Maps of maps

For "Clarification, etc.", near the end...

Another way of saying this could be: "The map is not the territory", a quote that is sometimes attributed to Borges, although it originates from a lecture given by semantics scholar Alfred Korzybski. Tragically, all that human beings have ever gotten to see thus far are maps, and have only begun to speculate on the existence and possible nature of actual territory.  

 "We say the map is different from the territory. But what is the territory? Operationally, somebody went out with a retina or a measuring stick and made representations which we then put upon paper. What is on the paper map is a representation of what was in the retinal representation of the man who made the map and as you push the question back, what you find is an infinite regress, an infinite series of maps. The territory never gets in at all. The territory is Ding an sich and you can't do anything with it. Always the process of representation will filter it out so that the mental world is only maps of maps of maps, ad infinitum. All 'phenomena' are literally 'appearances'."           

     - Gregory Bateson, from Steps to an Ecology of Mind, 1972 ("Form, Substance,           and Difference", reprinted from the General Semantics Bulletin, No. 37, 1970)

And all appearances appear to appear in time. For it is we, through something called "mental activity", who bring the whole world into being. 

But what, exactly, is a mind? ...The knowing and the doing work together, but they are joined at subtle and unaccustomed angles, twisted into filament and stretched until the boundary between them dissolves.

The only AI I'll ever need

Some time ago I neglected to mention that my collection of Warp Artificial Intelligence series CDs is now complete! It's about time, isn't it?? (Sorry..) Ironically the last one to make it onto the shelf was the first compilation album from 1992, which I'd somewhat overlooked, possibly because it contains tracks I'd already heard on other releases. 

It's hard to say which is my favorite, though if pressed I might have to say "Ginger" by Speedy J, or possibly Autechre's "Incunabula". All are great though, and while perhaps not every single track has aged gracefully in its entirety, the vast majority of them have, and quite a few still sound very much like the future indeed! But mainly the appeal of these works lies in the sense of adventure in the exploration of novel sonic universes combined with an almost eerie, slightly alien, yet zen-like warmth and generosity of spirit that suffuses the mood of the pieces. (And, uh, Dimension Intrusion is arguably some of Richie Hawtin's finest work outside of his collaborations with Pete Namlook! Just had to throw that in there of course...)