I’ve used stories for a long time. I like it because I think people shouldn’t believe their (my) experiences are particularly important. Data can be wrong, and interpretations of data often are. Also, it suggests some emotional distance from potentially traumatizing events. Just a story, after all. Put it away when you’re done.
From: Friam <[email protected]> on behalf of Steve Smith <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at 11:14 AM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] (no subject) And "stories" being perhaps just "linguistic models" fit to data points (re the recent Nick Noodling on number series)? My own 5-6 degree polynomial (or more to the point 5-500 dimension curve) when fit to the mis-remembered/recorded "facts" of my life wave around all over the place with "overfitting". I am the blind-men's elephant with his trunk waving all over 500D phase space? On 9/10/25 11:59 am, glen wrote: > Well, IDK Lawvere (other than from that category book). But it would > be interesting to, while young, formulate the predicates you'd like to > satisfy when you're old. Renee' and I regularly marvel that we're > still alive. When we were young, we couldn't even imagine we'd live > this long, much less imagine what properties we might have. I suppose > it's that ugly diachronic/narrativity thing again. Like ChatGPT, we > can tell ourselves stories about anything. And we'll even believe > them. When I was a kid, "story" was synonymous with "lying". "You're > not telling us stories, are you?" - a regular question coming from my > parents. My response was literally irrelevant. They already had their > narrative of whatever I might or might not have done. Whose telling > the stories, here?!?! >8^D > > On 9/10/25 10:47 AM, Jon Zingale wrote: >> Wow, two decades ago. I wish more old people were like him. >> >> On Wed, Sep 10, 2025 at 11:43 AM Jon Zingale <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote: >> >> """ >> >> I found this entertaining, like all her videos: >> >> Part 6: You cannot hear radio waves. >> https://youtu.be/0j4_-7rwWjE?si=9XKhErO03LQLPgvp&t=3910 >> <https://youtu.be/0j4_-7rwWjE?si=9XKhErO03LQLPgvp&t=3910> >> <https://youtu.be/0j4_-7rwWjE?si=9XKhErO03LQLPgvp&t=3910 >> <https://youtu.be/0j4_-7rwWjE?si=9XKhErO03LQLPgvp&t=3910>> >> >> I like the genre "noise". But some of my friends who are true >> fans have some perverse tastes in music. E.g. a couple of them *hate* >> what they call "noodling" ... like Joe Satriani or Yngwie Malmsteen >> ... mostly sounds like they're playing scales. They argue that chords >> and rhythm guitar, as well as drums, are way more >> interesting/entertaining to them. I find that somewhat contradictory. >> It just seems like you can't really be a fan of noise without liking >> noodling, at least when it's appropriate ... not gratuitous. But >> apophenia's a thing. So maybe noise is an ultimate art form, where >> the artist can intend anything she wants without constraining the >> audience in their imputation? >> >> Composers *think* they're generating these things. But most >> mathematicians are Platonic. Maybe the composers are actually >> *discovering* music as opposed to generating it? >> >> """ >> >> Noise is so wonderful. The only genre. >> Honestly the album I have listened to the most over the last 5 >> years: >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISG4YwnikJ0 >> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISG4YwnikJ0> >> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISG4YwnikJ0 >> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISG4YwnikJ0>> >> >> Lately, two other favorites: >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHLCHv4PiI >> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHLCHv4PiI> >> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHLCHv4PiI >> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHLCHv4PiI>> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ5ZvVZ4jWk >> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ5ZvVZ4jWk> >> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ5ZvVZ4jWk >> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ5ZvVZ4jWk>> >> >> The last one I learned about from Bill Lawvere when he and I had >> dinner in Toronto a decade or so ago. He was telling me that when he >> was a kid, he would go out into the woods with a military radio and >> listen to the whistler effect. He went on to make an analogy to >> Rota's generalization of mobius inversion. I thought it was really >> cool and so he sent me a copy of a lecture on it that he gave the day >> I was born. >> > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam <https://bit.ly/virtualfriam> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com <http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ <http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/> archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ <https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ <http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/>
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