PatternSmithing Alliance Blogs

This post is just about some decisions made about the technological (and publishing) side of work concerning static pattern engineering.

First, I’ve made a decision about publication of the first volume I am working on for static pattern engineering.  I have decided to publish it using Amazon’s Digital Media Platform.  Therefore, the first title will only be available electronically and will be an abridged version of the final form.  I will be actively seeking feedback from readers in this first publishing round, then I will seek alternate avenues for the expanded publishing round for the physical (and electronic) unabridged form.

Second, for the past few years I’ve been actively looking for a candidate programming language and platform for the virtual work on static pattern engineering.  I am happy to announce that I’ve finally found it – thanks to some extraordinary work at Microsoft research. They have produced the F# language which is about to reach maturity (the v1.0 release). This language will allow me to finally model some of the complexity surrounding the virtual work in an elegant form using multiple programming paradigms. My previous attempts to model some of the data structures and operations using a purely object oriented paradigm were not sufficient using anything else available. I had explored functional programming using Lisp and Scheme; however, the lack of constructs from imperative programming were also not sufficient and I couldn’t find an active project that maintained a connection to powerful frameworks (such as the .NET framework). The F# language effectively merges these paradigms as well as offering effective abstract representation, symbolic, and lexical processing which we will important for dealing with some of the core concepts in a programming language form.

Finally, the virtual side of static pattern engineering is going to take further form in a new project codenamed ‘FluxPoints’. A fluxpoint will be a virtual and active representation of a static pattern (or an aggregation of static patterns) on the Internet (in other words, the medium the static pattern will be expressed in is a ‘physical’ construct that allow it to participate on the Internet). I’d like to note that this is simply a research application of static pattern engineering, so won’t receive full attention here (only in the cases where the application helps inform the core theory); nonetheless, I am expecting some exciting developments from this project and am looking forward to it.

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Static Pattern Engineering has roots in engineering, chemistry, computer science, and cognitive science. The two most useful and powerful constructs from SPE (and I could argue, in these associated fields) are those of the transform and operator (in order of decreasing power).  An operator is an embodiment (in the physical, virtual, or cognitive domain(s)) of a function that, when acting on a static pattern in a certain state, results in another state without transformation.  A transform is an operator that results in transformation.  The result of a transform is a change to the identity of the static patterns involved in the operation — often the operation is not reversible (and in many instances it is not even desirable to reverse a transformation).

The difference between an operator and a transform is analogous to that between a physical and chemical change in chemistry — in the former, the operation changes the form or state of the substance(s) without changing their underlying composition or identity. In physical or chemical changes, it is interesting to take note of the role of energy in the change:  if the amount of energy doesn’t meet or exceed the activation energy required for a chemical reaction for the system (defined by the reactants, catalysts, and surrounding environment), then a chemical change will not happen but often a physical change will.

In static pattern engineering, our primarily interest in operators and transforms occurs in the cognitive and virtual domains.  When applied to consciousness, operators (and the operations they embody) are useful for  studying effects and for leading static patterns (design concepts, knowledge systems, representations of physical or virtual systems, etc. etc.) through changes for refinement and toward reification in the destination domain.  Transforms (and the transformations they embody) often result in the creation of something entirely new in consciousness.

The role of resonance is powerful, because aided by resonance, ordinary operations can become transformations (similar to how heat or mechanical energy along can lead to a chemical versus physical change).  This fact is why resonance (and the discovery of points of resonance in each individual) is important in the application of static pattern engineering processes:  resonance often invokes transformations in consciousness.  Therefore, ordinary operators discovered in the study of static pattern engineering, when applied to resonant material, can become transforms.  Unfortunately, at this point in time, there haven’t been any absolute universal transforms discovered (although a couple of candidates are under consideration) — that is, operators that are guaranteed to produce transformation in any system with any individual(s) involved.  The discovery of these universal transforms (or at least close approximations to them) is one of the top five goals of SPE.

Unlike purely mathematical constructs in a computational system or purely physical agents in a chemical or physical system, a transform or operator is as much about the underlying operation embodied as it is about the construct that embodies it.  I will delve into more details in this series about this enigmatic statement; however, for consideration, note that a person can act as an embodiment of an operation or transformation.  I bring this up as a complex case to note that at times, what apparently seems to embody a transformational event or operation can be mistaken as possessing the ability to produce that operation (and the transformational event) when it simply provided it at that moment.  Because this requires a much larger discussion about operation embodied and embodiment of operation, I will postpone that until later.

Thanks for reading and for private comments and emails I have received — please feel free to contact me at =Joel.Kotarski for discussion or collaboration.

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I honestly believe I will be working on SPE my entire life, and am prepared to do so; however, a life goal of mine (i.e., before I die) is to see the knowledge base of the field (core theory as well as tried and true mapping of it to case studies and implementations) developed enough so that three roles – actual professions – can emerge as viable careers for the 21st century. As I continually work on static pattern engineering, I intend to work within all three of the roles to further define their domains as well as the output these roles produce in their differing capacity is essential to the development of the field.

In order to introduce these roles, I need to talk briefly about what a static pattern is without going into much detail (a separate set of posts will be required for that***). Briefly, a static pattern is a product of consciousness[1] that has reached a degree of coherence[2] that it can persist (stay, remain) within one or more realm/domain (see virtual, cognitive, and physical in the first post on this site) or across these three domains. [ Static pattern engineering seeks to give us the ability to further operate on and transform these units of consciousness in extremely effective ways. Note that we already operate on and transform these patterns as part of our creative lives, our vocations, and perhaps even our spiritual lives; however, SPE seeks to greatly enhance the process toward expected effects as well as results. ] A static pattern can — and will — remain in one or more of the domains by its very definition, especially if an act of will has given a high degree of virtuality — that is, it has been persisted by some means into the physical realm with a high cognitive component to it; however, SPE concerns itself with –activating– the pattern (making it an active pattern) using resonance, operators, and transforms and bringing innovative results and effects back to the domain of origin (often cognitive) as well as the other domains where a pattern can manifest (virtual, physical, and/or cognitive again).

Now, for this discussion it is important to note that these products of consciousness that have coherence often don’t take an immediately analyzable form (so they can be mapped between languages and domains at will), and expressing a pattern, whether by embedding it into physical matter (giving it a higher degree of virtuality) or directly manifesting it into the world (creating it), and the resonant language[3] used to do so start to give form to these three roles/professions I see emerging.

My previous stub post on Artist, Artisan, Artificer finally comes into play in this discussion as well. The act of expressing/manifesting a pattern into the world usually can be categorized as the work of an artisan, artificer, or an artist. The label of artisan is usually associated with a craftsperson or skilled worker who can usually do a standardized operation or piece together standardized operations to produce an instantiation of a desired template or a unique combination or evolution of previous templates. The label of artificer is usually associated with skilled devising, inventing, construction, design of something entirely new or a more complex derivation/transformation of previous creations (thus, implying a longer time scale) but will nonetheless become a template. The label of artist is usually associated with someone who has imagination and noticeable talent in a particular domain that can produce something (through sometimes more mysterious and less-defined processes) that may be described as aesthetically pleasing, unique, original, such that the concept of template is utterly meaningless – it is an individual act of willed creation.

• PatternSmiths will forge a static pattern into the physical, virtual, and/or cognitive domains based on their highly refined resonant language. The act of PatternSmithing itself will be shared by all three disciplines — and actually I dream of a day when every single person with knowledge, experience, and associated resonance in some language can be qualified as a PatternSmith of some type. The desire for ‘every person’s SPE’ that this represents doesn’t detract from the pattern-smithing role in the least or elevate the others; rather, if the engineering role does its job properly (see below), the vast array of fields (vocation[4]) and resonances possible will allow for everyone to become a skilled craftsperson to some degree or another. This fact in itself will confirm the success of the entire body of research and application for static pattern engineering — the patternsmithing is the application of the field.
• Static Pattern Architects will draw on many domains of knowledge, experience, and language to conceptualize and transmit the design for large scale projects that straddle the cognitive, virtual, and physical domains. Working closely with Static Pattern Engineers, an inspiring and innovative design will emerge that will be further improved by the design aspects of SPE’s processing and collaborational technology for identifying the larger context the creation exists in across all three domains as well as the resources that can improve its implementation and continued existence/evolution in aspects of each domain. Because the Architect is examining all three domains in the design, he or she is in fact working not only at a physical level (as we have currently with traditional architecture), nor at just a computerized level (as we have with software architecture), but at a cognitive level and considering -all- virtual manifestations (e.g., creation of a business model is virtual, or defining a set of publications, or designing ways of disseminating the requisite knowledge, etc.).
• Static Pattern Engineers work on multiple dimensions across the field of static pattern engineering and it is going to take a separate post*** to enumerate all the various aspects this will entail, but briefly it will involve managing the movement of knowledge and matching resonances across multidisciplinary teams to actualize (engineer) a complex product that can span multiple domains, operating/facilitating the process of collaboration and innovation in analysis, design, and implementation phases of that product, serving as a subject matter expert in one or more specialties (which they resonate highly with) within the domain of engineering, cognitive science, or computer science to serve as a contributing team member in analysis, design, and implementation phases of that product, developing artifacts which allow for more effective execution of static pattern engineering processes, developing tools which allow for improved detection of resonances (and thus location/training of qualified PatternSmiths), driving teams toward higher challenges and ensuring a high rate of innovation, and doing experiments and/or research which will advance the field on a continual basis.

The important thing to note is that all three of these roles at any point in time be acting as an artist, artificer, or artisan — the large difference between them is the granularity and function of their work (what they are focusing on). A PatternSmith could
in fact be a full-time artist and producing nothing but one of a kind, original productions in any domain, or they could be a craftsperson (artisan) that produces templated results with skill, or even they could be called upon for their artificer skills in producing something unique and innovative. Additionally, the PatternSmith’s varied resonance may allow them to serve in all three capacities across different domains or knowledge areas. Likewise, in their larger scale context, a SPA (StaticPatternArchitect) may use (and often will be required to use) a blend of all three modes of working to produce their initial and continued design, and the output itself will probably be considered a blend of the three — carrying out its refinement and implementation will likewise require a blend of the three in most cases, which the SPE (StaticPatternEngineer will facilitate, as well as initial design). Unlike the other two, however, the StaticPatternEngineer will be –required– to use a blend of all three. He or she has to be a skilled artisan in using the technology for matching resonances, moving knowledge, or invoking collaborations throughout a distributed system of thought – there is no time for innovation or art for this extremely important functional need; however, there will be a need for an artificer skill set in the unique design constraints of each product where only the static pattern engineer will have the requisite ability to perceive and identify unique approaches for that team. I will elaborate further on the SPE’s mapping to these labels in their activities, as well as the artistic output, in a future post***.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this as much as I enjoyed writing it — for some who have asked me questions, I hope it also gives a _much_ deeper glimpse into what this whole field is going to be about. Until next time I post, I wish you the best!
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[1] Don’t be mislead into thinking this is restricted to only human consciousness. More on this later.

[2] I literally mean this in both the sense of coherence we see in physics (explaining how thought patterns can have this kind of coherence requires a much larger discussion) as well as a sense of cohesiveness (with other patterns, with the consciousness hosting it, with a requirement/necessity (perceived or real)) that literally ensures the pattern’s existence.

[3] In a paper on resonance, titled “The Power of Resonance“, I worked on in 2001 with Christopher Galtenberg, we carefully qualified language this way:

In our framework, language serves a critical two-fold mechanism: it converts experience into explicit, transmittable knowledge and transmits knowledge to invoke experiences. Language [thus] can take many forms, and in this framework, fits this broader definition: A language arises from a set of elements allowing transmission (expression) and reception of knowledge and/or experience.

The paper went on to then qualify resonant language, which I will do later in a future post***.

[4] I hope one day we can return to vocation as a calling (where really resonance represents the increasing call itself), and that a vocation, as a way of life, can encompass diverse fields, knowledge, associations, experiences, and possibly roles, as resonance implies a –set of callings– rather than just a singular one. Then we can have career-crafting as an ongoing process.

*** I am just explicitly marking my promises for posts now as a reminder to myself.

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I just read a nice random quotation from David Berlinsky, author of _The Advent of the Algorithm_:

Every computer divides itself into its hardware and its software, the machine host to its algorithm, the human being to his mind. It is hardly surprising that men and women have done what computers now do long before computers could do anything at all. The dissociation between mind and matter in men and machines is very striking; it suggests that almost any stable and reliable organization of material objects can execute an algorithm and so come to command some form of intelligence.

Asking what algorithm(s) the organization of material executes and where those algorithms execute opens up some of the more interesting questions in static pattern engineering. For instance, a motion sensing light that turns on when someone approaches is executing a simple yet effective algorithm that hopefully produces an intended result in a would-be intruder; however, so may a wooden sign that reads ‘Beware of Dog’.

(Will be expanded on a later edit – just a quick publish)

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I love the insights we have gotten from game theory, but I want to explore how games can be used as Operators or even, remarkably, as Transforms (both operators and transforms as two fundamental SPE constructs will be discussed in a future upcoming post). The idea of using games is to get the brain out of the bounds of traditional thought. I’ve devoted a whole new category to the discussion of games in SPE.. using games as tools.

In this post, I want to talk about indulging in Magical Thinking merely for play — only as a game. In this game, we will use the ‘-Mancer Mindset’ — this suffix derived from Greek indicates ascertaining information through non-conventional means. If you had the power to ascertain information using one of the channels shown in the previous link, which would you choose? This little game may be falling flat at the moment, because it seems absurd to even assume someone could gather information by watching the way an animal moves or how a natural or created substance arranges itself in patterns.

Now, what if I told you there actually was a sixth sense… David Bohm, in his excellent book (dialogue transcripts) Thought as a System
(one of the cornerstone members of the list of SPE references), says the sixth sense is developing ‘proprioception of thought’. I’ll also discuss proprioception in depth later (as it is quite important), but I’ll just use Bohm’s excellent example: in the physical world, you demonstrate proprioception when you close your eyes and know the exact position of your arm as you swing it in circles behind your back. So, to become that aware of the movements of thought is developing the sixth sense. Of course, the numbering of it as the sixth sense is ranking its cardinality above all other proposed extra senses.

Now, back to the -Mancer Mindset. Instead of applying this to actual belief of obtaining extra information in the physical world, imagine developing this ability in the realm of thought but analogize it toward the realm of thought. For instance, aeluromancy normally involves watching a cat jump. Since thoughts rarely look like cats, picture instead observing a thought jump to a higher energy level. Amathomancy involves observing sand, dust, or dirt — there is a connotated version of that analogue in how you classify your thoughts (it depends on how you value sand, dust, or dirt by making the analogical jump to looking at thoughts whether the thought that could thus be categorized was valuable or not).

Observing one class of material, energy, or momentum exchange using proprioception alone could take months to develop. Now, using this catalog of {*}mancies, you have an entirely new way of observing your thoughts.

From this exercise alone, many of the serious SPE operators (and some transforms) can be derived. What static pattern engineering will do is combine these operations and transformations into a coherent system of operating on and transforming thought to more useful arrangements (thus, leading to interesting and innovative yields).

Hope you enjoyed the post and expect more in the coming weeks – I’m quite behind on posting!

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