December 20th, 2000

Symbolic Generalizations

Abstract: The article sheds light on the tension between the will of the ego and the will of God.

Humans never interpret one specific real world phenomena in exactly the same way. Take for instance the concept of a car. A gardener will have a different interpretation than a mechanic. However, despite the different interpretations the gardener and the mechanic will be able to communicate about what a car is, and by communicating about it they will learn or expand their interpretation of a car. In this case the gardener will probably learn more from the mechanic than the opposite; e.g. that a car can be used as a tool to help other cars with a flat battery. The interpretation that a person makes on a concept is called a symbolic generalization (SG) using the notation in [1]. Note that the SG of a specific car or any other real world phenomena, has nothing to do with signs, such as acoustical (words as “Ford”, “the best car is the safest car” or car sounds, etc.) or visual signs (e.g. images of cars). Signs from the environment causes certain SG’s to “pop up” from which one is chosen, according to two rules as described later. By communicating, the gardener and the mechanic modifies their SG’s, i.e. they learn.

However, sometimes SG’s exist that instead of being modified, must be replaced with another more efficient SG. Using the car example it could be the SG of the best car on the market. The gardener and the mechanic will very likely have different SG’s of the concept of the best car on the market. Now if the gardener and the mechanic is married to each other and they are about to buy a car, one of them will have to replace their SG with the others SG or alternatively with a compromise. Not surprisingly replacing ones SG with another can be a very problematic matter, which reasons will be clarified in the following. One might argue here that replacing the SG of e.g. the best car on the market, is the same as modifying the SG until it looks like the replacement. However, once a SG is above a certain “strength threshold” it cannot be modified in the “compromise direction”, which is illustrated on the following conceptual figure.

Lets look at the concept of the best football team in New York as another example. We consider the two teams: The Jets and the Giants, which leaves room for two possible SG’s of the best team in NY. If you are not interested in football, both the SG’s will have a very low strength or maybe not exist at all. Some number of New Yorkers would answer (1) The Jets, some would answer (2) The Giants and the rest would say (3) I don’t know/ I don’t care.

Football is such a nice and simple world: Only two SG’s really matters. The Jets if you are a Jet fan and the Giants if you are a Giants fan. Because of this the communication on the football stadium is a simplification of the communication outside the stadium. That is why people are having so much fun going! As a Jet fan among other Jet fans you know exactly when to cheer and when to show disappointment. You can simply let yourself get sucked into the game.

Consciousness as an emergency solution

Because of the simple communication rules, which is basically when to cheer and when to show disappointment, you don’t have to worry about ‘stepping on ones toes’ or ‘breaking an unspoken rule or norm’ by saying or doing something wrong. Uncertainty is more or less always present in the normal everyday life. Using consciousness we think thoughts like “did he mean this or that? I think its this, but then if it wasn’t, the answer I’m thinking of would be misinterpreted”. This uncertainty is minimized on the football stadium, which means that you don’t have to be conscious of your actions.

People are more smooth and well functioning when they are less conscious, and also much more comfortable; being conscious about your actions restrains you, takes more energy than they would have otherwise and function as a bottleneck for piping out the solution to any problem/ sentence or action you may be thinking about. In general introverts tend to use their consciousness more when talking and moving than extroverts do, this is what makes an introvert an introvert. For this reason its usually the extroverts job to make the jokes and the funny remarks. Its not that the introverts don’t have humor, it’s just that when the funny remark has been processed by the consciousness the timing is lost and they keep quiet. At a party it’s the same, but then as the party progresses and the liquor flows, introverts loosen up and pay less attention to what they are saying and you suddenly find the quiet and usually half-boring person being quite colorful and entertaining after all. In this sense, at least when your intentions is good, introversion is undesirable. What good intentions is will also be clarified later, but the answer is simple.

Now the fact that people tend to group up with the ones that share the same opinion, in this simple case (1) Jet fan, (2) Giant fan or (3) In between, can be observed on any football stadium. Why is that?

To answer this question, imagine that a Jet fan for some reason ended up in the wrong end of the stadium and found himself surrounded by Giants fans instead of Jet fans. In Denmark this is probably the biggest fear of any football (soccer) fan, and I suspect its the same in the US and hence the situation needs no further explanation, except maybe mentioning that in England people have been killed for much less. In other words if the Jet fan feel like staying alive he would rip of his green Jet jacket, hoping it will prevent the blue dressed crowd to spot the imposter.

The Jets vs. the Giants

Now as the game goes on it looks pretty bad for the Jets, very quickly the Giants get a substantial lead. The Giant fans are cheering! The unfortunate Jet fan is also cheering, reluctantly at first but then with greater effort as he sees the bottles instead of plastic cups around him. The game continues for a while with the Giants in total control, but then suddenly the Jets’ play for some reason gets more structured, they actually starts scoring points instead of fumbling with the ball. The sitting Jet fans rises from their seats, and those who already were standing keep standing, but this time no longer glancing at the exit sign. The game goes on with incredible intensity, sometimes the Jets are ahead, sometimes the Giants are ahead. With the game almost finished the Jets are leading, but a touch down from the Giants would turn it around.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a Giant player, who rarely causes much furor, gets the ball and, as if he had supernatural powers, running like an antelope and moving like a cat, he works his way up the field. The excitement for both fan groups are almost unbearable! With just 8 seconds left, the Giant player is now facing the last line of defense: a Jet player widely acknowledged for his stability. But with an incredible move the Giant player dodges him, jumps....aaaaand touch doOOOWN! The Giant fans are, to put it mildly, ecstatic! The Jet fans are disappointed, can’t believe what just happened, but still... what excitement! What a game!

However, one on the stadium didn’t experience the game like the rest. The unfortunate Jet fan was simply too busy forcing himself to do the exact opposite of what every fiber in him told him to do, in this case cheering where he would otherwise be grumbling. The only thing that keeps him from cheering is being totally conscious of his every movement and sound, and that is exactly what makes him feel uncomfortable too. When the game is over the Jet fan will probably be as sweaty as the Giant fans, but for a different reason. For him what just happened wasn’t just another game in the season (neither was it for the rest of the crowd, but again for a different reason), it was a matter of pure survival!

The basic characteristic's that makes a Jet fan a good Jet fan, is how well he knows the rules of football, how well he can cheer, how well he can grumble and how well he identifies and rewards/punish the signs used by fans around him. The unfortunate Jet fan can be among the top five fans in the Jet fan club, but put him in the wrong crowd and his performance will decay dramatically.

The game that (almost) no one likes

The nightmare scenario is that everybody on the stadium are imposters! Suppose the stadium manager had a weird sense of humor, and started in good time before a game by placing two hardcore Jet fans on one side and two hardcore Giants fans on the other side. Then he let the rest of the crowd in one by one, making sure they are directed to the wrong end. So when e.g. a Giant fan finds the two Jet fans standing, he will quickly pretend he in fact is a Jet fan and so with the rest. Now just before the game is to start the four real fans is being removed from the stadium by orders from the wicked stadium manager, who are sitting in the tower excited to see the result of his mass manipulation. The sad remains on the stadium is Giant and Jet “fans” with sporadically blue and green colors, saying stuff like “yeaahh...who is the .eeeh.. good team?” and replying e.g. “it’s the ..ehhh..Jets .....yeahh”. Now this would be a dull game for everyone (except one) to watch!

Why bother with the concept of SG?

From a psychological viewpoint the concept of SG’s is important because it, once it has crystallized, merely by being aware of its existence, helps people recognize why people judge each other as they do. You could also say that understanding SG’s helps you throw up, when accidentally zapping into a religious channel with a white heterosexual voice of The Lord preaching....and – despite the mess – feel good about it!

From a scientifical viewpoint the concept of SG’s is interesting for many reasons, which only can be hinted here.

In the following I will therefore keep a (initially) necessary high abstraction level , and answer the following questions:

1. What are these forceful principles that are going on in a scenario like the one described?

2. What is the (figuratively speaking) stage setting that ensures entertaining games, and sometimes even fantastic?

3. How can we set this stage?

4. What are the consequences of doing this?

Go to page 1, 2, 3

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god."

John 1:1