notes-ideas-systemsOfClassification

This book could have been titled "mappings from subsets of natural numbers to sets of qualitative descriptions" but it wouldn't have had the same ring.


spatial dimensions

	& nonlinear dynamics

 number theory

tarot


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephirot in kabbala (sp)

(& 4 worlds)


varnas

as professions: * Brahmin - "scholarly community," includes the priests, scholars, law specialists, ministers, and diplomats. * Kshatriya - "high and lower nobility" includes kings, noblemen, soldiers, and administrators. * Vaishya - "mercantile and artisan community" includes merchants, shopkeepers, businessmen and farm owners. * Shudra - "service-providing community" includes mostly manual and farm labourers.

(-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism)#Background)

all the varnas except the shudra are permitted to study the Vedas

more details:

" Brahma

One belonging to this varna is called a Brahmana. His function is to learn, share and preserve the eternal knowledge of the race (in our case, the Veda). It is often mistaken that Brahmana is the one with spiritual realization - his function is scholarship more than realization. Realization is a result of following one's Varna dharma (simply put, doing properly what one does, and a Brahmana may also attain realization). And in Sanatana Dharma, every person is bound to get spiritual realization and liberation, if he properly does what he does. This is irrespective of his Varna.

There are specializations in this varna, such as those taking to priesthood, those taking to just learning and teaching the Veda, those taking to learning and teaching specific Darsanas or Vedangas, etc.

Knowledge is classified into many kinds, to serve many purposes. Of this the study of Veda, is done only by a dwija (Brahamana/ Kshatriya/ Vaisya). This is for the purpose to be served by the Veda for the society, and also because of the training required to pursue the study. Most of the times there is no compulsion on who should do the study, but there is a compulsion on what is the prerequisite to such study. Veda being swara specific and also based on mantra sastra, pursuing it needs special training from childhood and also needs an extremely disciplined lifestyle throughout. This is the reason that most people do not show interest to take this up. But the knowledge is not denied to any class, though this particular mode of learning is - the Vedic wisdom is available through texts like the Puranas and other smritis. Through these, the vedic word is not known - its essence/meaning is known.

The smritis and sastras can be studied by person of any varna, based on the purpose and on the occupation. They could also be studied irrespective of occupation, provided one has the interest and has the academic qualification.

Because of the function that he does, a Brahmana is said to be of satwik nature. Kshatra

Kshatriya is the one who belongs to Kshatra varna. This is the martial class and forms the military defense and administration of the society. A kshatriya's functions are to rule and protect the society. They also learn all forms of knowledge.

Because of the knowledge gained a khatriya is of satwik nature, and because of the martial aspect he is of rajasic nature. Thus he is satwik-rajasic. Vaisya

Vaisya is the productive class of the society, and his primary functions are trading and business. Making the society prosperous is their primary function. A Vaisya generates wealth, and distributes it for the social well-being.

Since artha is the predominant purushartha for a Vaisya, he is usually of rajasic-tamasic nature. Sudra

Sudra is the service/artisan class and covers most of the occupations, like engineering, agriculture, mining, metal work etc.

Based on these temperaments and functions, the smritis outline dharma for each of these varnas, their duty towards their profession and their role in the society. " -- http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Varna_Ashrama_Dharma#Varna


as stages of personal development:

" Sri Krishna in Bhagwat Gita says 'CHATUR VARNA MAYA SRISTIM GUNA KARMA VIBHAG SHAH' He says that on the inquiry of self realization, people undergo different step by step stages of awareness, and with it comes purity in their character. There are four steps or divisions of 'varna' according to ones' state of identifying with the self.

SHUDRA are those identifying themselves with the body and possessions of objects of sensory/ ego satisfaction. They are afraid of losing it and thus are bound by it. This sense of attachment to object or ego (ahankar) makes them fearful, greedy, workaholic and account for everything. They cannot leave their proprietorship and thus, are a slave of (KAM) their own desires. 'Slave' (dasa) is a not a kind man who is provider of service by free will but instead, attached to materials prosperity and desires; and cannot escape from his/her own prison.

VAISYA are those whose mind is engaged by the VISHAYA. VISHAYA means, subject or specializations. A specialist is certainly above the Shudra because he/she can produce objects from subjects, and he/she need not remain attached to any one object or relationship. He/she knows the ARTH or meaning or knowledge behind every object or position of power. Vishaya is also called poison because mind under influence of a subjects get anxiety, and insatiable demand of changes and controls. It is therefore VISHAYA is intoxicating, and specialists try always to wield more power and control in their hand. He/she is unfaithful because subjects/specialization give a power to experiment with new objects and changes in relationship. In India, Vaisya is a term used also for prostitute. This is reason why specialists or experts or judges or any paid authority are given no right to a relationship and are contained in veil of their own Vishaya. Business (Vyavsaya) is act of subjects (Vishaya) and is carried out by specialists who become prisoners of a narrow and microscopic area of their understanding. This (Vyavsaya) cannot produce transformation in character (swabhav), and helpful for livilhood and security of senses and ego status of mind.

CHHATRIA are those who began trying to understand their own character (DHARMA) or nature. They cut off all activities or professions that does not fit into their character. Conduct and character both are brought in consonance. In this way, a specialists becomes a generalist and he is unbound by his/her old professional restriction or biases. Specialists are microscopic but a generalist is telescopic. A generalist has a vision and so are a Chhatria becomes 'abstract' thinker, and constantly transforms him/her character, rather than trying to control others. This war or self discovery onto him/herself to get rid of errors in knowledge by losing ego and beginning to transform his/her own attitude and behaviors, and precisely understanding own character is called CHHATRIA. A CHHATRIA is certainly not those who wage a war for land or for women or material pursuits.

Business (Vyavsya) is for specialists (of microscopic view) acting within their narrow area of awareness, but without even realizing a need to change their own character (swabhav). Vaisya has a curse to work always under a state of compromise by ignoring inner demand of their character (swabhav) for sake of superficial material and ego. After realizing the defect in life that held them back in Business (Vyavsaya), mind of a 'vaisya' develops into 'chhatria'. This is a conversion of varna from vaisya to chhatria by new awareness that turns from their compulsive, incomplete, micrscopic (specialists) view of Vaisya to an abstract, complete, telescopic, a more general and detached view of Chhatria. As 'chhatria', this constancy in 'transformation in character' is now called 'karma'. This is the difference between Business (vyavsaya) and Work (karma).

BRAHMAN is upon enlightenment or MOKSHA. This is state of mind where character of a person is dissolved, and he/she becomes fully aware, and is in state of renunciation. He/she is not in conflicts with any one. He/she is neither a proprietor (Shudra) nor an authority (Vaisya) nor a self discoverer (Chhatria) and is kind, full of love, and without anxiety and engaged in action of non reaction.

" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism)#Varna_System_from_Bhagwat_Gita


ashramas:

" Ashramas

Ashrama dharma is fundamental to the Hindu society. It divides man's life into four stages and specifies what one should do in each of the stages. Historically, it was only few Brahmanas who were found to make it through all the four ashramas. Kshatriyas of yore, used to make it to vanaprastha. Vanaprastha was even more a rare case in Vaisyas. Brahmacarya

In this stage, one does academic learning. He should go to a guru and learn what is prescribed for him. After some basic education he would move to some specialization based on his interest and performance. This is a stage of learning and celibacy (Rules in Manusmriti 2.173-249). Upanayana or initiation should happen at 5-16 years of age (Manu 2.36-40). Upon completion of study, one should take up grhastha ashrama (Manu 3.1-4). Grhastha

Grhastha ashrama is the center stage; it is the phase where a person contributes most to the society. For this reason, the Kalpa Sutras devote an entire book Grihya Sutras, for the householder. He sustains the society, financially and otherwise (Manu 6.89-90). Unless in exceptional cases, one is not permitted to bypass this ashrama.

One is supposed to base his pursuits on Dharma, and fulfill his desires. This is a stage of fulfillment. Both purusharthas, Artha and Kama, are to be served here, based on Dharma, the first purushartha. This ensures the fourth, which is Moksha.

Grhastha should perform five sacrifices every day (panca maha yajnas), to please gods, rishis, departed fathers, fellow men, and other living creatures. One is said to be indebted to all these. One's debts towards his departed fathers are cleared at the end of this ashrama. One is also prescribed eight activities a day, which can be classified into worshipping and pursuing profession/occupation (Manusmriti chapters 3-5).

Having lived half his life, one should take up vanaprastha ashrama (Manu 5.169). Vanaprastha

At this stage one gives his property to his heirs or donates it, goes into seclusion, and does penance. One becomes inward looking. He still contributes with his experience, through advising and teaching. Having fulfilled his desires in the previous ashrama, one is expected to win over senses and sensuous pleasures. Thus his work is also more dispassionate and detached, as he does not seek any specific result from the work. It will be for the benefit of society alone. Though one is supposed to celibate, he is not required to renounce or live alone. One can take his wife or live with any other person. One is also permitted to earn his livelihood though not to save/accumulate. But unless there is a specific need, he does not enter the city - usually people needing a vanaprasthi's advice go to him instead of him visiting people.

One still has debts towards rishis and gods at this stage, and does teaching as well as performs sacrifices to propitiate the devatas. His primary debt towards pitris is cleared as he obtains progeny and raises them in grhastha ashrama, though he continues giving oblations to pitris during vanaprastha (Manu 6.1-32). Sanyasa

In this stage one renounces the world and detaches from his social and family relations. One should not earn in this stage, or have any material possession of his own. Whatever few attachments he has with his relations or social ambitions are also given up. Man does all work purely for moksha at this stage. Technically, a sanyasi has no debts, and lives only as long as his karmaphala remains.

In general, Brahmacarya and Grhastha ashramas are seen as Pravritti dharma. Vanaprastha and Sanyasa are nivritti dharma for man (Manu 6.33 - 86).

A person who has taken sanyasa is considered to be outside of the four varnas. " -- http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Varna_Ashrama_Dharma#Varna


Nagel's 4 types of scientific explanations:

Deductive Model of Explanation, Probabilistic Explanations, Teleological or "Functional" Explanations, and Genetic Explanations

The Structure of Science: Problems in the Logic of Scientific Explanation (2nd edition) (Paperback) by Ernest Nagel


dyads

yes/no, true/false good/bad greater/less left/right, up/down, fwd/back, clockwise/counterclockwise, past/future in/out

mind/matter, spirit/matter,

male/female, yin/yang, active/passive, light/dark

superior/inferior

individual/group

means/end

actor/action

subject/verb

subject/predicate, set/relation

legislative/executive

thought/action, theory/practice (similar to passive/active)

major premise/conclusion (in a categorical syllogism), general/particular

space/time

nothingness/being, 0/1

operation/inverse, +/-, *, ^,root

unity/multiplicity, 1/2

addition/multiplication, +/*

2D, i.e. vertical/horizontal

soft/hard

primary/shadow, 1/0

heaven/earth, infinity/1


triads

yes/no/maybe, yes/no/neutral, true/false/nonsense, true/false/unknown, red/yellow/green (US stop lights) past/present/future

active/balance/passive, create/preserve/destroy (hindu gunas: tamas, rajas, sattva: destroy, preserve, create -- passive, active, balance)

christian trinity

hell/earth/heaven, animal/human/god

red/green/blue, whiteness/hue/intensity, (other color cubes)

entity 1/interaction/entity 2

spirit/mind/body, clergy/nobles/common (estates general), command/medical and science/security and engineering

individual/group/leader, individual/group/ideology

subject/verb/object, who/how/what, subject/object/relation (rdf triple)

judge/jury/executioner

major premise/minor premise/conclusion (in a categorical syllogism)

legislative/executive/judicial, goal/executive/critic

operation/inverse/identity

nothing/unity/multiplicity, 0/1/2

x/y/z

+/*/^

todo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trika


4s:

direct products:

+/-/* (this is just the direct product of +/* and +/-)

sums:

x/y/z/t (this is the sum of x/y/z with space/time)

not sums or direct products:

clergy/nobles/common/press (estates general)

seasons


4 hindu yugas:

"

The entire concept of donation alms is different in the four different eras. In satya yuga, the giver went out in search of recipient to whom he could give something. In treta yuga, the recipient had to come to the giver’s house before he would be given anything. In dvapara yuga, the giver never gave anything without being asked for it by the recipient. And in kali yuga, the giver gives only to those who are servile to him." -- http://www.indiadivine.org/articles/183/1/Agni-Purana-Hellish-Planets-Charity-and-the-Gayatri-Mantra/Page1.html


kant's categories


meta typology


i dont like the hindi samkya system of 24 tattvas (evolutes), because i think it's inelegant to duplicate the 5 senses (the system has 5 senses, but also 5 different qualities that are sensed) -- i would prefer having "sense faculty", "quality senses", and then 5 modes that apply to both of these.

purusha primal soul vs. prakriti primal matter/energy

 -- both unite to form:	  mahat	 the great principle -> buddhi	    primal intellect -> ahamkara	ego -> manas		mind

mind goes on to form:

panchendirya or indriya the 5 sensory organs or faculties (smell, taste, vision/form, touch, hearing) karmendriya 5 motor faculties (speaking, grasping, walking/moving, excreting, sex) tanmatra subtle elements (the substances sensed by the senses) mahabhuta gross elements (earth, water, fire, air, space/ether)

some sources add time (http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Samkhya+cosmology). some sources count prakriti. some (yoga) sources add god (wikipedia cites Radhakrishnan and Moore, p. 453., Chatterjee and Datta, p. 43.). some sources count both purusha and prakriti, but not mahat. some sources omit both the 5 objects of the senses (the tanmatra) and the five elements, and add in 5 pranas (types of breath?), and replce mahat with chitta, the subconscious (http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Karma/id/22814). in sum, the total count usually ranges from 24 to 26. Shaivism recognises 36 tattvas.

summary: "Mind, Ten Organs (five sensory and five motor), five objects and eightfold Prakriti" -- CS.IV.1,17., as cited in http://www.compulink.co.uk/~mandrake/samkhya.htm

qualities corresponding to the gross elements in yoga sutra: space/wind/fire/water/earth --> space/motion/expansion/contraction/cohesion or resistance; according to http://www.flickr.com/photos/pata_n_jali/217320813/sizes/l/ . that source also cites ishwarakrishna and kapita .

the link http://www.yinyoga.com/ys1_4.1.3_principles_samkhya.php is interesting

the distinction between buddhi and manas has been described by different sources as "wisdom vs. intellect" but also as "intellect vs. instinct"

todo: assimilate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattva and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_36_tattvas


" Tattvas: Hindu - Hinduism Dictionary on Shuddhashuddha tattvas

The shuddhashuddha tattvas: Actinodic, or spiritual-magnetic, energy. The seven tattvas from maya to purusha make up the shuddhashuddha (pureimpure) realm.

1. maya tattva: mirific energy, the "material" cause of the "impure sphere." The category of maya brings into being as its immediate aids the following five tattvas, known as the "five sheaths," pancha kanchuka, of the individual soul, purusha. Collectively they make up the vijnanamaya kosha, or mental body.

   2. kala tattva: the phenomenon of time, which divides all experience into past, present and future.
   3. niyati tattva: karmic destiny; necessity; order; law of cause and effect; restraint.
   4. kala tattva: creativity, aptitude, the power which draws the soul toward spiritual knowledge. Its energy partially removes the veil of anava which clouds the inherent powers of the soul.
   5. vidya tattva: limited knowledge, the power which gives the soul practical knowledge in accord with its present life experiences.
   6. raga tattva: attachment, the arousal of desire, without which no experience of the objective world is possible.
   7. purusha tattva: soul identity; soul connected with subjectivity. Through identification with the five above "sheaths," the soul, atman, becomes a purusha, or bound soul, capable of experiencing the higher Antarloka as a limited individual. This fivefold sheath is called the pancha kanchuka, or vijnanamaya kosha (mental body).

See:tattvas, tattva, atattva, antahkarana, guna, kosha, Siva

(See also: Shuddhashuddha tattvas , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul) " --- http://www.experiencefestival.com/tattvas


" Tattvas: Hindu - Hinduism Dictionary on Shuddha tattvas

The shuddha tattvas: Actinic or spiritual energy. This is the superconscious realm, also known as shuddha (pure) maya or mahamaya. Bindu, transcendent light, is the "material" cause of this pure sphere. This is the Sivaloka, the region of the 330 million Gods, the myriad rishis and other beings who have attained freedom from the triple bondage.

1. Siva tattva: "auspiciousness," of two parts: the higher is Parashakti, "Supreme Energy," from which emerges primal sound, nada (more precisely Paranada, soundless sound). Though most often referred to as sound, nada is more mystically known as movement, the first impulse arising from perfect quiescence, the first "thing" out of the motionless Self. This is Siva's second perfection, Parashakti, superconsciousness, the mind of God. The Siva tattva pervades all other 35 categories and possesses the powers of will, knowledge and action (ic�ha, jnana, kriya).

   2. Shakti tattva: energy, corresponds to bindu, light, the cause of form (more precisely Parabindu, primal nucleus). This is the tattva of Parameshvara, the Primal Soul, father-mother God, Siva's third perfection, who after mahapralaya remains transfixed in deep samadhi, until He again emanates the universe through His Cosmic Dance.
   3. Sadasiva tattva: the power of revealing grace. In this realm the energies of knowledge and action are in perfect equilibrium. This is the realm of the anandamaya kosha.
   4. Ishvara tattva: the energy of concealment, concealing grace. The energy of action prevails over that of knowledge in order to arouse cosmic activity in its subtle form.
   5. shuddhavidya tattva: pure knowledge, dharma. This is a level of manifestation in which the energy of action is in abeyance and the energy of knowledge prevails. Shuddhavidya tattva includes Siva's other three powers or aspects: Rudra (destruction), Vishnu (preservation) and Brahma (creation).

See:tattvas, tattva, atattva, antahkarana, guna, kosha, Siva

(See also: Shuddha tattvas , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul) " --- http://www.experiencefestival.com/tattvas2

todo: http://www.experiencefestival.com/tattvas/page/2 http://www.religiousworlds.com/mandalam/table.htm http://www.saivism.net/articles/tattvas.asp



different cardinalities/ordinals ?


7 planets

& associated elements & associated greek gods & associated babylonian gods

see mapping to metals in http://www.intellectualloafing.com/activitiesfolder/beinformedfolder/daysplanetsmetals.htm


7 days of week, norse gods


, 9 planets


14 chakras


zodiac


twelve gods of greece

divided into 4 natures (creator, guard, life-giver, uplifter): see table 8 of http://cura.free.fr/decem/10kengil.html

he explains:

" Table 8: The Natures of the Twelve Gods

Creators: Jupiter, Vulcan, Neptune Guards: Vesta, Minerva, Mars Life-givers: Ceres, Juno, Diana Uplifters: Mercury, Venus, Apollo

    The Twelve Gods were divided into four groups each of three (beginning, middle and end), as listed in Table 8. The creative and paternal gods make the universe, the life-givers give it life, uplifters harmonize it, and the guards preserve and protect it.[7] The natures of the Twelve Gods were explained as follows:
    Jupiter has the highest place in the creative triad, setting in order souls and bodies, and being concerned with all things. Neptune completes the middle part of creation and especially governs the spiritual order, for he is the god who causes movement and all birth. The soul is the very first of the things produced and movement is according to being (e.g., plant, bird, fish, human). Finally, Vulcan inspires the nature of the bodies and makes all the gods' seats in the universe.
    Of the protective and unmoved triad, Vesta is first because she preserves the very existence of things and keeps their being undefiled. Minerva guards the intermediate creatures unswerving in intelligent and spontaneous life, lifting them up from matter. Mars shines power upon the creatures in bodily form.
    Ceres rules the life giving, wholly producing all life in the universe, intellectual, spiritual and that inseparable from the body. Juno keeps the middle part, devoting herself to the production of the soul. For the intellectual goddess, Ceres, sent forth all the emanations of other spiritual entities from herself. Diana is allotted the end, arousing all the natural Logoi into activity and completing the self-sufficiency of matter.
    Of the last, the uplifting or harmonizing triad, Mercury is leader of philosophy. Hence, through it he leads souls up and with his dialectical powers sends them, in whole and in part, up to the good itself. Venus is the prime-moving cause of the erotic inspiration pervading all things and adapts those lives led up by her to the beautiful. She is nude because her function, harmony, creates beauty and beauty is not concealed. Apollo through music completes all things and corrects all things, moving them all together, and drawing them through harmony and rhythm towards the intellectual truth and the light there. 

[7] Proclus (5th century A.D.). In Platonis Theologium Libri Sex (ed. A. Portus, Hamburg-Frankfurt, 1618, reprinted Frankfurt-am-Main, 1960). « Text " -- http://cura.free.fr/decem/10kengil.html


4 elements + dark & light (for instance, in the game "tales of the abyss"


todo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_semantic_metalanguage

todo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Planes_of_existence


partial map between varnas and sephirot:

(the Vedas) - Keter Brahmin - Chokhmah, Binah (the intellectual ones) Kshatriya - Gevurah, Chesed (the action ones) Vaishya - Hod, Netzah (the means to an end ones), Yesod Shudra - Malkuth

Note: there is no analog to Tiferet in the varnas. however, since we are mapping onto segments of a community, i postulate that that tiferet is best mapped onto "community spirit/social bonds/the tribe". note that this potentially yields an organization of a jewish community which includes in the representation the priests but not the government.

map of star trek uniform colors onto varnas:

yellow - kshatriya blue - vaishya red - shudra

(although in each TV show the captains provide the role of Brahmin)

idea: sephirot for cognitive systems

keter: ? "the soul" chokmah, binah: ? (but surely binah has to do with representations? could chokmah have to do with the subtle, infinite side of consciousness? gevurah, chesed: inhibition of action selection, excitation of action selection respectively hod, netzah: 2nd-order restraints on gevurah and chesed: namely, hod is ? and netzah is "endurance", or the ability to continue with inhibited action yesod: actual action selection malkuth: effectors

note that everything below chokmah and binah could also be mapped onto sensory processing; alternately, chokmah and binah could be sensory and the ones below action

tiferet: communication & (perhaps a specific example would be the global workspace theory of consciousness), or alternately the subtle, infinite side of consciousness, or alternately action/plan selection of some sort

idea: sephirot for governments

malkuth: government employees, property, and documents yesod: administration netzah: sometimes allowing excuses to people who don't pay their taxes or break the rules ? or is it the opposite, pushing people to be better? hod: ? gevurah: taxation, punishment? opposition to the executive? chesed: expenditures? executive? binah: ? (executive? courts?) chokmah: ? (courts? legislature?) keter: ? (the formal law and constitution? legislature? in a common law system, courts?) tiferet: courts? law? budget comptroller/balancing/general auditing and/or internal checks in ea. department ?

one alternative is that the top 3 could be lawmaking, the chesed and gevurah the executive and the opposition, tiferet the courts, etc. alternately the entire tree could only be the executive, with keter = law

tarot is somewhat frustrating in that the major and minor arcana are totally decoupled except that major = heaven (superior) and minor = earth (inferior). tarot major arcana is genderless, minor has 4 genders

sephirot has 2 genders, plus eunuchs varnas has no genders

genders = parallel lines, parallel in the horizontal direction (i.e. not hierarchial -- although the genders themselves may have a hierarchy)

both sephirot and tarot minor arcana seem to be inherently 2D, although one could imagine spinning some of the sephirot out to make a sort of helix-like shape, and one could imagine arranging the minor arcana as a stack of squares (e.g. lowest square is the 4 aces, etc), with the vertical direction the stacking direction, and the two horizontal directions representing the genders (suits) -- this yields the notion of an arrangement of the suits in a "clockwise" fashion, as well as each suit having an "opposing" suit diagonal to it

animation of sephirot

black background keter is just a white outline (b/c it is colorless) .... chesed flows outward, downward into everything below flow goes into gevurah when yesod lights up, malkuth does at the same time, showing that yesod is a conductor of light into malkuth (although malkuth continues lighting a little longer, to show it is last)


from wikipedia:

"Walter Truett Anderson identifies postmodernism as one of four world views. These four worldviews are the postmodern-ironist, which sees truth as socially constructed, the scientific-rational in which truth is found through methodical, disciplined inquiry, the social-traditional in which truth is found in the heritage of American and Western civilisation and the neo-romantic in which truth is found either through attaining harmony with nature and/or spiritual exploration of the inner self."

4 humors

electricity/magnetism maxwell's equations

chinese 5 elements or 5 phases

http://www.wingchunkwoon.com/images/5elements.gif

thesis/antithesis/synthesis: thesis and antithesis are two polarities. synthesis is motion along a third axis (any axis orthogonal to the one defined by the thesis and antithesis). one can imagine an infinte chain of thesis, antithesis, synthesis = thesis, antithesis, synthesis = thesis, antithesis, synthesis, thesis, antithesis, synthesis... in this chain, the synthesis step of each triad is the same as the thesis step of the next one. at each synthesis (or thesis) step, a vector is defined which is orthogonal to all previous vectors. at each antithesis step, the negation of that vector is taken.

--- what is a system of classification? one attribute is that is thinks of itself as a complete exhaustion of some space. for example, http://deepfreeze9.blogspot.com/2007/02/digitaldirt-differences-loose-ends.html is not one.


ken wilbur

" In 1995 Wilber published his 800 page opus Sex, Ecology, Spirituality. The core of its argument was a call to integrate "the Big Three"--the big three of art, morals, and science; or the Beautiful, the Good, and the True; or I, we, and it; or first-, second-, and third-person dimension. These are each associated with a pronoun:

    "Sir Karl Popper's 'three worlds' (subjective, cultural, and objective); Plato's the Good (as the ground of morals, the 'we' of the Lower Left), the True (objective truth or it-propositions, the Right Hand), and the Beautiful (the aesthetic beauty in the I of each beholder, the Upper Left); Habermas' three validity claims (subjective truthfulness of I, cultural justness of we, and objective truth of its). Historically of great importance, these are also the three major domains of Kant's three critiques: science or its (Critique of Pure Reason), morals or we (Critique of Practical Reason), and art and self-expression of the I (Critique of Judgment)." 

An integral theory of consciousness; Journal of Consciousness Studies, 4 (1), pp.71-92, 1997

Here we see Wilber's representation of the four quadrants, with the characteristics of intentional (individual subjective) , neurological (individual objective), cultural (collective intersubjective) and social or socio-economic (collective interobjective). In addition, each has its own pronoun, the personal pronouns for the interior quadrants (individual subjective being "I" and the collective subjective "We" or "You"), and the impersonal (including a plural "it") for the exterior ones. Four Quadrants

Or in other word Arts (Upper Left), Morals (Lower Left) and Science (Upper and Lower Right ); the True (Upper and Lower Right ), the Good (Lower Left) and the Beautiful (Upper Left); and Self (Upper Left), Culture (Lower Left), and Nature (Upper and Lower Right).

And indeed anyone who has studied comparitive esotericism may have many examples of Archetypal triads. These might range from the theological trinities of many religions (Egyptian, Hindu, Christian, etc), to the early Vedantics (Being, Consciousness Bliss), Samkhyans (three gunas), Neoplatonists (Abiding, Precession, Return; and Being, Life, and Mind, etc), Gnostics, Kashmir Shaivites, Tantriks (three main nadis), and Taoists (three Tan Tiens), to twentieth century esotericists like Steiner (Thinking, Feeling, Willing, three streams of evolution, and the Three Fold Commonwealth), Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Law of Three), and many others have done. However it seems to the present author that Wilber's triads don't match the conventional ones. The two left-hand quadrants are often similar - corresponding to Steiner's or Jung's feeling principle (Arts and Morals, or the Beautiful and the Good). The two right ones which he groups together correspond to the thinking principle. There is a match here with some of the polarities in Stan Gooch's Total Man. So it is not a true triad, but rather a quaternity, which indeed is the basis of Wilber's system. " -- http://www.kheper.net/topics/Wilber/Wilber_IV.html

what the lower right (plural third person) is may be confusing. this pictures helps clarify:

http://www.kheper.net/topics/Wilber/quadrant_levels.gif

basically, the lower left ("we") is the subjective/archetypal/subconscious/touchy-feely aspects of culture. the lower right is the objective/rational/economic aspects of social organization.

or, seen another way, on the left side are concepts in the mental plane. on the right side are corresponding biological structures in the physical plane which implement the minds containing these concepts.

http://www.realize.nl/en/integral : individual vs. collective X interior vs. exterior


spiral dynamics:

http://www.realize.nl/en/spiraldynamics

culture driven by focus on:

like leary's stages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-circuit_model_of_consciousness


Adizes styles:

producer (P): focus on get things done. impatient, active, busy. cut the small talk.

administrator (A): focus on the system. rules, plans, methods, procedures. analytical, logical. clean up other people's carelessness. slow and careful.

entreprenur (E): focus on ideas. asks "why?", "why not"?. dreams, plans and schemes, leads others to ideas they would not pursue on their own. creativity and risk. bored with short term, focus on developing long-term vision. can be charismatic.

integrator (I): focus on people. social harmony, peacemaking, teamwork. organizer of social events. pleasant, amiable, empathetic. make situations feel friendly. prefer to work by consesus.


e-myth's personality types:

entrepreneur

manager

technician


myers-briggs

eneagram (sp?)


http://www.slideshare.net/supunls/keymanagementmodels


chinese elements (or "forces") (wu xing):

the 5 chinese elements are fire, earth, metal, water, wood (it is a circle, so after wood comes fire again). note that metal, more generally, is minerals.

fire burns and leaves ash which is a type of earth. in the earth is found metal. metal melts and becomes liquid, like water. water nourishes wood. wood is burned to make fire.

for each element, the preceeding element (the "mother") encourages/nourishes it, and the element which preceeds it by 2 (the "grandmother") restrains/takes from it.

in the body,

fire provides driving force and separates the pure from the impure

earth provides nourishment (of the "fuel" sort)

metal is a catalyst or gateway where the ethereal can be transmuted into the base

water provides nourishment (of the "structural" sort)

wood provides reach, growth, and suppleness

http://www.chinesemedicinetimes.com/section/367/1/an_introduction_to_the_five_elements

http://www.chinesemedicinetimes.com/section/367/1/an_introduction_to_the_five_elements

"

Of great interest here is that water is mentioned first in the elements; secondly that they are described by their actions, which derive from their natures; and thirdly that they are tied, distinctly, to their particular flavours, salty, bitter, sour, acrid or pungent and sweet. The Chinese were eminently practical in approach, not theoretical. They were most obviously, again, talking about food-production and the need to sustain a population.

Of course, much later, the wuxing became the bed-rock of Chinese science. Tsou Yen (or Zou Yan fl. 350-270 B.C.E.) has been credited with the development of Yin- yang theory, and wrote much on their interaction. "

from the Shu Jing: "The first is water; the second is fire; the third, wood; the fourth, metal; and the fifth, earth. Water it is, which soaks and descends; fire it is, which blazes and ascends; wood it is, which is crooked or straight; metal it is, which follows form and changes; and the soil which supports seed-sowing and in-gathering. That which soaks and descends becomes salt; that which blazes and ascends becomes bitter; that which is crooked or straight becomes sour; that which follows form and changes becomes acrid; which from seed-sowing and in-gathering comes sweetness."

"

Anyone who studies the I Ching will soon be made aware that much is made of two sketches of the eight trigrams (ba gua), the before-heaven (or Fu Xi arrangement, figure 2) and the after-heaven (or King Wen arrangement, figure 3): "

http://www.taijiquandao.com/03paginasingles/01introduction/07philosophicaltaichi.htm

http://www.taijiquandao.com/03paginasingles/01introduction/07philosophicaltaichi.htm

" Wood: It has the qualities of the expansive, the birth Fire: It has the qualities of the ascending, the impetuous, the culminating. Earth: It has the qualities of the firm, the container, the central Metal: It has the qualities of the contractive, the diminishing Water: It is the qualities of the descending, the quietening, the perishing ELEMENT RELATING TO: DIRECTIONS SEASONS COLOURS TASTES ORGANS SENSES

WOOD FIRE EARTH METAL WATER east south centre west north Spring summer summer-autumn (transitions) autumn winter green red yellow white black sour bitter sweet spicy-hot salty liver heart spleen lungs kidneys sight taste mouth (feeling ?) smell hearing

This circuit has 4 types of Inter.-relations:-

CREATION or generation: One element is the origin of the next, so the wood generates the fire, the fire generates the earth, the earth generates the metal, metal generates water, water generates wood, in a cycle without beginning or end. For it to be a bit more comprehensive, it is often said that the from the fire, the ashes (that is the earth) a formed, from the earth, the metal is obtained, from the solid metal, it can be converted to liquid (water) and from the water, vegetation (wood) is grown and the wood is burnt to create the fire.

DESTRUCTION or control: The element destroys or prejudices the second one below it, so we have the wood destroying the earth, the earth destroying the water, the water destroying the metal, the metal destroying the wood. This way of relating it could lead to: the wood penetrates and breaks the earth, the earth limits the water, contains it, and obstructs its flow, the water puts out the fire, the fire tames the metal by softening it and with the metal the wood can be cut.

AFFINITY: One element has affinity or we could say ´´filial piety´´ to its generator, with which it has a close relationship. The wood is close to the water, so from it, it arises. The water is akin to the metal, the metal to the earth and the earth to fire and fire to wood.

AVERSION: An element has aversion for its ´´pre-creator´´ or ´´grandfather´´, that is, due to this element it is controlled or destroyed. The wood is afraid of metal, the metal escapes the fire, the fire is dominated by water and the water is controlled by the earth.

"

and Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Knowledge, and Faith: " [1. The startling name thieves (= foes, robbers) here is understood to mean the 'five elements,' which pervade and indeed make up the whole realm of nature, the heaven of the text including also earth, the other term in the binomial combination of 'heaven and earth.' According to the Tâoist teaching, the element of Earth generates Metal, and overcomes Water; Metal generates Water, and overcomes Wood; Water generates Wood, and overcomes Fire; Wood generates Fire, and overcomes Earth. These elements fight and strive together, now overcoming, now overcome, till by such interaction a harmony of their influences arises, and production goes on with vigour and beauty.]

[2. It is more difficult to give an account of the operation of the five elements in the mind of man, though I have seen them distributed among the five viscera, and the five virtues of Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Knowledge, and Faith. Granting, however, their presence and operation in the mind, what shall be said on the two concluding members of the paragraph? There underlies them the doctrine of the three coordinate Powers; --Heaven, Earth, and Man, which I have never been able to comprehend clearly.] "

acc. to http://www.artofwargiftbooks.com/bagua.htm ,

wood, fire, earth, metal, water match benevolence, propriety, good faith, righteousness, knowledge, countenance, sight, thought, speech, listening sight, taste, touch, smell, hearing, calling, laughing, singing, lamenting, moaning, blue/green, red, yellow, white, black

http://www.artofwargiftbooks.com/bagua.htm

http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/cultures_5_basic_elements.html fire: passionate earth: material metal: rigid water: passive wood: versatile


i ching trigrams ("bagua") (3 bits, 8 possibilities) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching):

qian (heaven, sky) (the Creative, Force; strong; creative) dui (swamp, marsh) (joyous, open, overt influence; pleasure; tranquil, complete devotion) li (fire, flame) (clinging, radience, attachment; light-giving, dependence; clinging, clarity, adaptable) zhen (thunder) (arousing, shake, mobilizing; inciting movement; initiative) xun (wind) (gentle, ground, subtle influence; penetrating; gentle entrance) kan (water) (abysmal, darkness, gorge; dangerous; in-motion) gen (mountain) (keeping still, bound, immobility; resting, standstill; completion) kun (earth) (receptive, field; devoted, yielding; receptive)

" The trigrams are best understood in pairs:

Heaven

and Earth

Yin and Yang ((wrong; heaven is yang, earth is yin))

Thunder

and Mountain

move­ment and stillness

Wind

and Wetlands

penetration and dissipation

Fire

and Water

light and dark.

The order of the trigrams in the after-heaven sequence copies the sheng cycle of the wuxing: thunder, wind, fire, earth, wetlands, heaven, water and mountain. " -- http://www.chinesemedicinetimes.com/section/367/1/an_introduction_to_the_five_elements

seems to me that the correspondence is:

thunder, wind = wood fire earth wetlands = in between earth and metal heaven = in between metal and water water, mountain = water

(note: this differs from that given in http://www.taijiquandao.com/03paginasingles/01introduction/07philosophicaltaichi.htm , which puts mountain in earth, not water, and which puts heaven and wetlands in metal, rather than in between. i see the last two, but i disagree with putting mountain to earth; that would break the ordering of the wu xing within their bagua correspondents (images))

however, in the wu xing, water seems to be yin, and fire seems to be yang; but in this one, heaven and fire and thunder are yang, and water, mountain, wetlands are yin. dunno about wind; and metal seems to be neither (which makes sense as it is transmutation).

of course, the correspondence is not exact.

see my bookmarks tag "wuxing"

" Thunder stands for wood, both arousing and stirring, ‘a flowing into form’; the gusts of wind which accompany the thunder, bring the Yin aspect of the wood, they are more penetrating; fire occupies the height of both the sheng and outer-world and after-heaven cycle; earth (or soil), follows in both; the wetlands, where the minerals (metal) are deposited, represent the lowest point on the earth, they represent the winding down of both Yin and Yang processes in nature and ‘a flowing out of form’; they are followed by heaven, the stern judgemental force of the Yang, where ‘the dry bones are left bleached by the sun’; before we descend to water, the lowest point in both the sheng and after-heaven cycles, the water which moves minerals back into solution, so the process can begin again. All life needs to return to water, or a fluid environment, to reproduce. In the mountain is the beginning and end of the cycle: the silent and still mountain represents the quietest days of winter, and ‘the dark before a new dawn’.

Put very blandly – tree becomes flame, which becomes flower, ripens in the fruit, which yields the stone, falls back to the seas and rivers, which deposit again…making the conditions for rebirth and renewal. This all needs careful pondering: and in doing so and, especially, seeing it in the mind’s eye, we can understand the importance of flow and form in all nature. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_element

" Generating

Overcoming

" Generating

The common memory jogs, which help to remind in what order the phases are:

Also:

Other common words for this cycle include "begets", "engenders" and "mothers." [edit] Overcoming

This cycle might also be called "controls", "restrains" or "fathers". " -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Xing

qi: "When Chinese thinkers are unwilling or unable to fix the quality of an energetic phenomenon, the character qi (氣) inevitably flows from their brushes.[2]" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Xing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_in_Chinese_culture


preface: i think these are interesting for organizing thought, since thought seems to work via analogies. i don't think they are useful for divination, and i don't subscribe to the doctrine of signatures (or to similar, more general principals that reach beyond medicine). e.g., i don't think elemental "water" has a special relationship with H2O, rather, i think that H2O is merely one example of a thing that, in certain contexts that tend to be relevant to human life at the times of the choice of that word, takes on the role of elemental water.

---

" A common organizing principle for tables of correspondence is number.

" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_correspondences

---

some advice on business emotions from the wu xing:

" "Joy is fire. It spreads rapidly and warms the beholder. Joy is necessary to keep the team mates' hearts blazing with passion. But too much will intoxicate them. Joy is created by anger. When two boxers fight with murderous anger, at the 10th round bell, they glow with joy. To create lasting joy and fiery passion in your team mates, build within them great anger. Let wood create fire. Show them the wealth of their competitors who are younger and dumber."

"Love is the earth. The weak and powerful; the foolish and the wise, they are all overcome by love. Love creates a dedication and devotion that cannot be broken like the bonds of gravity from the earth. But too much will blind. Give your team mates a love but give them a great love. Give them a love for your company and not for their project. Give them a love for the lives of all your team mates and not for just the company. Give them a love for all of humanity and not just those they can see. Your work will create long lasting ripples. To create earth, keep the fire alive. Those who laugh with each other will love. Give your team mates frequent but small reasons for great joy. Make every success from every corner of the company their own. Let fire create earth. They will begin to love every crevice of the company."

"Sadness is metal. It rings with a cold echo; it can be bent and torn but not broken. Sadness is what creates empathy; brings people to lend their hearts. It is not necessity that breeds invention. It is sadness. The greater the sadness, the greater the invention. But too much sadness will weigh down your team mates like sailors who drown with pockets full of gold. To create sadness, tightly pack the earth. Reinforce their love and foster it. After great love, there is always tears like a woman's honeymoon night. Tell your team mates the saddest stories of the families and children who do not benefit from your labors. Show them the faces of those who suffer in a life without your product, let them love your customers - you will show them their mission."

"Fear is water. It can find it's way into the tightest of spaces and rot away your company. Fear creates a sober meticulous mind. Instill fear into your team mates. To create water, use metal. A deep cut from it's cold sad edge will set all of your team mates to high alert. They will mind every step with sobriety. Teach them of the countless ways the most promising companies have died from carelessness. Be careful not to over instill fear. Too much fear will drown out the brightest fires of joy and wash away the most grounding of love. But teach them fear and you will seldom see your lawyer."

"Anger is wood. It is fiberous and feeds off of fear. In order for wood to burn, all fear must be removed for fire to complete it's work. Anger is crucial for your company to stand out in the forest. Trees angrily contend against it's fellow trees. Trees race against each other for the brightest spot under the sun. But if you create too much anger, there will not be enough of the fearful sobriety of water. Anger is also the liver. This is why men drink too much and must satisfy their thirst with water. Those with liver illnesses will have lives filled with anger. To create anger, show them the wealth of their competitors who are younger and dumber."

...

The Master stood up as if to lead me somewhere else. I stood to follow. He stopped me – saying, “wait here for me. I’ll be right back.” We were in his dojo – a large industrial warehouse. Later, I came to find that it was the training facility of deadly swordsmen. They can disarm a gunman with a cocked hammer from 25 feet away before a gun can fire. This is done by flying – not running. I only discovered this because I witnessed two days of training before the Master returned. The dojo was cold at night.

“Have you ever tried to sober up a drunken friend while he is driving?” The master asked. I thought maybe he was missing for two days because he got a DUI. The master continued as if he had only been gone for a minute.

“Your drunken friend will play his music loudly, yell along with it, weave all over the road, and endanger all who come near him. He is intoxicated with joy because his liver qi created fire qi. If you become angry at him, he will only drive more recklessly to challenge you. If you laugh at him, he will feel you support his intoxication. If you lovingly ask him to sober up, he will be emboldened to drive more dangerously. And if you sadly complain that he is endangering your life, he will mockingly drive even more recklessly.”

    The qi of wood is also within the color green, the liver, the muscles, and more. Wood element qi can be extracted from any of these interchangably.

It was then that realized that the Master was teaching me the destructive cycle of the 5 elements.

“The only element that can destroy the fire element is water. Use fear. Simply ask him, ‘Friend, is that a police car behind you?’”

The master continued, “Women are funny creatures. They intuitively know so much more than men but have the hardest time articulating their understanding. When a woman wants to stop a man from loving her, she does not try to make him happy. She does not sadly ask him to keep his distance. She does not fearfully tell him about her discomfort. This would just make the man want to love her more and protect her. No, she dates his best friend. In America, you even have the right color for it. You say, “green with envy.” But it is not envy. It is anger. The only time lovers turn on each other and kill is during a lovers’ quarrel. The only qi that can destroy densely packed earth qi is wood qi. Anger destroys any love spell.”

“One of my youngest students is Peter,” the Master changed the subject with a smile, “was abnormally scared of the dentist. The child said that it was because of the sharp noises, the sharp tools, and the sharp lights. But his mother was wise. She knew her son had a crush on a girl in his class. She pursuaded the mother of that girl to schedule a cleaning at the same time of Peter’s appointment. Peter miraculously became courageous. There was not a drop of fear in his blood. Earth qi thoroughly soaked up all the water qi. Even a man on his death bed, trembling with fear, will die a peaceful death; even a courageous one – if all those who love him hold his hands. Fear cannot flow in the face of love. Water cannot flow on earth.”

As if the Master knew I was confused, he added, “for a river to flow, water must flow over rocks. The rocks sit over earth.”

That’s when I started to see the pattern. I once learned that a toxic spill in a river is 100% purified and drinkable after it goes so many hundreds of yards. It was something about electron valences, ions and filtration from the bedrock.

“Anger is easily destroyed as well,” he said. It was almost 5 am.

“To destroy wood, which would be most effective? Wood, fire, clay, metal or water? If you cause a car accident, the victim will have great anger. Destroy the wood qi with metal qi. Tell him that you were running late to your grandmother’s funeral.” The Master winked at me. I don’t know why I was surprised. There’s nothing in the rules that say Masters can’t wink.

Reaching for a napkin, he drew out a diagram for me. It had five evenly spaced points around a circle. At the top was wood. Then there was fire, earth, metal, and water – in order of creation. The master then drew straight lines connecting the elements that destroy each other. Before handing it to me, he laughed and said, “some morons flip it upside down and think it has some magical power. It’s just a picture.”

“Oh, if you can’t find a way to instill fear in your drunk driver friend, fear qi is also in the color black, kindeys and in water. So you can either turn off his headlights momentarily, stimulate his kidneys, or sprinkle water on his face. All of these will destroy his fire qi.”

Before I could wrap my head around what the Master had just said, he moved on.

“But above creating and destroying the five elements using the five elements, there is a sixth way that overcomes the previous five, just as there is a seventh that overcomes the six. Where there is a noisy student, the teacher simply has to give him the knowledge that countless other students in each of their own classes is just as noisy. The peak becomes just a spec on a plane. Educate yourself and educate your workers – you just might reach your goal.”

" -- http://journik.posterous.com/how-to-control-that-emotional-jerk-at-work-10-0

in other words:

anger inspires passion (jealous inspires competitive passion). passion can be good for getting things done. shared joy inspires love love inspires sadness (when you hear about the misfortune of those you love). sadness can be good by inspiring a resolution to help. sadness inspires fear (umm, or rather, hearing about the bad things that happened to others cause fear). fear can be good for meticulousness and caution. anger feeds off fear

recklessness (too much joy) can be stopped by fear love (if someone loves you whom you don't want to love you) can be stopped by anger (jealousy; dating someone else) (i suppose sadness can be stopped by joy) fear can be stopped by love anger can be stopped by sadness

in other words:

fire: passion earth: love metal: resolution water: caution wood: drive? interaction with others?


lungs metal "po". in the star trek analogy, force field and weapons the part touching the hun is the po kidney water dilithium crystal "jing is the most chi like substance" -- the primary cause of energy diminshment as aging is because this (the primary energy) is being diminshed -- the will wood sensors (liver spirit, "hun", is perception, and it is the part of you that doesn't die) fire is the engines and navigation (the intuition -- the heart, the fire is called the sovereign) earth is the hull intellect taxes the spleen = earth. intellect is earth water goes to the lowest point, fills in the cracks like management that does all the tasks that no one else is doing

water is structural in the sense that it (like dilithium crystals) is the foundation upon which other things are built

earth is structural in the sense of being massive, stable earth in the body is the flesh (muscle and fat, not skin)

metal is the connection between metal and earth the change from to another

earth is the intellect and it's the foundation of everything (the structure, the building; water is the prime principal)

the hun is the part of the greater consciousness that is touching the po. the po is the part of you touching the greater consciousness. the hun is wood,the po metal.

calmness is water; earth is stoic (an element of silent waiting)

the grandmother of earth is wood, intuition

?: so how is it that water is will, if the heart is "the sovereign"?

metal is ocd, organization

---

compared to 2,3, or 4-element systems, the five element system is like doing arithmetic with a larger base, that is, it packs more information per symbol.

diff ways of using systems:

classify each object as "best represented by" an element: 3 dim

for each object, give a quantity to each element (5 dim) for each object, give a quantity to each element, but with normalization (4 dim) for each object, select a subset of the elements (5 bits -- but if the empty subset is not allowed, 4 bits)

that is:

4 dim: if you let each element be assigned a number, but then interpret these numbers only relative to each other (an implicit normalization constraint)

5 dim: if you let each element be assigned an unbounded number

2.32 bits (log_2 5): if for each object, you assign the single element that best represents that object (compare to 2 bits for a 4 element system)

5 bits: if for each object, you assign a subset of the elements

note that the 5 element system is the smallest one whose dimension under normalization is at least 3; because a 3 element system is only 2 dimensional, and a 4 element system, because the number is even, will be organized as two scales of opposition (e.g. fire vs. water and earth vs. air), which is only 2 dimensional under normalization, unless you allow the relative magnitude of the two scales to vary (e.g. what's the object's position on the fire vs. water spectrum? how about the earth vs. air spectrum? unless we also ask, how much more 'fire/water' is the object than'earth/air', that's it, and you only have 2 dimensions)

systems with at least 3 dimensions are important because they can represent thesis-antithesis-synthesis, which allows one to escape from closed systems.

in the wu xing system, each element has a relation with each other (mother of, grandmother of, grandchild of, child of). the grandmother relations are the analog of fire vs. water and earth vs. air in a 4-element system; that is, they are chords that show opposition between pairs of elements that are as far away from each other as possible. since the 5-element system is based on an odd number, each element has 2 almost-opposites instead of 1 opposite, as in an even-number-based system

  note: could reinterpret the 5 elements based on each element being the "0th/first/last" or "central" or "privilaged/best" one. e.g. the tao te ching seems to me to privilage water (and yin). the association with the seasons which starts with wood/spring privilages wood (because it is concerned with how things grow). similarly, an association with the parts of a startup business would tend to privilage wood, since a startup is sort of a wood kind of thing (the name, "startup", denotes the process of "starting up", which is a wood idea).

similiarly, reductionism and precise categorization is a metal idea, and so an ordering approriate for this text would privilage metal.

before heaven/after heaven seems to have some correpondence to the modern notations of genotype (the plan) vs. phenotype (the implementation)

if water is yin, what is yang? fire?

what corresponds to air? wood?

---

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_case

common proto-indo-european cases:

nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental, ablative, locative, vocative,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Grammatical_categories

    Agency
    Animacy
    Associated motion
    Aspect
    Case
    Clusivity
    Comparison
    Definiteness
    Evidentiality
    Focus
    Gender
    Mirativity
    Modality
    Mood
    Noun class
    Number
    Person
    Polarity
    Tense
    Topic
    Transitivity
    Valency
    Voice
    Volition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_aspect

perfect, imperfect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_tense

past, present future remote past and remote future

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_mood

indicative, interrogatory, imperative, emphatic, subjunctive, injunctive, optative, potential

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_universal "Logical notions of "and," "not," "opposite," "equivalent," "part/whole," "general/particular""

" Reflection on the concept of an object has its first theoretical articulation in Aristotle's Categories, where he distinguishes between individual objects and the various kinds of properties they can possess. He illustrates the various categories:

    each [individual term] signifies either substance or quantity or qualification or a relative or where or when or being in a position or having or doing or being affected. To give a rough idea, ideas of substance are man, horse; of quantity: four foot, five foot; of qualification; white, grammatical; of a relative: double, half, larger; of where: in the Lyceum, in the market-place; of when: yesterday, last year; of being in a position: is-lying, is-sitting; of having: has-shoes-on, has-armour-on; of doing: cutting, burning; of being-affected: being-cut, being-burnt. (1b25 - 2a4)" -- http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/substance/

kant's categories:

"Logical table of judgements:

1. According to quantity Universal Particular Singular

2. According to quality Affirmative Negative Infinite

3. According to relation Categorical Hypothetical Disjunctive

4. According to modality Problematic Assertoric Apodictic "

"Trancendental table of concepts of the understanding:

1. According to quantity Unity (measure) Plurality (magnitude) Totality (the whole)

2. According to quality Reality Negation Limitation

3. According to relation Substance (Inherence and Substance) Cause (Causality and Dependence) Community

4. According to modality Possibility Existence Necessity "

---

12 may be the number that includes the highest percentage of all primes less than itself

a guy once suggested using 12 as a number system base, because it is 'very divisible' and because (probably for that reason) its multiplication tables contain lots of patterns. he suggested instead of moving to the metric system, we use the imperial system and use base 12.

---