frail to post</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Sometimes
I trawl reddit or whatever discord,
but I cannot help but feel like
beacons of inspiration are becoming
fewer and further between. This group
has managed to inspire me, keep my
interest, for over a decade. In that
time, I pushed myself to understand
perspectives that I would never have
dreamed existed. I hope there is still
something to talk about.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"> </span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. ---
--- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -.
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</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br clear="all">
</p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<span>-- </span></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nicholas S. Thompson</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Emeritus Professor of
Psychology and Ethology</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Clark University</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:nthompson@clarku.edu" target="_blank">nthompson@clarku.edu</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson" target="_blank">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://substack.com/@monist" target="_blank">https://substack.com/@monist</a></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
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</div>
<div><br clear="all">
</div>
<br>
<span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Nicholas S. Thompson</div>
<div>Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology</div>
<div>Clark University</div>
<div><a href="mailto:nthompson@clarku.edu" target="_blank">nthompson@clarku.edu</a></div>
<div><a href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson" target="_blank">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson</a></div>
<div><a href="https://substack.com/@monist" target="_blank">https://substack.com/@monist</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
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</pre>
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</blockquote></div><div><br clear="all"></div><br><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Nicholas S. Thompson</div><div>Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology</div><div>Clark University</div><div><a href="mailto:nthompson@clarku.edu" target="_blank">nthompson@clarku.edu</a></div><div><a href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson" target="_blank">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson</a></div><div><a href="https://substack.com/@monist" target="_blank">https://substack.com/@monist</a></div></div></div>