From: Max M (maxm@maxmcorp.dk)
Date: Wed Jan 13 1999 - 13:47:39 MST
>From: david gobel <davegobel@erols.com>
>As I read the various threads, I am struck by one thing - the written word,
>english, human language is very hard pressed to convey sufficiently
>accurate and precise meanings.
The weakneses of natural language with its ambiguity and imprecision is also
it's biggest strength beacuse that is what makes it possible to use the old
language in new domains.
Model of mass comunication:
Sender --> Message --> coding --> transmission -->
Decoding --> Receiver --> Interpretet message
Ordinary language contains both information and exformation. Informaton is
the exact words we are saying with a very direct, concrete and logical
meaning. Exformation can only be used when the sender are adressing a group
with the same experiences as he has.
It is implied meaning that has been popularised in the Generation-X meme,
where everybody is talking to each other via. movie quotes.
An example: "I'll be back" said with a thick austrian accent. This draws
it's exformation fro terminator and all of the terminator mythology.
A second example:
--- "Transhuman drinking song" by Max M ;-) I've been glad I've been glad For the things that I've had I've been glad I've been glad I've been glad I am sad I am sad for what I wont longer have I am sad I am sad I am sad But I'll be glad I'll be glad to become more than that I'll be glad I'll be glad I'll be glad --- Here the title is a contradiction in terms as transhumanism and drinking parties generally doesn't mix to well. I am thinking about all the focus on health, longivity and the functionality of the brain being seriously affected by liquor. At least I don't imagine transhumans at the local pub singing out loud while massively drunk. Could be wrong though. Perhaps the receiver would even have to know me to know it is not meant to be taken too seriously. The rest of the song is about uploading, and most transhumans will recognise this. Especially as the word Transhuman is in the title. This song most likely could not be understood by any non-transhumanists, but i'll bet that most people on this list will have gotten it right away even though I was communicating thru exformation. And notice I didn't use any metaphors in the song. All of the exformation and the meaning came from our common knowledge about Transhumanism. My point? I find that often when somebody disagrees with me on a subject on this list, it is because I make my messages too short by using too much exformation. When I then later explains my views in more detail and with more precise information, generally we either agree or at least agree to disagree. I once asked a poet why on the earth he wrote poems. He told me that he liked the precission he could acheive with the language. I knew exactly what he meant (me being a lyric writing musician myself). Unfortunately the precision is only there for the sender of the message. The more condensed the language the harder the decoding. One of the important things we are doing on this list is creating a language giving us all the exformation we need to convey our meaning in short precise sentences. Furthermore we also need to invent more words to express the new memes resulting from this exformation. But then... we probably will. There is hardly a post on the list without a "" word. A so called "embryomeme". Remember who coined that one. ;-) Max M Rasmussen New Media Director Denmark "Embryomeme: Suggestion of a new meme to be used in a group with a shared set of knowledge. Usualy made by somebody with an inflated ego trying to coin the phrase."
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