commit 2f31dff8b13651afe846f86017335461d8dac84c
parent e9520c59640567097e54ca0f15c7a7b22fb092de
Author: Ville-Matias Heikkila <viznut@low.fi>
Date: Sun Aug 21 15:29:25 +0300
rename the page, refactor a bit
Diffstat:4 files changed, 77 insertions(+), 75 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Principles.mdwn b/Principles.mdwn
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ It is good to experiment with new ideas, concepts and languages, but depending o
Computers were invented to assist people in their cognitive processes. "Intelligence amplification" was a good goal, but intelligence may also be used narrowly and blindly. It may therefore be a better idea to amplify awareness.
* Awareness means awareness of whatever is concretely going on in the world/environment but also awareness of how things work and how they situate in their contexts (cultural, historical, biological etc).
-* You don't need to twiddle with everything in order to understand it. [[Yin hacking|Yin and yang]] emphasizes observation.
+* You don't need to twiddle with everything in order to understand it. [[Yin hacking|balance of opposites]] emphasizes observation.
* It may also often be a good idea to amplify the computer's awareness of its physical surroundings with things like sensors.
## Expose everything
diff --git a/balance_of_opposites.mdwn b/balance_of_opposites.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+**Balance of opposites** is important in many permacomputing contexts.
+
+Many people have a tendency to form dichotomies where one side is somehow
+"the good one" whereas the other is the "bad" or even "evil" one. Sometimes,
+the good side is considered so good that it becomes a [[silver bullet]],
+something that is supposed to be universally good in all cases.
+
+Balance of opposites can be used to eliminating this kind of black-and-white
+oversimplification. There are very few things or ideas that are either
+"good" or "evil" in all possible contexts. Instead of bluntly stating that
+an idea or a piece of technology is "the best" or "just evil", one should
+try to delineate the contexts where it works and where it does not.
+
+## Yin and yang
+
+**Yin and Yang** (陰陽) are concepts from Chinese philosophy. Yang is
+active, controlling and expanding, while Yin is passive, yielding and
+contracting. They are not "good and evil" but complementary opposites that
+should have a balance, often via cyclic changes.
+
+In permacomputing contexts, the Yin-Yang dichotomy is sometimes used to
+contrast different computing cultures. Modern technological civilization is
+disproportionally yang, and this yangness extends to the cultures of
+computer hacking: total control over systems (natural or technological) is
+praised, which easily leads to impoverished [[monoculture]]s where a lot of
+energy is wasted on forcing things into narrow standards.
+
+Too much yin, on the other hand, may lead to an excessive acceptance of the
+way how things are and "have always been". It likewise easily leads to
+narrow norms, via traditionalism. The norms may be hostile to innovation,
+experimentation and reappropriation. It may also lead to intellectual
+laziness, where rational analysis is not even attempted.
+
+## Yin and yang hacking
+
+These concepts were introduced in the [[Permacomputing 2020]] text.
+
+In **Yang hacking**, a total understanding and control of the target system
+is valued. Changing a system's behavior is often an end in itself. There are
+predefined goals the system is pushed towards. Optimization tends to focus
+on a single measurable parameter. Finding a system's absolute limits is more
+important than finding its individual strengths or essence.
+
+In contrast, **Yin hacking** accepts the aspects that are beyond rational
+control and comprehension. Rationality gets supported by intuition. The
+relationship with the system is more bidirectional, emphasizing
+experimentation and observation. The "personality" that stems from
+system-specific peculiarities gets more attention than the measurable specs.
+It is also increasingly important to understand when to hack and when just
+to observe without hacking.
+
+Yang hacking is quite essential to computing. After all, computers are based
+on comprehensible and deterministic models that tiny pieces of nature are
+"forced" to follow. However, there are many kinds of systems where the yin
+way makes more sense (e.g. the behavior of neural networks is often very
+difficult to analyze rationally).
+
+## Transgression and immersion
+
+**Transgression** and **immersion** are two oppositional ways to creatively
+relate to constraints, especially in the kind of digital art forms that
+appreciate constraints ([[chip music]], [[demoscene]], [[pixel art]]).
+
+Transgression is yang: it attempts to "break" or "push" the boundaries; to
+get a system to do something it is not supposed to be able to do; to find
+new things by exploring the unexplored possibilities of a given platform.
+The characteristic sounds and looks of a system (such as the 1:1 square wave
+in chip music, or clearly visible pixel boundaries) are often considered
+unrefined and unwanted.
+
+Immersion is yin: instead of breaking away from the typical and unrefined,
+it takes it as the basis to build on. The 1:1 square wave is now very much
+wanted. The individual characteristics of a system are appreciated and
+explored ever deeper.
+
diff --git a/concepts.mdwn b/concepts.mdwn
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ More theoretical or generic
* [[artificial intelligence]]
* [[automation]]
* [[awareness amplification]]
+ * [[balance of opposites]]
* [[kolmogorov complexity]]
* [[dependency]]
* [[ethnomathematics]]
@@ -42,7 +43,6 @@ More theoretical or generic
* [[sustainability]]
* [[technological diversity]]
* [[unconventional computing]]
- * [[yin and yang]]
Phenomena of mainstream computing world
---------------------------------------
diff --git a/yin_and_yang.mdwn b/yin_and_yang.mdwn
@@ -1,73 +0,0 @@
-**Yin and Yang** (陰陽) are concepts from Chinese philosophy. Yang is active,
-controlling, expanding and stereotypically male, while Yin is passive,
-yielding, contracting and stereotypically female. They are not "good and
-evil" but complementary opposites that should have a balance, often via
-cyclic changes.
-
-In permacomputing contexts, the Yin-Yang dichotomy is sometimes used to
-contrast different computing cultures. Modern technological civilization is
-disproportionally yang, and this yangness extends to the cultures of
-computer hacking: total control over systems (natural or technological) is
-praised, which easily leads to impoverished [[monoculture]]s where a lot of
-energy is wasted on forcing things into narrow standards.
-
-Too much yin, on the other hand, may lead to an excessive acceptance of the
-way how things are and "have always been". It likewise easily leads to
-narrow norms, via traditionalism. The norms may be hostile to innovation,
-experimentation and reappropriation. It may also lead to intellectual
-laziness, where rational analysis is not even attempted.
-
-## Yin and yang hacking
-
-These concepts were introduced in the [[Permacomputing 2020]] text.
-
-In **Yang hacking**, a total understanding and control of the target system
-is valued. Changing a system's behavior is often an end in itself. There are
-predefined goals the system is pushed towards. Optimization tends to focus
-on a single measurable parameter. Finding a system's absolute limits is more
-important than finding its individual strengths or essence.
-
-In contrast, **Yin hacking** accepts the aspects that are beyond rational
-control and comprehension. Rationality gets supported by intuition. The
-relationship with the system is more bidirectional, emphasizing
-experimentation and observation. The "personality" that stems from
-system-specific peculiarities gets more attention than the measurable specs.
-It is also increasingly important to understand when to hack and when just
-to observe without hacking.
-
-Yang hacking is quite essential to computing. After all, computers are based
-on comprehensible and deterministic models that tiny pieces of nature are
-"forced" to follow. However, there are many kinds of systems where the yin
-way makes more sense (e.g. the behavior of neural networks is often very
-difficult to analyze rationally).
-
-## Transgression and immersion
-
-**Transgression** and **immersion** are two oppositional ways to creatively
-relate to constraints, especially in the kind of digital art forms that
-appreciate constraints ([[chip music]], [[demoscene]], [[pixel art]]).
-
-Transgression is yang: it attempts to "break" or "push" the boundaries; to
-get a system to do something it is not supposed to be able to do; to find
-new things by exploring the unexplored possibilities of a given platform.
-The characteristic sounds and looks of a system (such as the 1:1 square wave
-in chip music, or clearly visible pixel boundaries) are often considered
-unrefined and unwanted.
-
-Immersion is yin: instead of breaking away from the typical and unrefined,
-it takes it as the basis to build on. The 1:1 square wave is now very much
-wanted. The individual characteristics of a system are appreciated and
-explored ever deeper.
-
-## Good and evil
-
-Many people have a tendency to form dichotomies where one side is somehow
-"the good one" whereas the other is the "bad" or even "evil" one. Sometimes,
-the good side is considered so good that it becomes a [[silver bullet]],
-something that is supposed to be universally good in all cases.
-
-Yin-yang thinking can be used to eliminating this kind of black-and-white
-oversimplification. There are very few things or ideas that are either
-"good" or "evil" in all possible contexts. Instead of bluntly stating that
-an idea or a piece of technology is "the best" or "just evil", one should
-try to delineate the contexts where it works and where it does not.
