ATON is a hopefully evolving classification theory. It aspires to unify knowledge around numbers and prefers naive methods. Some of the older posts are wrong but I'll keep them for the sake of continuity.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Four dimensions of culture

Consider the following classification of culture in two stacks of length 7;

(Interaction,Logistics,Economics,Politics,Ethics,Science,Aesthetics)
(Competition,Production,Reproduction,Politics,Extermination,Consumption,Cooperation)

Politics sits in the middle and mediates 12 elements in two stacks which make a duality. The stacks follow an increasing order of complexity and have 3 symmetries;

(0,(1,(2,(3,(4,(5,(6)))))))
(0,(1,(2,(3),4),5),6)
((0,1,2),3,(4,5,6))

Like the color symmetry;

(Yellow,Red,Blue,Grey,Orange,Green,Purple)

The dualities (Yellow,Purple), (Red,Green), (Blue,Orange) complement each other and combine to give Grey, as the triplets themselves.

The triplet (Interaction,Logistics,Economics) are the primary colors of culture, and (Ethics,Science,Aesthetics) the secondary colors.

...

The softer side of culture have 3 dualities and a singularity;

(Interaction,Aesthetics)
(Logistics,Science)
(Economics,Ethics)
(Politics)

Previously I had Production instead of Interaction which is a better choice as it is the simplest form of collective action. The universe displays beauty at all levels of action, specially life. This is a profound mystery.

Logistics includes things like Communications, Transportation and couples to Science strongly.

Ethics includes things like Law, Religion, Tradition and couples to Economics strongly since Economics is the way of distribution of resources.

The drivers of culture have 3 dualities and a singularity;

(Competition,Cooperation)
(Production,Consumption)
(Reproduction,Extermination)
(Politics)

...

Music has a similar form;

(Beat,Tempo,Meter,Rhythm,Pitch,Melody,Harmony)
(Quiet,Slow,Bass,Rhythm,Treble,Fast,Loud)

The drivers make 3 dualities and a singularity;

(Bass,Treble)
(Slow,Fast)
(Quiet,Loud)
(Rhythm)

The world of vision also has 4 drivers;

(Contrast,Brightness,On/Off,Color)

The (Competition,Cooperation) duality is like Contrast. Competition makes boundaries sharper. (Production,Consumption) is like Brightness. (Reproduction,Extermination) is like On/Off.

...

Geert Hofstede identified 4 dimensions of culture;

Power-Distance
Collectivism-Individualism
Femininity-Masculinity
Uncertainty avoidance

I think there is some similarity.

...

Buddha identified 4 noble truths;

The nature of suffering
The origin of suffering
Cessation of suffering
The way leading to cessation of suffering

I think it matches my list quite a bit;

(Competition,Cooperation)
(Production,Consumption)
(Reproduction,Extermination)
(Politics)

...

There many other entities that obey this 7-stack form;

(Touch,See,Taste,Measure,Smell,Hear,Balance)
(Higgs,Light,Weak,Strong,Space-Time,Gravity,Dark-Energy)
(Mathematics,Physics,Chemistry,Biology,Psychology,Intelligence,Aesthetics)
(Binary,Natural,Integer,Real,Complex,Quaternion,Octonion)
(Beat,Tempo,Meter,Rhythm,Pitch,Melody,Harmony)
(Space,Character,Word,Sentence,Paragraph,Chapter,Book)

Clearly the corresponding shape is hexagon, or the ancient Atman Yantra or David's Star.

Each duality make a dimension mediated by the center, giving 3 dimensions.

Why hexagon and why 3 dimensions? There are some clues. Complex numbers are closed and they define a plane. Plane and a hexagon are closely linked since hexagon can be drawn by a compass only. Knots can only be made in 3 dimensions. Chaos can happen only in 3 (and higher?) dimensions. And what else is there to imitate apart from the strongest symmetry of the universe; space-time.

...

Four dimensionality comes from the fractal and self-similar shape of the stack. Like Politics, the other elements also come in the same shape, for example Science.

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