RAZD
Member (Idle past 1427 days) Posts: 20714 From: the other end of the sidewalk Joined: 03-14-2004
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Message 1 of 3 (100673)
04-18-2004 1:25 AM
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For your Flat-Out Enjoyment:
An Anthropological Study of FlatlandDr. Q.B. Sollyde, BS, MS, PhD. Orr Knaught, Justin A. Sollyde, Will Dieufore, Research AssistantsReferences:
1. Flatland, A romance of many dimensions, With Illustrations by the Author, A SQUARE (translated by Edwin A. Abbott 1838-1926) http://www.geom.umn.edu/~banchoff/Flatland 2. Field Notes, expeditions of April, 2000, April, 2001, and April, 2002, unpublished. Synopsis:
Having read the reference (1) and determining that there was no discussion of sexual habits nor how a line could give birth to even a triangle, it was deemed necessary to make a field trip to determine these aspects of Flatland life. The results of this field trip have provided fresh insights into the behavior of the Flatland inhabitants. Limited funding only allowed me to make three trips and only at one year intervals due to the cost of travel to and from the region of Flatland and the difficulties of access during some times of the year, so the results are by no means conclusive or complete. Introduction:
At first, the inherent misogynism in the text was disturbing and made this author wonder if it was due to (a) misogynism on the part of the Square, (b) misogynism on the part of the translator, (c) misunderstanding between Square and translator, or (d) some combination of the above. This author first replaced all terminology in the text of reference (1) with sexually ambivalent wording and reviewed the work again. On completing this review it was determined that there was no reference to which of the two dimorphisms inhabiting flatland, lines or shapes, were the ones who gave birth to the descendents. Thus determining this aspect of Flatland life was also deemed important to the study. Methodology:
It was determined that the best approach would be to investigate the behavior of the inhabitants of Flatland by disguising myself as an inhabitant from a distant country. Being a cube afforded me the ability to appear as any of several inhabitants in order to gain more insight into their codes of conduct and sexual mores. Results, Trip 1, April, 2000:
Being wary of discovery I determined to appear first as a line, putting one edge into their universe. In this condition I found I was universally ignored by all those that did not move away from me, and usually it was the shapes moving away. I was able to make small discourse with some line inhabitants, but as mentioned in reference (1), they were of little intellectual value, usually on the level of "Check out the 'angles' on that triangle, heh?" and "That's a pretty 'smoooth' polygon, woof, woof." As this was yielding very little in the way of useful information I decided to modify my appearance to an isosceles triangle with sharp apex by sinking one corner a little further into the plane of their existence. The effect of this transformation was instant and a little unexpected: several lines made a direct approach and tried to get access to the apex area with their rear end, fighting each other for the position; then several isosceles of slightly greater apex angle came over, told them to disperse and then questioned me about my intentions in the area, as they could tell that I was not from around there. I told them I was from another country where I had been banned due to a high degree of irregularity in my family, and I was looking for a new home. Most told me to just keep on moving, but there were a couple that talked with me as we walked through town. As these were triangles of much larger apex I have concluded that this was either (a) to make sure that I kept going, (b) an attempt to obtain information from me about a possible invasion from the other country, or (c) actual interest and friendly discourse. I lean to a combination of (a) and (c) now that I have completed more studies, as warfare between countries does not seem to be a major concern in Flatland (insurrection and riots notwithstanding), and letting me go would not be consistent with thinking I was a spy.. As soon as I was alone outside of town I exited the plane of their existence and made my way back home. Results, Trip 2, April, 2001:
Being more familiar with the behavior of the inhabitants, the first disguise on my next visit was that of an equilateral triangle. At first I was worried that I would not be able to maintain a perfect equilateral shape, but I discovered that as long as I kept three of my cube vertices within the plane of Flatland that the shape perceived by them was stable in both "equilaterality" and size. In this guise I was welcomed much more readily this time around, by the triangles anyway ("higher" order shapes either accepted, tolerated, or ignored my presence based on their positions in the society). My story this time was that I was a recent equilateral from an isosceles family, and that I was looking for a home in a new country so as to prevent any contact with my former parents, a story much better accepted than my first one, and which allowed me to remain for a while and talk to the inhabitants. This talk usually centered around the difficulty of being a triangle in a square (or higher) world and the need to be wary of being "stung" by a line of lower "quality" - an area of discussion that seemed to pertain to my investigation, so I pursued it. It appears that the process of "stinging" leaves a portion of the line within the shape, and that reaction to the "stinging" varies from mild to extreme illness and sometimes to death. Unfortunately my complete ignorance in these matters was wearing thin on the tolerance of my subjects, as they felt my proper education had not been complete enough or I had not applied myself properly. I tried similar approaches in several different locations, each time using a larger apex angle and came to much the same result, although my "education" improved each time, and thus I determined that I must take the next step and appear as a square to get any further. Coming back as a square presented a minor problem for my disguise in that I was expected to be more discerning of shape from a distance, according to the work of reference (1) above. Fortunately, existing as a solid allowed me to view the plane of their existence from above, determine their shape, and pass this awkward test. As a square I was immediately accorded more respect and decorum from the lesser shapes, and readily welcomed into the company of squares, some even jealous of my ability to discern rather high degrees of "gonity" for one of my status. I explained that it was due to diligent study on my part, wanting to distance myself from my triangular ancestry. I further explained that I was the first child of a new equilateral, and I moved away to distance myself from that past as well. My perception of "gonity" allowed me to make some contacts with higher polygons, and my explanation of it also helped when I was questioned on something that I should have learned in school, as I could say that I was concentrating on "gonity" study and several other courses suffered as a result. I also used this excuse to pursue the matter of "stinging" by lines of differing "quality" as I was able to mention that I felt fairly confident in being able to tell the "gonity" of shapes but I was having trouble with the "quality" of lines. One of my new polygon acquaintances told me, to my (barely concealed) astonishment that all lines are "collapsed" shapes rather than single edge beings, hence their lack of breadth and limited length. I continued to play "dumb" (after all I had just come from a new member of the class of ignorant lesser triangles), and found that there were different levels of "collapsed" shapes, from triangle to polygon and even to "collapsed" circles (rare). The concept being discussed was how to be "stung" by a line that was of higher "collapsed" status in order to ensure a continued progress to higher "gonity" for children and to avoid slipping back to lower "gonity" or "worse" into irregularity, when I made a mistake: I was so intent on the discussion that I allowed one side to slip down further into the plane, making me a rectangle instead of a square. This was noticed immediately (albeit with some confusion for it not having been noticed before) and I was driven to the edge of town as an "irregular" beast. This led me to wonder about some of their mores and taboos, in particular regarding irregularity, so next town I entered as a square but then slowly rotated about a diagonal to become a parallelogram. As soon as this was noticed (not long - I got just over 1 degree) I was surrounded and taken to their jail, where I was called a pervert by the judge (an almost circular polygon) and railed at for thinking I could be both a line and a shape, and told that it was natural to have in the order of things squares and collapsed squares, but degenerate squares were an abomination of the worst kind. Seeing no way out of the cell, I decided it was time to leave the plane of their existence once more. After returning home, I reviewed both my "sexually ambivalent" version of reference (1) and the notes from my previous two visits. It appears that there are two forms of irregularity - side length and apex angle - and a being can have either or both. Given the response to each version I had presented, it seems likely that most "side" irregularities were considered relatively minor and open for medical correction (alluded to in reference (1), Part I section 12) while "angle" irregularities were considered a much more serious problem that was not open for medical correction but classed as deviant behavior subject to imprisonment and mental investigations. Also reading through reference (1) it appears that "strength of angle" is considered equivalent to "strength of moral character" - hence the characterizations of lesser triangles as degraded beings, criminals and by other demeaning terms. Length of side could be corrected medically, but there was no way to set the apex angle of a shape to a fixed amount for any shapes higher than a triangle, and the character of triangles was fixed by their angles. It appears that moral fitness for higher shapes is based on their ability to hold strength of angle, and I would not be surprised to find that this was part of the teaching in the schools for these shapes. After further study of my notes and reference (1) I have come to the conclusion that the degeneracy associated with apex angle is a combination of the abhorrence of shape irregularity and distaste for sexual ambivalence. What, after all, is to keep a parallelogram from degenerating all the way to a collapsed line shape? What would the behavior be for a being that could change back and forth between a shape and a line? This opens up a whole new area of study involving the cultural taboos for the beings in Flatland! But first, I must determine the sexual dimorphism for these creatures. To do this I determined that I must appear next as an even higher sided being. The most logical would have been as a physician; however it is not possible to me to appear in a plane as a perfect pentagon. The only alternative was to become a hexagon. To do this I determined that I would need to fix one diagonal perpendicular to the plane and set myself at the exact midpoint of that diagonal. Any deviation would likely be fatal as it could combine both "side" and "angle" irregularity (which, I am sure, is handled by execution). Results, Trip 3, April, 2002:
My appearance on this third trip did not cause any noticeable attention, and I put this down to (a) strict care in maintaining my "persona" as a hexagon and (b) the deference with which the higher order shapes are regarded. I also had no need to fear being "felt" anymore, an act that I did find a little disturbing. This time I posed as a philosopher studying the different behaviors of shapes in different countries. This allowed me to both explain my traveling around the country and my interest in behavior. With a little care I was able to isolate myself with some shapes to interview them on their "perceptions of behavior in their society" (my "official" area of study). In these interviews I asked them to talk freely about their behavior and the behavior of those they came into contact with from early childhood to present, including the forming of marriage and having children as if I were a complete stranger to their world. I explained that I was not so much interested in the actual actions, from mundane to intimate, but in the words used to describe those actions as a reflection of the society, social consciousness, and morality. In this way I finally was able to get some of these creatures to discuss the most intimate behavior of their kind. I have recorded these conversations for use in a later study (involving the cultural taboos for the beings in Flatland), which I hope to work on after this current study is finished, however I must now report the results I have been looking for: Shapes are "stung" by lines, a process that leaves a small portion of the line within the shape. If this is done properly at the apex of a shape, then the stinger remnant becomes encased with new sides from the parent shape, with one part contributed from each current side of a length equal to the stinger piece. These then all combine to form a "proto-being" that is then ejected out the apex. If the new being "inflates" it becomes a shape, if it doesn't it remains a line. And there is obviously room for reproductive error in lengths of sides and the whole question of angularity as it relates to behavior is wide open! Conclusions:
(1) The original assumptions of the translator for reference (1) regarding sexuality of the beings of Flatland were in error: probably due to assuming that the misogyny and cultural structure of his society were matched by the misogyny and cultural structure of the Flatland society - a common error for those not properly trained in anthropology. (2) The Flatland society is strongly matriarchal and rigid in regards to "orders" of shape and to moral behavior, with many strong taboos regarding shape to some extent and angle to a much larger extent. (3) The problems with reproduction for the "higher" shapes may be due to (a) greater difficulty in determining where an apex is (lower reproductive rates) and (b) more chance for reproductive errors (see reference (1) with regard to the extra additions of sides for the "higher" polygons and irregularities in lengths). In fact the breakdown of reproduction in these "higher" shapes may be evidence that they are the degenerate forms, while the "lower" shapes evidence robust behavior in this regard. (4) The taboos of this society will make a fascinating area for further study in our attempt to fully understand these people. Closing Comments from the Staff:
Will, Orr and I have put these notes of my father together in this report in order to put them out for publication according to his wishes. Dr. Sollyde is currently in the backcountry of Flatland pursuing the study of moral taboos with the "irregular" people (as he feels they are most likely to be willing to talk about them). It is also easier for him to "be" an irregular shape, and we think from the contacts we have had, that he enjoys their company more than those of his previous study, finding them much more open to new ideas (like 3-dimensional space). Personally, I am worried however, that either Dr. Sollyde has "gone native," is leading a rebellion, or that a common fate of field anthropologists in primitive societies has befallen him: we have not heard from him is some time. My hope is that all is well and he is just totally immersed in his subject. -J.A.S. 12/19/2002 Enjoy. This message has been edited by RAZD, 01-03-2005 20:16 AM
we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}
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