Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with theory

Pick a color, any color...

erskelyne — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:51:15 -0800

This post on the blue reminded me of a site i saw some time back. Essentially, you picked up to, I believe, three colors, and the app would find images all across the web that matched those colors. Fairly useful and entertaining resource that has slipped my mind until now. Any clue as to what and where it was?

Use of The City as a metaphor for the Internet/Web

0bvious — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:19:31 -0800

I am looking for examinations of the Internet and World Wide Web that use the structure and/or history of the city as a metaphor. I'm afraid I have no original example of this phenomenon to kick things off. I have this image in my head of 'the city' that always goes back to Plato and his Republic. Plato's city was a physical, social construction, as well as a philosophical metaphor, at one and the same time. It feels that many have talked about the Internet in similar, overlapping, terms.

(It need not be 'the city as metaphor', rather any social, physical space that humans build and live in will suffice. Also, metonymy rather than metaphor would be great.)

Writings that explore the political history of the city, it's technological expansion, that consider the city as a nexus for theories of human civilisation, of emergence perhaps, of structure, social and political control and, perhaps most importantly, of space vs place - all as a way to think about similar phenomena taking place online. The Internet as emerging network with similarities to the city; the World Wide Web considered as spatio-social metaphor?

etc. etc.

Any ideas?

Can a transcendental number raised to an algebraic power be algebraic?

ch3cooh — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 06:33:30 -0800

Can a transcendental number such as pi, be raised to an irrational, but algebraic power resulting in an algebraic solution? Complex solutions would be acceptable. There might be a quick proof here, or there might not be. - Thanks for any help you can offer answering this! (And I promise that this isn't for a class or anything like that!)

Looking for awesome alternate theories about the plots of movies

Blasdelb — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 05:20:18 -0800

What are some of the most interesting theoretical models for understanding the plots and themes of movies that were not designed to generate them like Inception was? I am familiar with Cool Papa Bell's theory for the plot of Ferris Bueller's Day Off as well as the Totoro as the Angel of Death theory, what else is there that is fascinating in the same way?

OMG, storytelling in journalism is changing. What to read abot this?

earthwormsleg — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 05:03:35 -0800

Here's an European writing a book/thesis about storytelling in journalism. What texts (linguistics, literary theory etc – preferably *not* mass communication theory) might help in analysing contemporary changes in that field? Being a journo, I've read many "expert" books on contemporary sotyrelling (several by Jack Hart; New New Journalism by Robert Boynton etc).

These are very good "functionalist"/how-to-books. However, after reading some basic Lakoff and David Shields' excellent Reality Hunger, I feel like challenging the traditional western storytelling "paradigm". First: Lakoff's ideas explain remarkably well why "objectivity" doesnt work (neither in journalism nor elsewhere). Second: What if Shields is right and the traditional, carefully structured and, as one might define, kind of "linear" journalistic storytelling really doesn't manage to reflect today's world all that well? (New Journalism is 60 years old, after all – and it emerged in a similar situation where old journalistic methods didn't seem to work any more.)

Furthermore, Errol Morris once pointed how some contemporary documentary film makers are simultaneously telling a story and "commenting" on how it is being told (in other words, they're showing how even "true stories" are always the author's constructions). Alternative theatre directors sometimes talk about "being tired of having to have a story". Etc, etc. The way I see it, something – some kind of shift – definitely is going on.

So. My book will focus on story structure, style, objectivity vs subjectivity and the writer's position towards the text. What's going on there? If something really is changing, then whose ideas and theories might help to map out and analyse these changes? Anything that would give me a wider, more philosophical or even "scientific" (howdy, cognitive linguists!) perspective on what contemporary (journalistic) stories are, how they are composed and understood?

(In other words, uh, I don't know – is there any "hard science" being done on storytelling already?)

Any links to books, scholarly articles and good essays are warmly welcomed. bonus points for suggesting Europe-centric ideas and thinkers.

Thanks very much!

Recommend me books on critical / (post) marxist spatial theory

FuckingAwesome — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:20:12 -0800

I am interested in critical theoretical and marxist spatial theory, please recommend me some books that provide a good overview or introduction to this area! Thanks!

Suggestions for modern books and essays that address art and creativity?

Tchad — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:11:23 -0800

I've been re-reading Tolstoy's "What is Art?" and Ayn Rand's "Romantic Manifesto". I would like to read more about how we think about art and what we consider to be art as well as the relationship between the artist and society/culture. I'm especially interested in how we think of art and what is my responsibility as an artist to the greater society and culture. I want to begin to develop a better sense of the relationship and responsibilities of the artist to both their art and their relationship to society as a whole.

I'm not really interested in "History of Art" type books/essays. I have those.

Assume modern means post-1800 CE.

I think it needs to be said that, even though I mentioned Rand on the other end of the spectrum, I'm not really interested in Objectivist writings other than this. It is about getting a broad range, not about getting more Rand in my life.

I would like to read more commentary from creators who had broad things to say - not just limited to what they thought of themselves or their media.

Thanks, everybody!

What is this key change?

plinth — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 06:39:01 -0800

In More Than a Feeling, the chorus, a simple I IV iv V (G C e D), finished off with an Eb chord - totally not in the key - and then transitioning to em7. What is this transition to Eb, which is not at all part of the key of G, called?

Music theorists: What makes this song so compelling?

mermily — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 17:33:12 -0800

Could anyone break this song down for me from a music theory perspective? (It's an animatronic version of the Frog Round). I find that I always want to listen to it over and over again, and I wanted to find out what made it so compelling musically. I know that it's a round (obviously), but can anyone tell me anything else about it in terms of its musical structure?

What's your theory on this term?

mockjovial — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:27:22 -0800

I'm trying to think of a word.... Is there a term for a 'theory' (in the scientific sense) that explains the majority of the data/observations, but is not fully complete? ....in other words, there is still an element that needs to be worked into the explanation and that has not happened yet. It's an...incomplete theory. I'm looking for a term for that if one exists.

Who wrote this LGTBQ theory?

obviousresistance — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 16:24:25 -0800

Help me figure out who wrote this LGTBQ theory? In a human civil rights course I took last spring, we read an LGTBQ theory piece that said it was incorrect to consider homosexuality a choice. I believe the author felt this way because of something to do with politics. Does this ring a bell to anyone? Or can anyone suggest a way I could google that effectively?

We didn't have a syllabus, and the readings were all in course packets that I recycled. I emailed the professor, but she never got back to me.

Thanks!

What makes this game genre so popular?

These Birds of a Feather — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 07:55:52 -0800

What makes you gravitate toward time management and city simulation games? Looking for anecdata and citable studies. I adore strategy/time management and city/town sim games and have been playing both since I was a little kid. I've been wondering lately about what it is exactly that makes these particular video game genres so popular and long-lasting.

Are there are any reliable scientific studies on the psychology of gaming and whether or not there are particular personalities that might gravitate towards one game genre over another?

Do you, as a personal fan of these games, have an idea as to what makes you gravitate towards the time management/simulation genre and why? I have ideas of my own, of course, but I'm curious as to what others might say on the topic.

Examples of this genre include: Civilization, Age of Empires, Zeus, Farmville, Diner Dash, Happy Street, the Sims, SimCity, etc.

Speculative Realism 101

0bvious — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 06:40:46 -0800

Speculative Realism: What are the key texts I need to read. I am interested in Speculative Realism (SR) (and Speculative Materialism (SM)) as attempts to overcome 'Philosophies of access' (those which privilege the human being over other entities; anthropocentrism).

Also, any texts that cover...

- How do SR and SM overlap/not overlap with object-oriented philosophy (OO)?
- How do SM and OO relate to post-humanism and anti-humanism?

Thanks

On rituals and algorithms

0bvious — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 07:10:01 -0800

What is the relationship between the ritual and the algorithm? Are all rituals algorithmic? I'm interested in any papers or books/chapters written about this. I'm writing about Google's search algorithm at the moment, and I can't help get this ritual thing out of my head. It feels like an important meeting point between humans and machines.

When I say 'ritual' I mean the enactment of a set of actions with traditional and symbolic value.

When I say 'algorithm' I am talking about computers of course (a step-by-step procedure for calculation), but I am also interested in an algorithm as a list of well-defined instructions passed on to another entity in order to execute a specific procedure in precise detail. That entity might be a human.

Are all rituals algorithmic?

The best conflation I can think of is the Japanese Tea Ceremony. To generalise, I see this as a highly specific algorithm taken to the absolute limits of human cultural perfection.

Many thanks in advance!

I am a sick man... I am a wicked man.

outlandishmarxist — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:08:16 -0800

I'm looking for examples of and quotes about cowards and wretches in film, literature, philosophy, and painting. I'm trying to compile examples of cowards and wretches in art (film, literature, painting, etc.) and philosophy. How do I characterize the wretch? I think, primarily, by inaction: the wretch is someone who either refuses to budge or gets others to act on his behalf. I've got a lot of modern examples (although I could always use more): Gregor Samsa, the underground man in Notes from Underground, Raskolnikov, the elder Karamazov, Henry Miller's "I", the narrator of Nausea, the narrator of The Stranger, Beckett's various characters; Yossarian; Celine's narrator in Journey to the End of the Night. I also have some early modern wretches - almost any Shakespeare villain, especially Iago; Goethe's Faust, especially at the beginning of the play; Milton's Satan. In film, the work of Roman Polanski comes readily to mind, as do some of Godard's characters.

What I'd like are earlier examples (Roman, Greek, Hebrew), non-Western examples (The Story of the Stone might give some good examples), and also examples that aren't from the perspective of the wretches, e.g., heroic descriptions from Homer of cowards. Also, if anybody has any good literary history/literary theory recommendations, those would be much appreciated. I'm happy to clarify anything that doesn't make sense.

Sloppy MicroChips: Can a fair comparison be made between biological and silicon entropy?

0bvious — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 09:05:10 -0800

Was reading about microchips that are designed to allow a few mistakes (known as 'Sloppy Chips'), and pondering equivalent kinds of 'coding' errors and entropy in biological systems. Can a fair comparison be made between the two? OK, to setup my question I probably need to run through my (basic) understanding of biological vs silicon entropy...

In the transistor, error is a bad thing (in getting the required job done as efficiently and cheaply as possible), metered by parity bits that come as standard in every packet of data transmitted. But, in biological systems error is not necessarily bad. Most copying errors are filtered out, but some propogate and some of those might become beneficial to the organism (in thermodynamics sometimes known as "autonomy producing equivocations").

Relating to the article about 'sloppy chips', how does entropy and energy efficiency factor into this? For the silicon chip efficiency leads to heat (a problem), for the string of DNA efficiency leads to fewer mutations, and thus less change within populations, and thus, inevitably, less capacity for organisms to diversify and react to their environments - leading to no evolution, no change, no good. Slightly less efficiency is good for biology, and, it seems, good for some kinds of calculations and computer processes.

What work has been done on these connections I draw between the biological and the silicon?

I'm worried that my analogy is limited, based as it is on a paradigm for living systems that too closely mirrors the digital systems we have built. Can DNA and binary parity bit transistors be understood on their own terms, without resorting to using the other as a metaphor to understanding?

Where do the boundaries lie in comparing the two?

Do They Have Queen Victoria as a Pekingese?

Hanuman1960 — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:04:36 -0800

Where can I purchase faux Victorian Aristocratic-Military Dog portraits such as those that were featured in last night's episode of The Big Bang Theory? In last night's episode of The Big Bang Theory (The Stag Convergence) in the scene where they have Howard's bachelor party in that men's club(?) on one of the walls of the club you can occasionally see two portraits hanging on the wall of what look to be Aristocratic-Victorian soldiers, except that instead of human faces they are dogs (and I'm sorry but I couldn't find a clip of the show to link here that shows them!).

Does anyone know where portraits such as these can be purchased? I absolutely loved them and my google-fu is failing me. Thanks!

I want to buy this table.

msali — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:43:09 -0800

I am trying to find a kitchen island/table similar to the ones pictured here and here. Yes, the kitchen table from Big Bang Theory. I've fallen in love with it. I like the open metal shelves, with the large, high set wooden tabletop. I've searched high and low for something similar but I am drawing a blank. So I turn to you, mefites. Can you help me find a similar piece?

Podcast about pop music song construction.

jefftang — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 06:53:39 -0800

I want to listen about popular music songs. I don't want to listen to just songs, but rather about how they're made. Things like instrumental contribution, song structure, different beats, along with examples of how they sound. Topics I want to hear:

- song structure. I want to hear a song I know and have the intro, chorus, bridge etc... pointed out.
- instrumental contribution. Here's a song you know with and without the rhythm guitar. See how that sounds different?
- Back beat. Here's how this song would sound with a back beat and with a non-back beat.

Pandora had a podcast a while ago that had a lot of this stuff, but it seems to be gone. It doesn't need to be a podcast, it could just be a collection of audio lectures I grab from some school.

"30 minutes away..."

molybdenum — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:27:24 -0800

Are there any mapping applications that display all regions within a fixed distance from an input point? For example: from a given address in NYC, what are all the places I can get to in 30 minutes, via any combation of walking + public transit? So we're moving to NYC (yay!), and my wife & I are looking for housing. We're trying to stay within a 30 minute commute from her work, and I'm searching for possible neighborhoods based on subway & bus maps.

Wouldn't it be nice, I mused, if I could type in where she works, and a tolerable commute time, and Google Maps or something would show all the places we could live within (any combination of) transit + walking distance? All the data's already there, on NYC MTA. Surely someone more clever than I has already thought of this and done it.

Right? If not...I might take a crack at it. If the answer is no, this doesn't exist, then I have a follow-up question: I bet there's an algorithm in graph theory that returns a list of verticies within a given distance from a source vertex. Where should I start looking?

WackySpeculativeTheoryFilter: When I'm wearing my glasses, my thinking becomes more rigid, systematic and well, nerdy. Or am I just crazy?

Feel the beat of the rhythm of the night — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:31:52 -0800

WackySpeculativeTheoryFilter: When I'm wearing my glasses, my thinking becomes more rigid, systematic and well, nerdy. Or am I just crazy? When I put on my glasses, I feel more like a poindexter than when I have them off, but it doesn't seem like this is because I am concentrating on the I'm-Wearing-My-Glasses-Self-Image so much as maybe wearing something on my face just changes the way I'm processing the world or using my brain.

I have one more weird data point: I read some things on psychology a while back regarding eye movements and created a fun party game called "make up a story without moving your eyes" that you can play. You basically stare straight ahead at another person and then try to make up a story out loud for them. Without the eye movement, your story is just terrible. It's like the worse story ever, but it's so bad that it's funny.

My weird theory: Is it possible that the restricted areas of eye movement presented by glasses (or having something on your face) also restricts the places your thoughts or emotions are willing to go?

This is a completely speculative question, and so I'm prepared for completely speculative answers. Do you experience this weird glasses phenomenon or do you have any ideas as to what might be going on?

The music theory of ragtime -- intermediate lesson

Ardiril — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:42:31 -0800

Please tell me something more about the music theory underlying ragtime than III-VI-II-V-I, duple meter, and syncopation. Assume that you have just described blue notes. Recommendations for books that you have personally read/studied are also welcome.

Design Patterns / Jazz Standards

lipsum — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:04:18 -0800

Hello MeFi. I'm curious as to the correlation between software development Design Patterns for and Jazz Standards. Usual loot from Google: Some dude who thought of it first (and used it as a nice allegoric explanation in Programmers Stackexchange and a somewhat geeky ironic coding-related mention ("Jazz supports interaction through event listeners"). These are all nice examples of the basic similarity between the two, I'm looking for more, though. Are you aware of any materials that somehow approach this idea?

To what extent are the "strange" features of Relativity Theory due to the latency of light?

Eiwalker — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:41:53 -0800

Which of the "strange" features of Relativity Theory can be accounted for by appeal to the latency of light, which cannot, and why? By "latency" I mean the fact that light travels at a finite speed and therefore observations have to wait around for the light to arrive, at which point the observations are of the past.

Some of the standard "paradoxes" include the pole and the barn, the twins, and the fact that light appears to travel at light speed regardless of how fast one is moving with respect to it.

My question is: which aspects of such "paradoxes" can be accounted for by appeal to the latency of light, which cannot, and why?

Democracy and Capitalism...huh?

risaroni — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:24:01 -0800

Looking for a basic starter book on capitalism and democracy that explains their relationship and, if possible, perhaps explores other systems or changes that could be an improvement on the current systems in place in most developed nations. I have read that capitalism is a good way to stimulate a young nations economy but that it is not necessarily an equitable or functional long term solution. I have some small understanding regarding corporations roles in democracy. Beyond these basics I'm rather lost. (hence the plan to explore further) I would prefer to read books as I would rather utilize them, and my library, than pop from webpage to webpage but would be willing to consider any information. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!