Shī Shì shí shī shǐ

A rather interesting example I found on how languages can evolve over time. Below is a poem written in Classical Chinese, both in pinyin and Chinese characters. The poem, which is understandable when read from the characters, is composed entirely of syllables which have come to be pronounced as "shi" in Mandarin. (Text taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den)
« Shī Shì shí shī shǐ »

Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.
Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī.
Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.
Shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì.
Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì, shǐ shì shí shī shìshì.
Shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.
Shíshì shī, Shì shǐ shì shì shíshì.
Shíshì shì, Shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī.
Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī, shí shí shí shī shī.
Shì shì shì shì.

《施氏食獅史》

石室詩士施氏, 嗜獅, 誓食十獅。
氏時時適市視獅。
十時, 適十獅適市。
是時, 適施氏適市。
氏視是十獅, 恃矢勢, 使是十獅逝世。
氏拾是十獅屍, 適石室。
石室濕, 氏使侍拭石室。
石室拭, 氏始試食是十獅。
食時, 始識是十獅, 實十石獅屍。
試釋是事。

Games of Life

While I was putzing around on my computer, I came across my Java code for the "Game of Life" that I made Sophomore year. After some prettying up and modifying to create a rather unique version, I thought I'd put it up here. I'll be playing around with it and making it a tad more user-friendly. Until then, just hit buttons and see what happens. For a quick start, hit "Randomize" and "Run." Alternatively, if you are willing to wait a few moments, try "Clear Colony" (if you have one already), "Mutations On/Off", and "Run." In a few minutes, it should start itself up.

For an explanation and demo of the Game of Life in general, visit http://www.ibiblio.org/lifepatterns/. The difference in my version here is that I use 4 different age levels - child, adolescent, adult, and elder - and they interact with each other in different ways (for example, if a space has nothing currently on it, it sums up all of the adolescents and adults around it instead of all life as in the original version).

This came about as I was thinking about creation (I was reading about it for Systematic Theology I), and the whole creationist vs. evolution debate and Intelligent Design. So, this is part of my experiment to see how much design a mechanistic process can bring about. I seem to be getting mixed results. On the one hand, there is a good deal of "design" coming from entirely mechanistic processes (though, granted, at least in my souped up version there is a decent bit of design in those processes, but this design at least would not seem to result in the designs that it produces). On the other hand, the most complicated results are what one starts with, and as time goes on these complex clusters tend to kill each other off and only the small things that don't bother each other survive (or at least they predominate). This seems to be very 2nd law of thermodynamics-ish, and directly counter to evolutionistic trends. In addition, even mutations which are good for an individual seem to destabilize the group it is in, generally leading to destruction of the group. So, when all is said and done, it's a pretty computer program which may or may not make any solid philosophical points, but is a great time-waster nonetheless.

(I have removed the applet to make the blog load faster. To see it, go to: http://ilflauto.20m.com/java/index.html.)

Oh where, oh where has my pronoun gone...

A friend and I were discussing an important matter today - there seems to be a serious shortage in the English language. What is one to do when one is referring to someone, and has forgotten their gender? Or for another likely case, what if one wants to keep someone's gender a tactical secret? How about for beloved Fido, whom one can never remember whether is male or female? Then again, there are all those pesky problems that come up while writing papers with choosing between the chauvinist "he", the feminist "she", the unwieldy "he or she", or the unprofessional "he/she" and "s/he". The pronoun "it" just seems so impersonal, and the use of "they" in the singular will draw large, blood-thristy mobs of grammar freaks to your door. That is why we reveal to you for your edification:
xe
Yes, my friends, the pronoun xe, the only proper English 3rd person singular androgynous pronoun [declined as xir (objective) and xis (possessive)]. Make sure to use this in future conversations so that people can know how up-to-date you are in your speech. Together we can conquer the world! (or at least affect local language patterns.).

No warranties express or implied. Offer void where prohibited. Not valid in certain villages in the Yukon Territory.

So much procrastination, so little time

The semester is winding down, both too quickly and too slowly. Of course, I want May 27th to come as soon as it can, but as far as the workload goes I would rather like having more than a month left. Oh well - the adrenaline rushes should help me overcome motivation issues. I've pretty much been forced to finalize my paper topics. I'm analyzing Kierkegaard in terms of Plantinga's notion of proper function; while Kierkegaard suggests that we take an irrational leap of faith when we come to Christianity, this is actually justified under Plantinga's scheme if the will has been designed in such a way as to precipitate this leap under the right circumstances and thus lead us to truth. This thereby makes an act of the will truth-conducive. I'm also analyzing Buddhism in terms of Plantinga's thought (yay for doubling up research), doing the same thing with Buddhism that Plantinga does with Christianity; that is, if Buddhism were true, what would make it warranted for the believer? I think that it has a lot more issues with this than Christianity does, not the least of which is the fact that it is the impersonal Dharma which determines the universe rather than a personal Creator (the standard objections against naturalistic schemes apply, and except for Pure Land and maybe later Mahayana, there is no recourse to a sensus buddhatis). Time for signing up for classes for next semester is fast approaching. I'm thinking about taking classes on Aquinas, the Trinity, views of the person and survival after death in contemporary Christian philosophy, and a course on analytic philosophy which will focus on modal logic and how it relates to modern arguments in philosophy of religion. I would like to take a course on comparative religion somewhere, but University of Chicago is a distance away and Northwestern still doesn't have the times for most of their graduate courses listed. Which brings me to my next point, I've been thinking about going into comparative religions for my doctoral work. Specifically, Buddhist studies, at least at the time of my Ph.D, though I think that eventual study in traditional religions could be interesting too. Yes, as my beloved has pointed out to me, there is a greater than 0 probability that I will change my mind on this matter, but at any rate if I want any shot at doctoral programs I have to start on the material now (I would get to learn 5 languages - Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Japanese, & Classical Chinese - woo hoo!). I've been able to secure some independent studies for the next school year already, one in Japanese religions with a guy who grew up over there and then returned to there on the mission field for I think 20-30 years (Dr. Netland, who I've also heard studied under John Hick and was considered to be one of his best students, though Netland himself is a solid orthodox evangelical. So I should be able to get a good view on views concerning religious pluralism as well). The other is with Dr. Yandell at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has done some work in Indian Philosophy - I would like to look at Jainism with him, it's such an underrepresented view in religious studies.