Welcome to the Bod Library-On-Line’s
Aha! Wing: a.k.a. the Inverse Annex for Games & Strategic Thinking,
~~~Adventures in Understanding,
~~~Breakthrough in Basic Awareness,
~~~Communicating for the Ultimate Advantage,
~~~Deploying Game-theory in Market Applications…
Preface: The present site is obviously not in verse, having been named in honor of Princeton’s Inverse von Neumann, himself named by the perverse step-father of “game theory,” & fellow prankster, Johnny von Neumann, with whom he shared house & office at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, which has honored the now legendary pooch with a statue.
Whereas the physicists & mathematicians at the Institute were mostly theoretical thinkers, riding imaginary light-beams & accelerating elevators of thought to plumb fundamental mysteries of cosmology & math, Inverse was mostly a paws-on experimentalist, bringing pure fun & keen awareness to his active equations. While Johnny pioneered the new field of game theory to shed exploitable light on the dynamic effects of human choices, for example, Inverse practiced pure play for its own sake, eagerly discovering its potential for sheer pleasure in the immediate exercise & companionship.
A well-loved teacher, Inverse never talked down to his students–though he did sometimes knock them over in his affectionate enthusiasm to get a point across. Inverse has much to teach about the spirit of play, urge to discover & the layered experience of following one’s nose to knowledge–along with lessons on the nature of trust, friendship & good will. His main contribution may be considered the infectious daily example of his exuberantly cooperative spirit, i.e., his desire to explore & discover together. You can find more on the von Neumanns, including Johnny’s trickster exploits with colleagues (like the “beautiful mime” John Nash & Einstein at his hairiest) in the file Inverse at Princeton. [Click to open the pdf at the very bottom of this page, using backspace to return to the website.]
Considering the cooperative bond between humans & dogs from ancient times, the von Neumann relationships may remind us of “synergy,” that feature of wholes greater than the sum of their parts, with values added by working together. How parts play together may be considered an important (if under-explored) aspect of both existence & game-theory. Although the primary focus of the material-based sciences, games & simulations can reveal the variable effects & likely outcomes of minds interacting at multiple scales, using game choices can clarify what people (& dogs) might do in various situations. Of course game choices & ‘real-life’ choices aren’t necessarily the same, as any shoot-em-up arcade- or play-money game may illustrate. Everything ultimately hinges on the simulation design. An arcade setting favors fast action, with use of sound, motion, & other visuals to generate reactive excitement.
A seminar (even a virtual one like this), on the other hand, may promote fresh observation, reflection & understanding of oneself & the variable effects of one’s choices & communication, bringing levels of mind to bear on experience & outcomes, focusing on more conceptual key elements to help players distinguish relevant factors. In such cases, the coordination is less hand-eye than psycho-linguistic, the effects of understanding on psychology & language.
Whether in a game setting or not, levels of actual learning happen in the doing, the practice, where what’s commonly called trial & error may be more accurately considered re-trial & improvement. A good deal of the value of a simulation comes from the fact that even failures & losses remain imaginary while what’s learned can produce tangible gains. Presumably thanks to natural selection, nature itself has given rise to its own broad range of simulations. When young tiger litter-mates play-fight, for example, their claws are actually withdrawn while striking, not extended. Indeed, the play-action tends to be mutually affectionate, as well as cooperative, in other words, not aimed at actually inflicting the damages associated with the aggression–yet clearly useful in developing the fierce fighting skills eventually called for.
Even more basic, the mind generates its own simulations simply by imagining more & less likely responses in reaction to variously adapted interactions. Minds naturally seek predictive advantages, often conveyed simply by recognizing how other minds are primed to respond…. Of course that’s also what I’m trying to do right now for YOUR advantage, which is the purpose of the Aha! Wing as a whole.
- YOU ARE HERE NOW. FROM HERE, YOU CAN—
a) SCROLL up & down ON THIS PAGE, e.g.,
~~~NOTICE the “featured rooms” MENU, at top right;
b) CLICK to other ‘Featured Rooms’ (i.e., PAGES) on site menu–e.g., to
~~~Atrium for “Golden Balls,” historical example of a strategic dilemma;
~~~Games & Their Applications, general historical overview; &/or to
~~~ Adventures in understanding, guide to transformative experiences featured,
~~~Aha! Breakthroughs, 1st two Adventures (foundations of Awareness & Communication);
~~~The Ultimate Advantage Game, strategic tournament with multiple levels….;
~~~Thinking Like a Mountain, framework of forms & flow….
- c) VISIT Bod Library’s other NETWORKED SITES (wings & annexes)–e.g.,
~~~Bod-Library.net (MAPA Welcome Centre: for library’s maps, arts, poetry. & audio);
~~~Virginiabodner.net (celebrating her art, poetry, writing, bio. & photos);
~~~Eco-Wing.net (Aldo Zone, for eco-essays); & others,
~~~B-odd College (full course in writing, awareness, thought…);
~~~basho-wing (Basho’s haikai arts, including backcountry ways);
~~~historical topics (e.g., Nevada’s early 1950s); “burning questions”;
~~~runaway self-reference (our 7-story edifice complex);
~~~humor & media (bottom of barrel news & notes, insufficiently in progress
realms of the fabulously ridiculous., oy vegas almanak, Peninsula Independent Press Association;
[any of these by special arrangement with webmaster (c/o bodlibrary2020@gmail.com).] - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~–Yours Crudely, Acting Curator
================Cheap Verbal Riddle:
“What kind of architectural structure starts as an addition, yet becomes a subtraction by removing one letter?” [A: An ANNEX becomes AN EX. –courtesy “A Nexus, a Knot, & a Network walk into a side bar….”]
========================================
Inverse at Princeton–[Click to open; backspace to close Pdf but stay on site.]
Inverse-at-Princeton