Experiment 4 - The Sift

Back to the lab...

Well, the sift turned out to be a little too labor intensive. Not enough bang for the buck in my book. I'm not doing a thesis here.
I'm hoping that Experiment 5 - The Map will take its place, though the going will be slow there too.

This begins the analysis of the data we are generating in Experiment 3.
This is the sift.

The sift works like this:
Only ideas and questions which have comments are included.
The key is to gain multiple perspectives on one thing.
All ideas, questions, and comments will slowly be boiled down to their core.
Then we will begin to look for patterns...

(I must admit that this is going to be a manual process, and therefore possibly a slow one)
(the look will evolve too...but you have to start somewhere...)

last updated 3.31.02

Research notes:
The more we change the rules, the less the rules will mean.
Rules go from something absolute to something that is imposed on us by ourselves and others, and therefore the rules become subjective
rules are what we tell ourselves we are 'supposed to do'. But we can do anything. Do we not because of what others will think? in the end, what effect do they have on you, really?
why is life always so goddamn messy??
Order vs. Chaos? Details are composed of things outside our self. They are outside our control. They can be seen as a mess or as possibility, according to the viewer.
The details. People, places, and things.
The nature of life is mess. mess is what makes life interesting. Messes are what create possibility. happiness is mess waiting to happen.
The only way to win is not to play the game.
Or the only way you can even have a chance at winning is to play the game. You must get involved and risk possibly losing in order to really experience anything.
instead of playing the game, what if you create the game? and what if the game's not very fun? why not play a different game? if you play no games, then you will simply sit and do nothing. not playing any games is about the same as sitting and being a bit-part in the grand game. ... this is one way of not playing the game, wallowing. ... instead he creates his own game, which is another way of not playing the game. which leads us places.
We can create our own and things can get very interesting very quickly as a result. I just think acknowledgement of each being a game is important. Sitting around and doing nothing is an observation another person can make. But we can never be completely sure what is in that person's mind when they are sitting there. Looks could be very deceiving...
Who ever said that winning was the point of the game anyway?
who even said it was a winnable game? maybe it's like sim city... we're just waiting for a monster to come and crush us.
Nah, sim city is easy. Turn off disasters, set the thing to run on cheetah, and go to sleep. Winner in the morning. I think this game we are talking about really does not reward those asleep at the wheel.
How is it that a place I feel so uncomfortable in, I have come to call home?
home is where you come back to. home is where the heart is. home sweet home. home, home on the range. life is arbitrary. it doesn't like to do things to please us. maybe this place is not actually home. maybe this place is an invitation to find something better than it. maybe this place will eventually become a comfortable home after having discovered other homes for yourself. maybe this is a challenge.
Half of the world is asleep right now. The other half isn't.
the other half is exceeding blogger's bandwidth capacity at the moment. humour is an idea as well.
is there really a game? what is the game? ... I don't believe there is.
I probably talk about games because ... I'm playing one now with my life. I think the game starts with, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" But now the answer has changed to something like, "Myself." or "I don't know, it doesn't really matter." So I'm having to deconstruct the illusion of the game... and my first instinct is to say I'm bored.
there is snow outside here. the grass is hiding.
The world is near its end. That's mostly true. I heard it from a friend of a friend.
I wonder...at what point does one person become so miserable that they combust?
I always wonder how we got to the point right before the big bang. It seems absurd to think there was a starting point for everything (and I guess just as absurd to think something could go on forever...). But I imagine that there was a before and that the last part of it consisted of everything getting really bunched up together. And it was a state that could only go on for so long. Eventually it let loose, and incidently become the universe. I think that is how misery ends.
Interesting thought....you wrote"...at what point does one person become so miserable that they combust?" Through my own suicidal attempt once..."when the air becomes too difficult to breathe" still doesn't answer your question does it??? which is why I find your question well put.
Do you believe that ghosts roam this earth? .. the paranormal is such a mystery.
A mystery is right. And it seems people like to throw it into the myth pile with unicorns and dragons. But ghosts are a different category right? It's like deja vu. People sneeze at when it happens and move right on. But something different is happening, and perhaps it is real.
PAINTING TO LET THE EVENING LIGHT GO THROUGH - instructions by Yoko Ono

Hang a bottle behind a canvas.
Place the canvas where the west light
comes in.
The painting will exist when the bottle
creates a shadow on the canvas, or it does
not have to exist.
The bottle may contain liquor, water,
grasshoppers, ants or singing insects, or
it does not have to contain.

1961 summer.
Now this is thinking. So very simple. And it does and doesn't have to exist. The bottle may, but is not obliged to, contain anything. Contain. That's a word.
why is sleep so important? and why do i love sleeping for 20-some hours?
funny you should ask... I just did this last week.
There is no difference between good and bad.
It's all in our head.
Riddle me this: Raping and murdering a 3 month old baby. Graphic I know, but how could any head make it good?
A friend and I once were working on something we called "the most unpopular philosophy" and we talked about this very point. And the most unpopular philosophy said, yeah, people die. Sometimes in horrible, gruesome ways. But what are you going to do. People die. (I could write a book of disclaimers on this, followed by another book supporting the philosophy. ... I imagine we will get there here eventually too...I'll spare us all for now...)
It's only fair to add that I can't even watch Tom and Jerry cartoons because I get upset about what they do to each other...
Chocolate ice cream. Now there's an invention!
for me, mint chocolate chip is the apotheosis. mmm. minty.
Merry go round.
moving in circles makes me sick to my stomach.
Do you ever find that you are just doing things and can't stop?
Yeah, but only once a day for about 5 minutes.
Motivation requires context.
motivation requires motivation