9  Key Themes

Throughout this book we’ll encounter some themes over and over again. It’s worth discussing them upfront.

10 The 3 Cs

In the literature there are many of the so called Cs of good writing. Text vary in their composition and number, ranging from 5 to 9. We can reduce this to three essential Cs of Communication. Zooming out to the evolution of communication media and use of any given media and the development of scientific thought, we see once again a systems thinking approach emerges. I’ll discuss the 3cs in more detail below, but first, here are the 3 essential Cs, briefly:

  1. Context
    • Audience, destination, receiver
    • Media, delivery method limits us already
    • Speed
    • Necessity is the mother of invention
    • Innovation for new media?
  2. Complex
    • Simplicity, the most information in the least amount of text,
    • Signal
    • Literal
  3. Certain
    • Probability, uncertainty
    • Noise, Shannon
    • Markov chains
    • Art
    • Deception, stories, fiction, creativity

Communication, by definition requires a receiver for the message. As such, communication is always about context. This is the first core feature. Communication fails when this is not taken into consideration or when is it wrongly contextualized. Contextual also refers to the actual transmission used. The second essential C folow very shortly thereafter, we must consider how complex the communication needs to be. This is the actual signal. It is a large signal requiring more effort to transmit? Can it be simplified? There is an overarching trend in graphics, and arguable even in nature that all complexity tends to proceed towards simplicity. in biochemistry, proteins achieve the lowest gibbs free energy, 0, and become stable. In mixing solutions, osmosis results in a homogenous mixtures. To change the shape of a protein or maintain a heterogenous solution, effort is required. The default state is towards simplicity, the lowest energy state. This is not to say that we can’t have complexity, but it requires effort, in communication that effort is on the part of the receiver, and thus we should be aware of how we can use that to our advantage, how complex can our message be until it makes more work for our receiver to understand, thus we return back to contextual. Finally, there is a question of how certain we are in our communication. Complexity tends to decrease over time and as technology progresses. Likewise, so to does our certainty. Classical models, based on exact values are very much still useful, but in physics we see the development of quantum models, in maths much earlier than that the development of probability theory and a foundational tools to incorporate uncertainty and noise into equations, which proceeds onto markov chains, and the latest methods of AI, such as Deep Learning, which are, like all models, depend on the context, the input, the output the specific activation, loss, cost functions, etc., they appear relatively complex but on closer inspection

11 1 - Infinite Thinking / Changing Perspectives

Two cases from the podcast description for: Tapestry from CBC Radio 19.04.22

John Stackhouse says he knows there are so many reasons to view his faith, Christianity, with skepticism. But Stackhouse wants to meet those misgivings head-on in the book, Can I Believe?: Christianity for the Hesitant.

There is no reason to be skeptics like if the literal interpretation of any religion, we appreciate the purpose it serves in a society

Later, Kate Bowler says she lived life looking for the best, but when that proved impossible, now she searches for “good enough”.

“Good enough” sounds like “settling for” or being complacent. Instead, being content allows us to accept a situation as being, by definition, “good enough”. It can’t be anything more or less, it can only be, in it’s current state “good enough” because it has to be. Nonetheless, things will change in the future negating complacency.

12 2 - Abysmal words

  • Maxim:
    • Names don’t know themselves;
    • Names exists only when called;
    • Words are for Humans;
    • Words are probably the oldest problem one of the oldest
    • All words are wrong;
    • Most are inadequate;
    • Many are unhelpful;
    • Some are necessary;
  • We name things and then believe they actually exist, we can’t name something whose existence is not apparent to us, and possible beyond the limits of our ability to understand the world by experiencing it, i.e. beyond comprehension.
  • cf. Eyes and the limited scope of the visible spectrum. Think of the many attempts to comprehend the colours found in the visible light spectrum. More direct experience appears to simply result in more result in be more names not by using a systematic naming convention (HSV, HCL, Hexcodes, RGB values, CMYK) undersWhat would we name the other ranges.

We can simply attempt to interpret despite the impossibility of perfect competence.

  • We only talk about or even attempt to understand those things which are named.
  • Easy things get named first - single-label classes in a small number easily defined, distinctly identifiable classes. (cf. UUU)

13 3 - Intrinsic & Extrinsic Influencing variables

Variable that influence the outcome can be thought of as intrinsic capacity or extrinsic pressures. e.g. tasks remain Incomplete or are omitted for many reasons.

Intrinsic capacity, i.e. the obvious, the person responsible

  • Doesn’t have the resources, i.e. the actual tools necessary, to perform the task, such as access to platforms or credentials
  • Doesn’t have the skillset needed to complete the task (write a document in a specific format).

Extrinsic pressures, i.e. The ability to execute a task is is also based on:

  • The time available, and
  • The importance of the task to the overall goal of the project. .

14 4 - Inherent Limitations - The RUST Maxims

cf. Inherent Limitations, Limiting beliefs

  • Reality is comprised of complex systems.
  • The RUST Maxims describe how our comprehension of complex systems is limited by the same processes that clarify them, & specifically, attempts to represent, understand, store and translate complex systems.

14.1 The RUST Maxims:

  • Represent: Methods make Models
  • Understand: Information implies interpretation
  • Store: Structure subverts Subject
  • Translate: Medium means Modes
  • Just like actual rust, the RUST maxims describe an inherent, unavoidable and undesirable property of an item, in this case, it’s the steps we use to comprehend reality.
  • Briefly: We use all variety of models to describe reality. These models are manifestations of the methods used to create them, limiting his we represent complex systems. Specific interpretations are implied by the specific information used to build the model and limits our understanding. At the same time, limits of our storage choices are at okay. the structure of a model, a consequence of storage, necessarily subverts the incomprehensible real-world complexity of the subject, and our choice of communication medium means we use a small number if prescribed mode combinations to describe our model and limit our ability to translate between media & modes Simplification is OK 👌🏼 It’s why we use models at all! But we are necessarily limited by our innate inability or difficulty to imagine realities that don’t overlap with our lived experiences, explainable through metaphors and analogies, and represented using available media and structures.

14.1.1 Represent: Methods make models

We use simple models all the time to understand the world around us. The methods we use to observe the world naturally limits the kind of models we end up with.

Alternatives: - Methods manifest Models - Models match Methods (nice, but reversed direction) - Methods manage Models - Methods mandate Models

Description: - How we measure something influences how we understand it - How we measure informs how the outcome is understood. Easy: units. - How we measure influences what we measure and limits our ability to describe, the variety of possible interpretations, and it limits our understanding.

  • Our brains are the ubiquitous measurement tool that sits at the root of this whole process. Think of all the heuristics that we use to fool ourselves (various forms of bias). Even if we are aware of them, we are still subject to the limitations they impose on our ability to observe (measure) the world.
    • Human baggage, both in evolutionary terms and personal development (the ultimate and the proximal scales) weight in on this in ways which we still struggle to comprehend and so turn to over simplifications and just-so stories.
    • Think about how the sciences are taught as they are done, i.e. by doing science, but that maths are taught as they are used, i.e. as a set of useful tools. This difference in teaching culture has led to a poor understanding of how mathematicians think and the tools they use.

14.1.2 Understanding: Information implies interpretation

  • Information is delivered for a purpose, much like an usher gently guides visitors to their seats.
  • The usher is deliberate, certain of both path and destination — have we enabled our information to deliberately guide our guests?
  • The usher’s guests are comforted by a knowledgeable and helpful figure — is our audience also comforted?
  • Information is content. Which pieces of information are provided — itself a function of the method — or excluded, in which order, tone of certainty, and so on, is the structure

14.1.3 Storage: Structure subverts subject

  • A statement’s subject (i.e. content, message) and structure (i.e. conveying tone, urgency, seriousness, etc.) are two independent, interacting parameters. Each can change independently, but act together to communicate a statement’s intended meaning. An inappropriate combination leads to unpredictable failures of communication.
  • A statement’s structure is both chosen by the author and restricted by the medium. All media, having each their own strengths and weaknesses, will restrict a statement’s structure as it conforms to a new medium.
  • Restricting a statement’s structure, necessarily affects its interaction with a statement’s subject. Thus, structure subverts subject.
  • NB. The four sides to interpreting. Literal is just one.
  • As we form thoughts into words, their meaning is not captured completely, and as they are reformed into thoughts in another person’s mind, they are once again not formed fully. Every reformatting represents a slight loss of information — a linguistic copy error — that is the basis for the origin of ideas.
  • A diversity of ideas, created by a built-in error mechanism is a feature of the system, not a bug. Nonetheless, misused, this feature leads to system failure, communication breakdown.
  • If thoughts could be directly transmitted, mind-to-mind, without any loss whatsoever, would new thoughts emerge at all? Is it possible that our own imperfect memory — itself an example of media restricting structure — would serve as the only source of new thoughts as they confirmed to their new media and changed over time?

14.1.4 Translate (Communication): Medium means modes

  • The medium — e.g. blog post, conference talk, book chapter — means — i.e. dictates which — modes of communication — i.e. any combination of visual, oral, written — we will use, and how.
  • How we perceive the world, i.e how we individually experience an event or understand its causes and our ability to comprehend that event (understand & react to the event) for what understanding of reality how the world works the is based on experience. Context-dependent knowledge means dependent on context at the time of knowledge acquisition, not the current context.

15 5 - Unclear Undefined Unknowable

  • From old:
    • Clear (i.e. simple (binary) & clear (black & white))
    • Consistent (fixed & unchanging) & true (external, ordained by god(s), natural) to → multidimensional & unknowable
  • To new:
    • unclear (i.e. systems that are not simple and clear, but multidimensional spectrums with different scales)
    • Constantly changing (impermanent and maleable)
    • many possible outcomes undefined (arises from finite diversity in infinite combinations) unknowable (influenced and partly unknowable, un

16 6 - Individual Personalities

March towards the self-sufficient individual (in the extreme, a dystopian future → Peter Thiel)

17 7 - Self-referential

  • “Meta” as a prefix
  • Post-modernism art & culture
  • Epistemology, data knowledge field (see useR conf)
  • Self-awareness

18 8 - Beneficial failure

  • Even if our understanding for describing a phenomenon is wrong , it’s still better for more people and in more situations to follow than not to.
  • “Understanding” e.g. simple stereotypes reducing the complexity of a demographic, morals & ethic principles, frameworks describing processes, experimental design in research science
  • Not wrong
    • No such thing as a failed experiment, you always learn something, even if it failed or you didn’t get the expected res

19 9 - Misalignment

  • Mismatched expectations
  • Misinterpretations
  • Lack of empathy (not surprising)

20 10- Incongruous Demands

  • We are asked to be at once more resilient, and more vulnerable st the same time.
  • Introverts and neuroatypical individuals are encouraged to be themselves but are excluded from a popularity-centric cultural norm
  • We are asked to have empathy, but are asked to choose between 2 non-overlapping, absolute sides. Those who’ve chosen differently are wrong and become enemies.
  • We preach a loving community, but we can hardly muster respect for each other.
  • Many people strive to be happy, without even pausing to understand what happiness is.
  • And although they generally agree that money can’t buy happiness, they seem to believe that the journey is very expensive.
  • We live in a global village but are blind to our neighbour’s suffering, and wilfully ignorant that we are the cause. Indeed, we don’t see the suffering we inflict upon ourselves.
  • We imagine a society of just, human & rational individuals, despite ample evidence to the contrary.
  • We prize autonomy over our bodies but not those of others.
  • We prize financial gains over all else and wonder why there are so many poor.

21 11 - AT/CT Expansion

→ Analytical Thinking ←→ Critical Thinking

→ Analytical thinking approach (reductionism → describe and understand in terms of decreasing unit sizes) applied to critical thinking (systems thinking → describe and understand in terms of integrated components (dependent on each other), synergistic outcomes (not additive), adaptive responses to state changes (and maintained responses in current state conditions), using feedback loops (small low-level changes are carried forward and strengthened by successive downstream consequences) that can transcend levels of organisation (low-level can signal to high-level, making high-level responsive to low-level), which are orgsnized as an infinitely repeating fractal pattern, each levels mirroring each other, output becomes input as they transcend levels of organisation, each containing feedback loops, resulting in adaptive responses by integrated components producing synergistic outcomes . to of complexity mirroring outcome mes operating components, automatic feedback loops feed )

→ Systems thinking describes complex systems, which are characterised by the features described above. Analytical thinking describes component pieces, in the smallest units and in isolation, at a single organisational level. Analytical thinking was, and continues to be, employed by diverse branches of the scientific endeavour. As such, analytical thinking has been wildly successful in not only building the modern world by providing the logical basis for describing how it works, and thus how to manipulate and control it, but it also fundamentally shaped our perception and understanding of how we think the world works. We think that the distinct complex systems, which are numerous and surround us, which are synergistically integrated, which use adaptive feedback loops, and which simultaneously comprise and contain simplex systems, , , our sekves having been described in terms of

are actually collections of individual component pieces, measured using the smallest unit, and operating in isolation. In short, we believe the worlds operates using the same principles the analytical thinking uses to describe it. Has analytical thinking been a success? If we accept that a method used describes a correct understanding of the solution, then analytical thinking is nothing but successful. but if we accept that any given method of describing and understanding the world is necessarily limited, like all limits, and that it’s not necessarily a good description of how it the world actually works, it’s certainly not capable of describing the complexity of the world and in limiting ourselves to analytical thinking we also limit our potential to comprehend the world in terms beyond the smallest, isolated component pieces.

What is the smallest number of combined traits that are uniquely (one or more, but not all, may be found in other species) & quintessentially (essential, a must-have) human traits. Traits may be unique +/ necessary. Ideally, traits should contribute to an identifiably human characteristic.

21.1 Meta Example: Systems Thinking the Potential of Punctuation

The symbols we define as punctuation marks, and the rules written to standardise use and facilitate communication have not changed considerably in the hundreds of years since. New words of every kind appear on a daily basis. In particular the absurd explosion in nouns & proper nouns reflects the absurd explosion in objects, people, places & things since at least the computer revolution beginning in the 1950s. This has been supported by the synergistic & necessary combination of at least two processes. First, new nouns, in particular proper nouns, are purposely designed as part of the new person, place or thing. That is, they are created and widespread, consistent use is achieved, in English at least, by a combination of active promotion (campaigning, advertising) and passive encouragement (use is essential for proper nouns, signalling group identity with neologisms or cutting-edge technologies and or trends, unappealing alternatives — inconveniently long, considered out-dated, or I incorrect alternatives,and out-dated but al, status signalled) specific, new, novel, distinct & identifiable objects. Second, naturally occurring (nouns arise as verbs both redundant with old actions & necessary for new actions, both having a potentially misunderstood or unknown distinct definition distinctions the subtlety , Neologisms have appears arisen, combined, been crafted, acation a period of hundredunder use

Why isn’t punctuation also changing? Are they no more niches to fill? Is there no diversity to choose from? Is selective pressure too weak?

x +/ y → Shorthand for “x and or y”, both or any one condition (x,y) can be true.

21.1.1 Advantages

Visually salient punctuation, less characters and words (shorter and more concise than “and or”,

21.1.2 Disadvantages

  1. Not a recognized (universally understood) & generalised (universally used) punctuation

    = .1 Obscure, academic use only

    → Abstract, inaccessible discourses instead of practical, relevant use cases

    → No wide-spread adoption

    → End niche users out of touch with

    = .2 Lack of knowledge

    → Unfamiliarity (lack of

    Resistance to adopt → niche users → domain +/ use case specificity → decreased utility lack of use be read as “either or”

Propose: |/

22 12 - Optimizing Overfitting

( or Edge Fitting? naive optimisation, )

We select for overfit models by necessity, given trend toward small niches they generalise poorly (cf. Individually, personalisation, local over global).

But we also create overfit models by choosing optimisation metrics poorly or naively.

On the other extreme, underfut models don’t serve their purpose well if try fail to capture variation and feedback loops n the system)

23 13 - Symptom Relief

  • Focus on healing symptoms or an illness instead of addressing the origin of illness itself.

  • Planned obsolescence and Disposable products promote growth, but companies promote sustainability and quality (cf. Co-existing Contradictions)

  • Focusing on the cause, not the effect

  • Astroturf projects, e.g. Recycling bins, supersizing fast food, fast fashion, cheap overseas Labor, International auf & development programs, international welfare donation centres, social media newsfeed algorithms, wide-spread sushi adoption, production and distribution network, astroturf political groups

    → the look simple, easy +/ mostly beneficial but can actually be a complex system, with obscure origins +/ malign goals.

24 14 - Hacker culture

  • Understand how something works so that you can appropriate +/ exploit it as you like.
  • (cf. Cultural appropriation, modern imperialism, and colonialism)

25 15 - Functional Thinking

(Paradigms, Equations & Algorithims)

25.0.1 Paradigms (= Context formulas)

  • Semantics < = > Structure
    • How Data is stored, structurally, reflects our understanding of its analysis)
  • Perception < = > Methods
    • The method employed to study a subject reflects how we individually of collectively comprehend that subject)
  • Values < = > Outcomes
    • Values (broadly speaking out true beliefs, informing morals & ethics, is reflected in the systematic outcomes. e.g. why is health care so expensive in the USA? Why were poverty benefits in the USA commiserate with an specific income (below or above the poverty line?) paid out as a delayed tax credit (tax return compensation) and requiring lots of time and complicated psoerwork? Why is the US child poverty rate the highest among all rich countries? They optimise a metric that allows for those systems to be estsblished. I.e. they are working as intended, just not how we may imagine they are intended.
    • The changes in laws and governance of countries reflects collective values and beliefs
  • Opinions < = > Actions
    • What we say and do, externally visible, is a reflection of internally held opinions

25.0.2 Equations (State formulas)

  • Meters to Feet (Unit conversions: Changes in the units of measure, but not the actual item)
  • Illegal activity to Acceptable activity (Perception conversions: Prohibition and Legalization of Alcohol and marijuana. Changes in perception, not the actual item)
  • Disorder to Diversity (Nature Conversion: Autism as a disorder turned into neurodiverse, Homosexuality as disorder turned to natural form of human sexuality)
  • Extremes to Mainstream (Acceptance conversion: Crises and Shocks which serve as opportunities to bias and push extremes of acceptable daily experience, shifting the center of what it means to be mainstream. Change in acceptance of previously:
    • Niche beliefs (conspiracy theories, national myths),
    • Antisocial behaviors (openly discriminating, disregarding authority, digital communication norms not present or unacceptable otherwise)

25.0.3 Traps (Desire formulas)

  • Desire for the unusual & novel
    • Cottage luxury → Goblin mode (goblin mode was unknown in the early stages of the pandemic, but by the third year it had become mainstream.
  • Desire for anthesis
    • Hippies → 80s conspicuous consumption → Grunge & heroin chic → Glamour ()
  • Desire for luxury
    • Status symbols, elevation above others
  • Desire to belong (regression to them mean, inclusion in the majority, desire to not stand out)
  • Desire for avoidance
    • Avoid pain with medication, treating symptoms, avoid negative emotions by self delusion
  • Desire for happiness (good feeling) & pleasure (comfort)
    • Never satiated, poor understanding of need fulfilled by something incapable of fulfilling the intended purpose
  • Desire for permanence (resistance to change)
  • Desire for attention (Desire to stand out)
    • Desire to be recognized for anything
  • Desire for admiration
    • They are strangers to you, but you are well know to them. Virtue signaling. Positive perception (Inconsequential?) from strangers.

25.0.4 Algorithms (Level formulas, which convert between levels of organizations)

  • Aggregation Formulas (mean, descriptive, index values (BMI, biomedical diagnostics central authorities (central bank interest rate, official influencers)
  • Integrated Algorithms (GLMs, Gradient boosted machines, Multi-dimensional analytics, predictive, inferential, Baysisn)
  • Ensemble Algorithms aggregated (assemblies of integrated algorithms)

25.0.5 Application (Realization formulas, that convert the ephemeral into the real)

  • Concept → Execution
  • Abstract → Actual
  • Theoretical → Practical (Applied)
  • General → Specific

26 16 - Artificially profound

The TED phenomenon (cf. The New York Times podcast). Communicating in a way that creates suspense, by asking questions which the audience has been introduced to, that they know will be answered and for which they are eager to hear if they understood correctly, plus excessive use of pacing, pauses and intonations of wonder and astonishment. The tension builds and elevates the information to level of profound insight.

26.0.1 Donald Rumsfeld

  • Think about the 3 types of parameters in terms of two metrics:

    1. Quantity — How many?

      Relative to the other types, how many of each type could we expect in a given situation.

    2. Quality — How well?

      What can we say about parameters of each type.

    3. Quotient — How informative?

      What part of total system is contained in the data? The solution to division equations is called the the quotient.

      May include, e.g. how “real” are the parameters, in terms of being practical, available & relevant.

Quotient Types m

Quotient can be divided with into:

  1. Euquotient

    i.e “real”, unbiased variables

  2. Disquotient Type I (i.e. those variables that are biased in the selection of variables itself (selected because of familiarity, limiting previous experience, budget & time constraints, politically, culturally, religiously or emotionally-charged, popular, “sexy”, controversial, new, untested, questionable or unclear origin, or other heuristics contributing to bias

  3. Disquotient II

    That which is already recognize as biased in terms of data collection (selection bias, etc).

  4. Aquotient

    • Non contributing variables
    • Variables containing little or no information
      • e.g. Zero & Near-Zero Variance
    • Untrustworthy
  • Unknown unknowns: Infinite & Incomprehensible (& aquotient)
  • Known unknown: Finite & comprehensible (& aquotient)
  • Known knowns: Named & measurable (& ideally only Euquotient)
  • cf. Wittengstein and things that can’t be described
  • make a diagram to compare quantity, quality and quotient.
  • cf. actually final full human genome in 2022. Think of the choices made in communication and what was really “complete” at the time.
  • cf. We have to consider these types for our statistical models, but also for our communications model, i.e. our target audience/individuals BUT ALSO for ourselves!

26.1 Unknown influences: the acknowledged finite and the inexhaustible infinite

  • „the acknowledged finite and the unfathomable Infinity”?
  • Everything we experience is a brain generated reality that xistsviblybindidevoir head. See:
  • VOX Unexplainable Podcast — Making Sense: How Sound Becomes Hearing.
    • The brain adjusts input from a cochlear implant and eventually transplant recipients hear the sound as “it should sound”).
    • Audible illusions. The sound we hear (up → down or down → up) depends on wherever grew up.