Yet another overly simple explanation of Tunes

[Mark H. Kraml]

David,

I like it. It reminds me of someting I read at
www.taelons.com/lexicon.htm in a certain way, I included the text from
the page for your enjoyment. I have lurked for quite a while on the
tunes lists, work constraints have prevented me from spending time with
comments. As the project winds down over the next year I expect to have
some time to devote.

mk


Cultural Overview

      Taelons speak an argot that, for them, has no name per se since
they regard the
      entirety of their language as one long name composed from an
infinity of possible
      statements (so that to speak is to cite but a tiny part of this
sublime entity.)
      Humans, however, call the language Eunoia (an obscure English word
that means
      "Beautiful thinking") -- a word that Taelons have since adopted
when discussing
      their own language with Humans. Eunoia is the lingua franca of an
enlightened
      consciousness, the product of an intelligence that has exceeded
all the
      categories of our own anthropic philosophy in order to embody a
logic that is
      both non-boolean and non-Euclidean in its grammar. Imagine a
language that takes
      for granted all the paradoxes of quantum mechanics and fractal
mathematics.

      Taelons use the same word for "language" as they do for "universe"
since the
      Taelons make no distinction between a vehicle for their thought
and the context
      of its reality. Taelons, moreover, do not believe that they speak
such a language
      per se; instead, they say that the language speaks them. It is,
for them, an
      entity with a life of its own. It is not a tool used to express
ideas; instead,
      they see it as a kind of ideal virus that uses their own minds as
a means for
      replicating itself through the act of communication. It is an
evolving structure,
      whose exquisite complexity dramatizes a philosophy of ethereality
and
      ephemerality (not unlike the chaosophy imagined by such French
philosophers as
      Deleuze and Guattari.)

      Eunoia is a sonorous, whispery language, described as being half
way between
      singing and sighing. It is difficult to translate because it lacks
many of the
      grammatical constraints that define human speech; hence its
messages often appear
      nonsensical to Human standards: for example, there are no
nominative nouns, no
      transitive verbs, etc. -- moreover, every word is ambiguous and
polysemic, with
      subtle nuances of meaning that often seem contradictory. In
addition, the fact
      that the Taelons can carry on multiple dialogues simultaneously
only adds to this
      complexity (calling to mind, perhaps, such earth analogues as
dolphin chatter,
      etc.) The language of this culture abounds in poetic notions that
are concocted
      and dissolved in a moment, according to aesthetic necessity.

      Eunoia is a language that has no cognate for the word "reality,"
except a gerund
      that roughly translates as "thinking" or "dreaming." Taelons
subscribe to a
      Philosophie des Als Ob, in which reality is more exigent than
existent: there is
      never only one possible state of the as is; there are only many
potential states
      of the as if. The language does not describe a universe that
exists beyond the
      character of language itself: there are no things that endure (no
"events");
      there are only traits in action (only "phases") -- no existing,
only becoming.
      The Taelons have no concept of representation: for them, things do
not "imitate"
      each other; instead, they "connect" with each other: the painting
of a rose does
      not depict a flower; instead, the Taelons say that the painting
strives to become
      a flower.


David Manifold wrote:
> 
> When I read this, I wonder how it can make any sense to anybody.  Tell me
> if it makes sense to you.  Anyway, it probably isn't anything new.
> 
> The entire system can be treated as one big expression.
> In fact, this big expression could be written as a string.
> 
> Anything at all that can be done in the system comes down to an edit on
> the expression.  (Including programming, word processing, internet, etc)
> 
> The expression is always being evaluated.   The reason it is always
> evaluating is that each object has at least one element in its
> specification, that of "existing".  So the existence of the system is
> constantly evaluating, as long as the system exists.
> 
> Since the system is constantly evaluating, an edit on the expression will
> cause changes to take place immediately.  Any changes that are not to take
> place immediately (or subexpressions that are not to be evaluated yet)
> will simply be specified to not evaluate yet.  The constraint to not
> evaluate will still be constantly evaluated.  (Until it is changed, at
> which time the expression it is referring to gets evaluated.)
> 
> I would appreciate comments on this.. I can't make any progress on the
> system unless there is a discussion of my posts and the ideas get refined
> so that they are understandable.  Thank you very much.
> 
> Won't someone ask how reflection works??  Does anybody have any questions
> about the practicality of the above model?  Any specific questions about
> "how do I do X in Tunes"?  What we need is some vehement anti-tunesers to
> start flaming the list.  Maybe we should go trolling on the usenet...?
> 
> David Manifold <dem@tunes.org>