[[I am->C1x]]
[[the flower->E1x]]
[[with five->D1x]]
[[golden->A1x]]
[[petals->B1x]]Maybe some [[decisions->A2x]] should be arbitrary.I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of [[golden daffodils;->E2y]]
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
[[A poet could not but be gay,->B2y]]
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.Is superabundance, a wealth of possibilities, paralyzing? Hypertext! The hyperdrive allowing intergalactic travel! Is navigating so important? Sometimes I feel I should reliquish control. A link is wind. It carries us to where it demands, and it is sometimes (or not) arbitrary.
Think of memory. Is memory arbitrary? Lets see...
Remember [[the daffodils->A3]]However [[ethereal,->B2x]] I think meaning has a foundation.[[Here->C2x]] is your next node.[[The link is complicated?->D2x]] Nature is complicated.[[Flowers->E2x]] are sort of like links.Similar to the fuel of those poets, links are the tools by which we may enter [[new realities.->B3]] Typically, a link is more than simply a door. A link is also what it means to walk into the doorway.
Reality and the possibilities that inhabit it are sometimes elastic.
I find Martin Heidegger to be an interesting historical figure, because he is a philosopher who was associated with the Nazi regime during Word War II, and whose ideas have a lot in common with environmental ethics. He is both monstrous and noble to us. Heidegger apparently regretted joining the Nazi party, though.
Heidegger noted that we typically think of language as a tool created by humans; a tool which we control indefinitely and shape to our intended purposes. However, he argues that language has the effect of [[shaping how people think.->A2y]] New ways of using language, can therefore lead to new ways of thinking. For example, using the word "resource" when describing what one recieves as a result of interacting with the mississippi river forces a way of thinking which is drastically different from words like "gift" or "blessing." Resources are meant to be extracted. Blessings are cherished.
Heidegger had similiar ideas relating to the nature of technology. Human behavior, especially in modern times, is greatly influenced by available technology.
It hardly needs to be said how these ideas are relevant. Links are bizarre, and some link structures are bizarre-er - sometimes [[confusing.->C2y]] But if the complexity of some structures are not entirely beyond human comprehension, then I wonder how our thinking might change by interacting with these structures.Why confusing? Why madness? Why here? The link illuminates. I'm a terrible poet, but bear with me. The link not only illuminates by providing definitions and elaboration, it provides the soil for connections that allow meaning to grow. There is a connection between the word and what it signifies - this is meaning.
Hypertext = Hypersignifier.
But what is being signified? [["The king" decides.->C3]]In the [[spring->D2y]] of 2017, I attended a performance of King Lear at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I went with a friend of mine who was studying social psychology at the University of Minnesota. She had seen many performances of Shakespeare, and many iterations of King Lear specifically. We talked about the diverse cast and postmodernism.
In the final act of King Lear, the action of the plot is consummated with the death of Cordelia, whom Lear carries onto the stage in despair yelling: "Howl! Howl! Howl!" amidst the rest of the silent and onlooking cast members. The audience might realize that his exclamation solidifies his madness while at the same time injecting us with a final sobering dose of tragedy. This is easily the most powerful moment in the entire play.
Watching the Guthrie's performance at this critical moment, I thought of [[the drug inspired Beat poets->B2z]], and in particular, Allen Ginsberg's poem //Howl,// which begins:
//I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.//
The link is petrichor. It is that wet, earthy smell that permeates the humid air once the rain is gone. The rain is always different. Sometimes its heavy, sometimes its mere mist. Sometimes it cannot decide. Petrichor always follows, and it is one of those many phenonomena that we encounter over and over again. But, [[if the rain is always different, then maybe the petrichor is, too?->D3]]<img src="http://i.imgur.com/3ZYOp2Q.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="Two foxes">
This little ditty, this unweildy monster, this overconvoluted mess (probably), is what I like to call the "PentaSpoke." I'm not absolutely certain if it's an entirely new structure, but I did develop it with some method, even if it looks like [[madness.->C2z]]
I think of it as [[a wheel with five spokes,->E2z]] hence the name PentaSpoke. The central node links to five linear paths including a chain of three nodes. The numerical value given each node indicates how distant the node is from the center: 1 being the closest, 3 being the furthest, and 2 being in between those two values. Once a reader reaches a node with a value of 3, the path splits. They are given two links to choose from instead of one. Each of these links lead to an adjacent node with the value of 2 that has a different hyperlink from the linear path it is associated with. These links then lead to an adjacent node witht he value of 1, which then leads back to the center, where the reader can choose a new linear path.
I think this structure does a lot of interesting things. For instance, the relation each type of node has to other nodes in the structure, in some ways, influences the content of the nodes. Each node with a value of 2 has two level 3 nodes and one level 1 node leading to it, and leads to one level 3 node and to two level 1 nodes. This means that every node with the value of 2 links to or from six different nodes.
The structure forces re-entcountering bodies of text similar to Bernstein's Joycean Loop. Unfortunately, [[daffodils->E3]] do not have five petals. Daffodils have six petals. Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty, I guess.
But what sort of headache would this be with an extra petal? I don't want to think about it.Greek myth is always interesting. I am unable to read ancient Greek, so my favorite translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey are Alexander Pope's iambic pentameter versions. The olympic Gods sometimes represent powerful [[natural forces,->D2z]] while other times apparently being metaphors for human virtues and feelings. Athena is the war goddess, but as the goddess of wisdom, it is obviously no coincidence that she follows Odysseus all over the place.
I had a roommate once who was obsessed with Greek myths and plays. In particular, he was fascinated with the myth of [[Narcissus,->A2z]] who fell so in love with his reflection in a pond that he plunged in and drowned.
What is the myth of Narcissus if not a primordial analogy for the link?Unfortunately, daffodils do not have five petals. Daffodils have six petals. Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty, I guess.
But what sort of [[headache would this be with an extra petal?->D1y]] I don't want to think about it.
Similar to the fuel of those poets, links are the tools by which we may enter new realities. Typically, a link is more than simply a door. A link is also what it means to walk into the doorway.
Reality and the possibilities that inhabit it are [[sometimes elastic.->C1y]]The link is complicated? [[Nature is complicated.->Launch]]Here is your [[next node.->Launch]]
Is superabundance, a wealth of possibilities, paralyzing? Hypertext! The hyperdrive allowing intergalactic travel! Is navigating so important? Sometimes I feel I should reliquish control. A link is wind. It carries us to where it demands, and it is sometimes (or not) arbitrary.
Think of memory. Is memory arbitrary? Lets see...
Remember the daffodils.
[[E1y]]Why confusing? Why madness? Why here? The link illuminates. I'm a terrible poet, but bear with me. The link not only illuminates by providing definitions and elaboration, it provides [[the soil->D1y]] for connections that allow meaning to grow. There is a connection between the word and what it signifies - this is meaning.
Hypertext = Hypersignifier.
But what is being signified? "The king" decides.Flowers are sort of like [[links.->Launch]]Is superabundance, a wealth of possibilities, paralyzing? [[//Hypertext! The hyperdrive allowing intergalactic travel!//->B1y]] Is navigating so important? Sometimes I feel I should reliquish control. A link is wind. It carries us to where it demands, and it is sometimes (or not) arbitrary.
Think of memory. Is memory arbitrary? Lets see...
Remember the daffodils.The link is petrichor. It is that wet, earthy smell that permeates the humid air once the rain is gone. The rain is always different. Sometimes its heavy, sometimes its mere mist. Sometimes it cannot decide. Petrichor always follows, and it is one of those many [[things that we encounter over and over again.->C1y]] But, if the rain is always different, then maybe the petrichor is, too?However ethereal, I think meaning has a [[foundation.->Launch]]Unfortunately, daffodils do not have five petals. Daffodils have six petals. Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty, I guess.
But what sort of headache would this be with an extra petal? [[I don't want to think about it.->A1y]]Why confusing? Why madness? Why here? The link illuminates. I'm a terrible poet, but bear with me. The link not only illuminates by providing definitions and elaboration, it provides the soil for connections that allow meaning to grow. There is a connection between the word and what it signifies - [[this is meaning.->B1y]]
Hypertext = Hypersignifier.
But what is being signified? "The king" decides.Maybe some decisions should be [[arbitrary.->Launch]]The link is petrichor. It is that wet, earthy smell that permeates the humid air once the rain is gone. The rain is always different. Sometimes its heavy, sometimes its mere mist. Sometimes it cannot decide. [[Petrichor always follows,->E1y]] and it is one of those many phenonomena that we encounter over and over again. But, if the rain is always different, then maybe the petrichor is, too?Similar to the fuel of those poets, links are the tools by which we may enter new realities. Typically, a link is more than simply a door. A link is also [[what it means to walk into the doorway.->A1y]]
Reality and the possibilities that inhabit it are sometimes elastic.