Welcome to the Bod Library-On-Line’s
Aha! Wing: Inverse Annex for Games & Strategic Thinking,
~~~Adventures in Understanding,
~~~Breakthrough in Basic Awareness,
~~~Computing the Ultimate Advantage,
~~~Game-theory Applications…
Preface: The present site is obviously not in verse, having been named the Inverse Wing 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 since honored the now legendary pooch with a statue.
Whereas the physicists & mathematicians at the Institute were mostly theoretical, riding imaginary light-beams & accelerating elevators of thought to plumb fundamental mysteries of cosmology & math, Inverse was more of 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 activity & 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. 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 (below). [Click to open the pdf at the very bottom of this Post, using backspace for website return.]
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.
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.
Using game choices to study what people (& dogs) might do in various situations can help reveal the dynamics of variable systems. Of course game choices & ‘real-life’ choices aren’t necessarily the same, as any shoot-em-up arcade- or play-money game may illustrate. In a simulation, everything ultimately hinges on the design. An arcade setting favors fast action, with use of sound, motion, & other visuals to generate excitement. A seminar or other classroom may promote observation, reflection & understanding.
Simulations that teach far less visceral skills will tend to have far less sensational features, focusing on more conceptual key elements to help players distinguish relevant factors informing available choices & identify the likeliest range of effects (both first order & subsequent). In such cases, the coordination is less hand-eye than psycho-linguistic, bringing focus to the terms used for categories, actions, choices, approaches, & strategies.
Whether in a game setting or not, another level of actual learning takes place in the doing, the practice, recognizing that 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 during strikes, not extended. 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 to biological nature, the mind generates its own simulations simply by imagining more & less likely responses in reaction to variously adapted interactions. Minds naturally seek the predictive advantages conveyed by simply recognizing how other minds are primed to respond.
- YOU ARE HERE NOW. From HERE, you can—
a) SCROLL up & down, left & right ON THIS PAGE, e.g., to
~~~CHECK PAGE MENU, top right;
~~~CONTINUE SITE OVERVIEW;
~~~CONSULT POST MENU, notes & addenda….
b) CLICK ‘Featured Rooms’ menu to other PAGES ON SITE–e.g.,
~~~Atrium Features, “Golden Balls,” historical dilemma
~~~Games & Their Applications, general history, overview
~~~Adventures in understanding
~~~More en route (ASAP)
~~~Exit - c) VISIT Bod Library’s other NETWORKED SITES—
~~~Bod-Library.net (MAPA Welcome Centre: maps, arts, poetry…)
~~~Eco-Wing.net (Aldo Zone, eco-essays)
- ~~~virginiabodner.net (celebrating Virginia)
[+ others, by special arrangement made emailing webmaster c/o bodlibrary2020@gmail.com, other sites including: - ~~~B-odd College (course in writing, awareness, thought…);
~~~basho-wing (backcountry ways, etc);
~~~historical topics; “burning questions”;
~~~runaway self-reference (the 7-story edifice complex);
~~~humor & media (bottom of barrel news & notes,
realms of the fabulously ridiculous., oy vegas alman.]
Guide’s Intro: Welcome, friend. In a nutshell, this annex of the Bod L-O-L is dedicated to the art of productive play, enjoyable activity that helps wise us up–starting with a sense of HOW WE ACTUALLY LEARN.
HOW? By DOING, Trying, PLAYING, i.e., Practice, trial & error, re-trial & improvement, both accidental encounter & intentional inquiry; paying attention, making course corrections, revising & REPETITION.; also by EXAMPLE, model(ing); REFLECTION; INSPIRATION; & GUIDANCE from others.
“The proof is in the pudding–the play experienced.” –Yours Crudely
The site offers both recipes & overviews. Recipes are the templates for how experience may be structured for maximum insight, learning & skill development, as well as for fun, enjoyment, & camaraderie. These should be especially useful to game-hosts & class managers (i.e., teachers). Overviews add insight & informed guidance to expand perspective for all readers & thinkers, participants & others.
As Einstein’s thought-experiments showed, the mind can usefully imagine what is beyond its ability to practice or do directly. It’s well known that athletes & performers can benefit from mental practice. Similarly, spectators can experience a version of muscle awareness simply observing others in action. Whether for active performers practicing routines in the mind, or spectators observing performance in action, the mind remains the primary agency at play, informing the body in the process, a mutual dialog (whether actively playing movements out or only imagining).
The point here is that readers may derive some benefits simply by imagining the game-play or exercises described. The greater role mind plays in a particular game or activity, the greater benefits likely realized from “virtual” play, i.e., imagining choices (actions) & their effects. In many game situations (from tic-tac-toe, chess, go, on), active players themselves do this (play choices out in the mind) en route to choosing best-seeming moves.
Before a choice is registered, many possibilities co-exist, in other words, though already taking on some “weighting.” What physicists call “quantum field probability waves” collapse into the specific choices made &/or registered–whether made by conscious, deliberate choice or faster than thought by reflexively informed muscle memory.
As with an ice skater preparing for a routine, even muscle memory is to some degree subject to the mind’s influence, including “reminders” that may help mind-muscles focus at key points. For skill-sets that are part of doing, some doing tends to help, in play &/or for real, but so does something we may call “higher awareness,” ways of intentionally guiding one’s activated attention.
The two together–direct experience & guiding awareness–give rise to the secret sauce brought to the table by certain amazingly effective game-based foundational exercises, starting with the Dot-dash Challenge & Three-role Puzzle, shedding transformative light on personal & strategic points-of-view….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~–Yours Crudely, Acting Curator
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“What kind of architectural structure starts as an addition, yet becomes a subtraction by removing one letter?” [A: An ANNEX becomes AN EX.]
A Nexus, a Knot, & a Network walk into a side bar…. [Never mind.]
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Inverse at Princeton–[Click to open; backspace to close Pdf but stay on site.]
Inverse-at-Princeton