2003-07-27

Time on the internet, and ur-shapes


Was thinking yesterday about the nature of time/distance and trying to draw
parallels with semantics.

With proteins, if they're not the same shape they won't fit together. But even
if they are the same shape but they're not near each other (in space+time) they
won't fit together. So time and configuration and probability, etc, these are
all part of the grander ur-shape.

In another way entirely, certain words fit together and help define each other.
They make shapes. New ideas have to mesh with the ur-shape -- be around at the
in the right place and have the right shape.


"Understanding" is the true distance on the internet: everything else is
surmountable (that is, you can drive wormholes through it). So if something
uses different metaphor sets, you won't be able to reuse its conclusions: you
just won't recognise it as being useful when you see it.

Even though the same idea may be being described - the same shape is there -
your ideas may not recognise their ideas because of the different
worldview/metaphor_set.

Here, ideas are shapes, are physical things. Worldviews/metaphor_sets are
time/configuration/probabilities, they comprise the ur-shape, they are like
time.