(2020-12-02) Mc Elroy A Metaphysican Looks At Algorithms Of Thought

Mark McElroy: A Metaphysican Looks at Algorithms of Thought. I enjoyed Cortex Futura’s latest post on algorithms of thought (2020-11-27 CortexFutureTrueAlgorithmsOfThoughtHaveArrived). In reflecting on the role algorithms of thought have played in my own life and work, I’d agree that new technologies for sharing algorithms of thought have arrived (especially with the advent of Roam Research). But the algorithms of thought themselves — and ways to share them — have actually been around for quite some time.

An algorithm is little more than a series of steps or a set of rules used to solve a problem or produce a desired outcome.

Algorithms of thought are a special class of algorithm designed to help people think more clearly and make better decisions. They can range from a simple sequence of pre-defined steps to complex, branching questionnaires capable of altering the questions they present based on responses entered by users.

Whether creators give away or sell the algorithms they author, they will have to publish them in some form or another. Today, that’s likely a template.

CortexFutura’s Choice Algorithm, which asks the user to list options and then decisions, is itself a template

When Does a Template Become an Algorithm of Thought?

using the retro template shifts people out of a habitual, ingrained behavior (getting mired in complaints and stuck in the blame game) and into a mindset of process improvement

What could I learn by retro-ing my last attempt at writing a novel?

consider the four-question template that is the corporate retro. Those four questions — What did you love? What did you lack? What did you long for? What did you learn?

Great Algorithms of Thought I Have Known

SONKE AHRENS: HOW TO TAKE SMART NOTES

While the method in Ahrens’s book is not outlined as explicitly as I would have liked (he describes his process, but never really provides a template for it), the method he recommends for taking and filing notes has the potential to radically redefine the user’s ideas about what note taking is and how it should be done.

Reading Ahrens’s book changed the way I take notes and write longer posts … but it also changed my perceptions in ways that alter my thoughts and behaviors. Zettelkasten is an algorithm of thought; Ahrens’s book is one means of sharing that algorithm with others.

CHRIS HUNTLEY AND MELANIE ANNE PHILLIPS: DRAMATICA

Dramatica theory and the associated software, both conceived in the 1990’s, present authors with a a fractal model of story that twists, turns, and rearranges itself based on story details the writer provides. Users can approach the model from any number of perspectives, entering information about characters, plot, or theme; the model adapts itself accordingly, narrowing down options until a single “storyform” emerges

Whether you agree or disagree with the philosophy behind Dramatica’s “StoryMind” model, I can affirm that studying this theory (and reading the book and using the software) radically altered the way I think about stories … and movies … and musical compositions … and religion … and politics … and problem solving

DIVINATION

I’ve written books on both Tarot and the I-Ching

Tarot and the I-Ching offer readings (templates of a sort) that guide the user to consider her question from radically different perspectives, based on meanings assigned to randomly-selected cards or hexagrams. Reflecting on how this random input could relate to the problem at hand produces surprising insights, which, in turn, can lead to ideas for action the user might never have imagined on her own.

Using the tools gives rise to a mindset, and that mindset impacts the way you solve problems and navigate the world.

BYRON KATIE: THE WORK

Love it or hate it, Byron Katie’s The Work (as outlined in the book, Loving What Is) is a simple four-question template guiding us to rethink assumptions about our most emotionally-charged experiences. Users choose an aspect of life that blocks, stresses, or upsets them … work their way through the four questions … and recast the experience in a healthier, more objective way.

From my perspective, algorithms of thought been around for centuries, encoded as meditative practices, rituals, scriptures, divinatory practices, theory manuals, apps, and workshops.

Given this, perhaps it’s more accurate to say a number of new tools for encoding and sharing algorithms of thought have arrived — with Roam Research the leader among them — and that these tools are simultaneously becoming more approachable and more sophisticated. This is, without a doubt, grounds for optimism and excitement.