The Meaning Code

Nolan joins again for another romp through the space of ideas. Hold on. It's a wild ride.

Nolan Manteufel is an electrical engineer with interesting ideas about how the world works. Links mentioned by Nolan follow the notes. How did the ancients take what they could see so clearly and put it in a story so that the "coding" could be protected over time" Can we "over analyze" or "under analyze"? What is the "correct" amount of analysis? The proper "level" of analysis? The games we play can actually have the structure of generalized formulas. Every story we tell (or game we play) about a system seems to have a source potential, a conductor and a flow through the conductor because of the source. This is the story of electricity and magnetism, at least since Ohm. Another way to see the same story would be that Knowledge is a source, energy/matter/space/time is a conductor, and emotional state(s) equals flow. Another permutation might be that Ideas x real space + emotion space. The circular notion of identity. Force = Ability x Ambition (If my ambition to do something is zero, my force is zero no matter how much ability I might have to accomplish the task. Note from Nolan: "Hans Camenzind is the electrical engineer that i mentioned during our conversation. He's a recent historical character that i admire. He also wrote a book on religion, but i don't remember reading it. Much Ado About Almost Nothing, http://www.historyofelectronics.com/Much-Ado-About-Almost-Nothing.pdf Designing Analog Chips, http://www.designinganalogchips.com/ Another living hero of mine is Forrest Mims III. His books inspired my love of electronics. Also, he was 50% partner in the venture that created the opportunity that inspired Bill Gates to drop out of Harvard! The stories that can be told are crazy."

Dr. Jim joins The Meaning code to talk about his life, the Chino conference, the intersection of history and the western tradition, and the importance of context. F=MA and E=MC^2 But it's NOT the same M. What is the purpose for running the experiment? The meanings of things.

Glen and Karen discuss how language and computation are tied together, that multiple languages can be used to create a symphony of choices to express something logically and emotionally. Links follow timestamps. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:40 The halting problem, Joscha Bach on Godel’s incompleteness theorem, and the connection between language and computation. 04:24 “There is no deeper notion of truth than proof.” Joscha Bach Patterns 06:20 “There. Is a covenant between Truth and Language.” 15:33 Euclid’s fifth postulate is not decidable Decidability and the equivalence of the halting problem to other problems. Wolfram’s computational irreducibility Rule 110 in cellular automata. 22:30 The concept of computation relates to heuristic rule sets. Computation as a physical process that can be based on formal languages or logic, probabilities, or heuristic rule sets. Example: a recipe. 26:00 Computation is a sequence of choices guided by a set of rules. Undecidability. Computational Systems 39:26 Language, an alphabet of symbols, Russell's Paradox, Incompleteness Theorem, a project to reduce mathematics to a formal system, doomed to failure with Kurt Godel's Incompleteness Theorem. Russell and Whitehead left mathematics and became philosophers. Glen also explains the Barber Paradox, which is related to Russell's Paradox, and how it can be solved by adding new rules. 45:46 The concept of truth relates to language. Glen suggests that truth can be determined by stepping outside of the system and asking questions, Language is a key factor in our ability to ask questions and understand truth. Truth is not just a statement about math and formal systems, but also about people and their ability to ask questions. 56:25 The problem with a lock is that it needs an outside agent. Computation is a group phenomena. Can’t analyze a computational system in isolation. Exploring the Relationship Between Computation, Consciousness, and Agency Alignment of AI/LLM to humans1:07:09 Archetypes are a proof in a non-formal language, a story with a punch line. The Relationship Between Language, Computation, and Truth. Truth can be found in both formal and non-formal languages. The concept of alignment, and how large language models can be hacked by flooding the learning set with false statements. 1:16:50 A symphony of choices. Exploring the Possibility of Creating a Symphony of languages to express emotional joy. Could this be used to solve the alignment problem in Artificial Intelligence?Interact with Glen on Twitter, @wildiris Up and Atom on The Halting Problem: https://youtu.be/t37GQgUPa6k The three body problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-body_problem#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20general%20closed,repeating%2C%20except%20in%20special%20cases Undecidability, Part I: https://youtu.be/nsZsd5qtbo4 Part 2: https://youtu.be/FK3kifY-geM Part 3: https://youtu.be/lLWnd6-vSGo Joscha Bach on TOE, start at 58:03: https://youtu.be/bhSlYfVtgww Michael Levin, Richard Watson, Mark Solms, 30:00 to 50:00 https://youtu.be/gjArtj5PIU8

Lucas Van Os joins to tell us about the differences between Austrian Economics and Keynesianism, as well as a journey into the world of bitcoin, and how this all lines up with a life of personal responsibility and the freedom to do what's best. Videos and books mentioned: The Dao of Capital by Mark Spitznagel Human Action by Ludwig von Mises Metaphysics of Quality, Maps of Meaning and Austrian Economics: https://youtu.be/B-fviFKFsw4 Money and Reality: The Natural Order of Money w Ira and Brad https://youtu.be/Uwsz4q4Ufk4 Robert Breedlove and Mike Hill series on Metaphysics of Quality: https://youtu.be/pEgpNGfS6XM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuBqB1FCPCs&t=0s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwU1zilQagA&t=0s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqO3KIq9LYc&t=0s https://www.youtube.com/@drmichaellevin Levin, Watson, Fields: Harmonics and Resonance https://youtu.be/RkkqQF_ulYo Levin, Watson, Solms: https://youtu.be/pMTuWL2vDoY Levin, McGilchrist, Watson #4 https://youtu.be/nWgzWYt5c88 Levin, McGilchrist, Watson #3 https://youtu.be/jdrfx7Z5oo4 Levin, McGilchrist, Watson #2 https://youtu.be/fgnQBD0CjMo Levin, McGilchrist, Watson #1 https://youtu.be/ynHfrfpTH18

Chad the Alcoholic tells his story and we discuss his unexpected homecoming. The mask is to adhere to the "11th tradition" of Alcoholics Anonymous, to protect him from his own ego, and to protect AA from his ego.Paul Vander Klay speaks of Chad here: https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxIRyw_wg-PyZ3Biegxx6b69ZuvIABLJuW Chad's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefridaymorningnameless7623 The basic tenets of AA - Seek God and Help Others. If one helps another, sobriety is possible. Receive help, then give help. The dilemma: the choice between two undesirable options, alcoholic suffering? or seek spiritual help? Why do some choose life, and some don't? We feel powerless, looking for something to connect us to the world, to feel like a person. Addiction is a misdirected use of power, a spiritual malady, a separation between me and my fellows. Alcohol is one of the options to fill that hole, but leads to despair for alcoholics. Misery, deliverance, gratitude. The alcoholic sees a need for help (a recognition of misery) , seeks God (deliverance) and then helps others (out of gratitude).

Justin Wells, maker of documentaries, adjunct professor teaching documentaries, YouTuber analyzing story and narrative, daily winner of Twitter (@onejwells) Justin's Morning Coffee, 7 Basic Plots on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@justinsmorningcoffee Intro to This Little Corner with Justin Wells and Grim Griz https://youtu.be/ivl_SlzbeW8

Chad comes to John with a very specific question. Seeing the way institutions fail when they are lacking or when they have discarded their natural constraints. The dangers of transplantation, transference, loss of tradition, monetization, radical simplification or coercive ordering of complexity. What can we in This Little Corner do to prevent these dangers and to improve our ability to dance the ineffable freedom of jazz and the "snarky puppy": https://youtu.be/L_XJ_s5IsQc Earlier conversation with Chad's story, including the story behind the mask: https://youtu.be/4XdgA1PZO48

Ted Stiritz introduces the work of Daniel Toma, a new framework within which to understand developmental biology. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 4:05 The flat ontology of materiality 12:55 Introduction and Overview of Daniel Toma's Ideas 22:15 The tadpole wrong face "knows" how to develop into a proper frog face 24:00 Ted Stiritz discusses his background and interest in regenerative agriculture and earthworks. 29:07 Developmental biology is amazing 34:22 Material cause and formal cause The Impact of Human Ideas and Values on Landscape 49:50 The entire hierarchy of the living is about self giving 50:49 Discussion on Creation and Redemption in Art and Construction The Redemptive Process of Intelligence and the Nonlinear Development of Organisms The Influence of Environment on Development Daniel Toma's Hierarchy of Being and the Gift of Life The Importance of Understanding the Formal and Final Cause of Cells Discussion on Toma's idea of the relationship between common human experience and the scientific endeavor. 1:03:25 Dr. William Beaumont's Experiments on Digestion Toma's Arguments on Geometric Knowledge and Immortality of Intellect Discussion on the Whole Being Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

Kyle McNease, Nate Hile (A Grail Country) and Luke Thompson join Karen for a discussion of That Hideous Strength and The Abolition of Man, two books by C. S. Lewis that speak to our current moment. The lecture by C. S. Lewis that was mentioned regarding punishment or remediation: https://youtu.be/xP4_dVs_Ks4 timestamps 00:00 Intro and Directions for the conversation 08:35 The Cosmology of That Hideous Strength 16:00 The roadblocks that inculcate you into "the club" 23:50 Unity and Diversity 31:58 Virtue terrorism 38:10 What to do about it? 44:00 NICE's sorceress approach 51:30 Venus in her proper mode 1:00:50 Beckoning back to Babel, the power channeled through Merlin 1:15:00 C S Lewis' experiences from WWI and WWII incorporated 1:24:00 We're all cyborgs now anyway 1:30:55 What true knowledge really is 1:41:20 Siloed thinking