Mon - June 19, 2006

Ambiguity and Ontologization presented Thursday, 2006-06-15, Sofia, Bulgaria


Ambiguity informs all of human activity, even that within the imagined exact sciences such as Mathematics. So-called “imaginary” numbers (first complex numbers, and then quaternions, to the cognoscendi), the stumbling block for most of the young, was and is ontological stumbling. These numbers are natural for dancing (of people on earth or satellites in space), a three-dimensional body movement in “normal” 3-D space. This is Mathematics at play. From the point of view of play as culture progenitor, all of which is intrinsically ambiguous, it would appear natural that any ontological mirroring must also be fruitfully ambiguous. To ontologize is to be human, to act in a humanitarian way. It is only in the last forty years or so that we have adjoined the mechanical precision of the computer to (re-)inforce the precise logical understanding of humanity through ontology. We have seen the past. It is known. The future, embracing what has been, dictates a logical computable view of all subsequent ontologization, as long such a machine-era shall last. Within the reality of this framework ontological choice is computably pre-determined. The real choice is therefore, sociological and psychological, and perhaps even strictly cultural. The paper focuses on the attempt to formalize ambiguity.

Posted at 06:42 a.m.     Read More  

Thu - April 20, 2006

JCMC: Digital re-Discovery of Culture & Physicality of Soul


We focus on religious issues in Europe: Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Macedonia. The religions in question are Western European Christianity (Roman Catholic and Anglican), Eastern European Christianity (Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox), and Islam. Issues of conflict which we considered were schism and its resolution or at least cohabitation, the coercion by the State to give a common identity to all its citizens based on common language or common religion. A game of inquiry is chosen as the means to conduct an investigation into these issues. For this purpose we introduce the avatar, an American of Turkish background from Chicago who wishes to find out more about grandfather Habib who emigrated from Debre, Macedonia in 1923. This kind of game of the digital re-discovery of culture, usually begins with a personal narrative called a Backstory. Being played out on the Internet the playing needs physical grounding, a physicality of soul. The game was designed and played and Macedonia experienced as outcome. Following the search of the avatar we are led to discover positive surprises that bode well for religion on the Internet.

Posted at 07:50 a.m.     Read More  

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