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syncategorematic Jan. 18th, 2008 01:40 pm)
syncategorematic Jan. 18th, 2008 01:40 pm)I had a strange insight into the Wheel of Fortune archetype yesterday while explaining it to someone else:
"Align, ye forces!" I shouted cheerfully while going for coffee. "Align, you silly things," I grinned to the empty winter air, which proves that I am a cool person. I suddenly had a flashback to leaning over the innards of a robot, squinting with my good eye, probing with delicate fingertips, getting the gears to align, and muttering to them also (sometimes in French, Russian, or German): "Align, you silly things!". It is their care in all the ages to take the buffet and cushion the shock, it is their care that the gear engages, it is their care that the switches lock... (Juxtaposing Lego Mindstorms and Tarot archetypes and Kipling in the same LJ post proves that I am a very cool person.)
One of the things still unresolved is, of course, what I am going to do with my life after I get my actual, real, and true undergraduate degree. I remarked on that while going to Semantics class, to the other guy there who seems interested in the material and who sat in the front row with me today (hmm, Mantle of Venus, maybe a little too much?) that perhaps I should go on a vision quest to understand what the heck I should do with my life after I'm done school, as for the present my subconscious doesn't seem to want grad school (I didn't tell him that in those exact words). After I explained vision quests and taking yourself near insanity with hunger and sleep deprivation, he remarked that it would be a really good idea.
Me: No, I kind of like being well-fed and all that.
He: You ever hear anyone come back from one of those things and talk about them badly?
Me: That's because they don't want to look stupid for doing it!
Other notes from Semantics:
Ana: We want to talk about sleeping and we want to talk about sneezing. Those are two topics of conversation that often come together.
Ana: [% regarding a syntax tree] If there was a syntactician here, I would be getting murdered at this point.
Guy from back: Tell us the answer and then explain.
Ana: The level of trust I have here is unbelievable.
Guy: You have an honest face.
The problem here was with the question of function application versus the AND operator. I discussed with Ana after class that the whole problem would be eliminated if you only used untyped lambda calculus where everything is a function and anything can be applied to anything else; however, of course, throwing types out entirely would create a tool all too powerful to last into the syntax-semantics interface it; it will destroy syntax to the core (the person who did a presentation on various categorial grammars and the constraints they have and don't have remarks sagely) (kind of like the Tower).
But I remembered untyped lambda calculus with joy. It had cost me scars, but the comprehension of it was won at cost and is now mine.
Hey, I can go to logic seminars again this semester...It will mean abandoning dropping in for math help, but on the other hand, on the gripping hand, logic seminars...
The Wheel is not about reasoned control; it is much better navigated by the subconscious mind than the conscious. What the Wheel is telling me is, "Don't be afraid if things get weird." Remember the whole judging thing that this began with? Things are going to come into your life that you shouldn't put an immediate stamp of "good" or "bad" on, as this wheel is a dynamical system, things can and will change and your perspective can and will change with them.The Wheel of Fortune is a dynamical system --- yes. Everything is still in flux, and things will change, and even the matrix of differential equations regulating their change will change also. There are four classic Tarot archetypes that indicate change to me: Wheel of Fortune, Death, Tower, and Judgement. Change as a consequence of forces aligning; unexpected but transformative change; razing-to-the-ground change so you can rebuild; and change as a direct consequence of your actions reaching a critical point. Things were moving extremely slowly for at least a couple of months, then this weekend unto Wednesday events moved quickly; now they are slow again, I feel, but they are not going to stay that way; and there are plenty of things still unresolved. IT'S JUST THE SUSPICION THAT FORCES ARE ALIGNING QUIETLY...
"Align, ye forces!" I shouted cheerfully while going for coffee. "Align, you silly things," I grinned to the empty winter air, which proves that I am a cool person. I suddenly had a flashback to leaning over the innards of a robot, squinting with my good eye, probing with delicate fingertips, getting the gears to align, and muttering to them also (sometimes in French, Russian, or German): "Align, you silly things!". It is their care in all the ages to take the buffet and cushion the shock, it is their care that the gear engages, it is their care that the switches lock... (Juxtaposing Lego Mindstorms and Tarot archetypes and Kipling in the same LJ post proves that I am a very cool person.)
One of the things still unresolved is, of course, what I am going to do with my life after I get my actual, real, and true undergraduate degree. I remarked on that while going to Semantics class, to the other guy there who seems interested in the material and who sat in the front row with me today (hmm, Mantle of Venus, maybe a little too much?) that perhaps I should go on a vision quest to understand what the heck I should do with my life after I'm done school, as for the present my subconscious doesn't seem to want grad school (I didn't tell him that in those exact words). After I explained vision quests and taking yourself near insanity with hunger and sleep deprivation, he remarked that it would be a really good idea.
Me: No, I kind of like being well-fed and all that.
He: You ever hear anyone come back from one of those things and talk about them badly?
Me: That's because they don't want to look stupid for doing it!
Other notes from Semantics:
Ana: We want to talk about sleeping and we want to talk about sneezing. Those are two topics of conversation that often come together.
Ana: [% regarding a syntax tree] If there was a syntactician here, I would be getting murdered at this point.
Guy from back: Tell us the answer and then explain.
Ana: The level of trust I have here is unbelievable.
Guy: You have an honest face.
The problem here was with the question of function application versus the AND operator. I discussed with Ana after class that the whole problem would be eliminated if you only used untyped lambda calculus where everything is a function and anything can be applied to anything else; however, of course, throwing types out entirely would create a tool all too powerful to last into the syntax-semantics interface it; it will destroy syntax to the core (the person who did a presentation on various categorial grammars and the constraints they have and don't have remarks sagely) (kind of like the Tower).
But I remembered untyped lambda calculus with joy. It had cost me scars, but the comprehension of it was won at cost and is now mine.
Hey, I can go to logic seminars again this semester...It will mean abandoning dropping in for math help, but on the other hand, on the gripping hand, logic seminars...
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