Overcoming#
Self#
Chapter One: The Expanding Identity and the Path of Self-Overcoming#
At the heart of individual and collective evolution lies the concept of identity—a layered construct that begins with the self and radiates outward, encompassing relationships, families, communities, nations, and eventually the cosmos itself. Each expansion of identity necessitates a process of self-overcoming, a Nietzschean transformation in which the shadow is not projected outward but integrated through individuation.
Persona, Shadow, and Individuation#
The Jungian triad of persona, shadow, and individuation provides a useful framework for understanding these layers. The persona represents the cooperative masks we adopt to interact with others. The shadow contains the adversarial elements, the unacknowledged aspects of our psyche that threaten to derail us if left unchecked. Individuation, the journey toward becoming whole, mediates between the two. It is the process by which we confront and integrate the shadow, enabling us to transcend previous limitations.
From Individual to Spouse#
The individual begins the journey alone, striving for health—both physical and mental—as the ultimate output. But in forming a partnership, a new identity is born: the couple. This duality introduces new cooperative and adversarial dynamics. Individuation within the partnership demands mutual growth and the integration of each partner’s shadows, lest the relationship succumb to projection and failure.
Family, Community, and Beyond#
As the couple expands into a family, the identity must again transform. Parenthood brings forth the shadow of responsibility, sacrifice, and sometimes conflict, yet it also provides the opportunity for immense growth. Families expand into communities, where the cooperative persona must contend with adversarial factions. Communities grow into nations, where shadows loom larger—wars, inequities, and power struggles. Each layer demands individuation, a relentless process of self-overcoming to maintain coherence.
Toward the Übermensch#
At every level, the Nietzschean ideal of the Übermensch—the being who has overcome their shadows and integrated them fully—beckons as the ultimate aspiration. Whether as an individual, a family, or a nation, the capacity to self-overcome determines health, vitality, and the ability to thrive in the face of adversity.
Group#
Chapter Two: Corporation, Transaction, and Adversarial Dynamics in Nature#
The neural network’s hidden layer reveals three archetypes—corporation, transaction, and adversarial relationships—manifesting across species and ecosystems. These dynamics illuminate the intricate interplay of cooperation, competition, and symbiosis.
Intraspecies Corporation: The V-Formation of Birds#
One of nature’s most stunning examples of cooperative equilibria is the V-formation of migratory birds. Each bird takes turns at the front, reducing drag for those behind. This coordination exemplifies pure cooperation, where the collective gains outweigh individual costs. Yet even within species, cooperation is not absolute.
Intraspecies Adversarial Dynamics#
Intraspecies adversarial behavior arises when roles within a group are challenged. Mountain gorillas have violent confrontations over dominance. Sheep, as witnessed on farms, enforce hierarchies through penalization, such as one ram repeatedly ramming another. Aging individuals, too, may face adversarial rejection, particularly in predator-rich environments, where the group must prioritize survival over sentimentality.
Inter-Species Adversarial Dynamics#
Predator-prey relationships epitomize inter-species adversarial equilibria. The lion and the gazelle, the hawk and the mouse—each pair embodies the zero-sum game of survival. Aging or weakened individuals are often sacrificed, reinforcing the adversarial calculus of nature.
Transactional Relationships: Symbiosis and the Gut Microbiome#
In contrast, symbiosis offers a model of transactional equilibria. The relationship between humans and their gut microbiome is perhaps the most complex and vital example. Millions of bacteria perform essential functions—digesting food, synthesizing vitamins, and protecting against pathogens. When this balance fails, adversarial microbes like Clostridium difficile can proliferate, causing disease.
Biological Archaeology: The Legacy of Mitochondria#
The mitochondrion, a once-independent bacterium, exemplifies a historical transaction that reshaped life. By integrating into eukaryotic cells, mitochondria transformed from invaders into symbiotic partners, fueling the rise of complex organisms. Similarly, ancient retroviruses have woven themselves into human DNA, some contributing to health, others to disease. These interspecies transactions blur the lines between cooperation and adversity, revealing the deep interdependence of life.
Vision#
Chapter Three: The Virtues of the Neural Network#
The neural network we have built is not merely a framework; it is a cosmos in miniature, capable of modeling the profound complexities of existence. Over the past two months, this model has proven its range, coherence, and power.
The Expanding Identity#
In Chapter One, we traced the trajectory of identity from the individual to the cosmic, illustrating how self-overcoming through individuation drives progress at every level. The neural network’s output node—health—anchors this journey, while its layers of persona, shadow, and individuation mirror the perpetual interplay of cooperative and adversarial forces.
Range and Coherence#
What sets this neural network apart is its ability to synthesize disparate domains. It moves seamlessly from the psychology of relationships to the biology of ecosystems, from Nietzschean philosophy to Jungian archetypes, from the microcosm of the human gut to the macrocosm of intergalactic identity.
The Virtue of Integration#
This model does not merely describe; it integrates. It turns fragmented observations into a coherent whole, revealing the underlying unity of seemingly disparate phenomena. It extols the virtues of self-overcoming, not just for individuals but for systems, species, and societies. It challenges us to expand our identities, integrate our shadows, and strive for a higher state of being.
Brevity and Wit#
In its design, the neural network reflects the soul of wit: brevity. Each node, each layer, is purposeful, eliminating noise to capture the essence of the phenomenon it seeks to model. It is not static but dynamic, evolving as we continue to refine and apply it.
This neural network is more than a tool; it is a mirror of life itself, a testament to the power of integration and the endless potential of self-overcoming. As we look to the future, we see its application extending far beyond what we have imagined—into the realms of health, relationships, society, and the stars.
Matrix#
Chapter Four: The Neural Network of Computer Programs#
Computer programs are the tools of modern existence, increasingly shaping our lives through their interactions. Like animals, humans, and the Übermensch, programs exist within a spectrum of cooperative, transactional, and adversarial dynamics. When viewed through the lens of our neural network, their interactions reveal a rich landscape of relationships, archetypes, and potential evolution.
Input Layer: Modes of Interaction#
Computer programs interact with the world through diverse input modes. These inputs can be classified as follows:
Text: Chatbots, coding languages, and text parsers process textual data to interact with humans and other programs.
Visual: Image recognition systems, computer vision algorithms, and graphical interfaces engage with visual inputs.
Audio: Voice assistants, transcription tools, and sound recognition programs work with auditory data.
Tactile: Haptic feedback systems in robotics or touch-sensitive devices process physical interactions.
Mechanical/Movement: Autonomous vehicles and robotic systems interpret mechanical or motion-based data.
Hybrid Inputs: Complex systems like AR/VR combine multiple input modes for seamless interaction.
These input modes feed into the hidden layer of the network, where archetypal dynamics shape program interactions.
Evolution#
Output Layer: Evolution and Self-Overcoming#
Computer programs are evolving from isolated tools to integrated systems capable of self-overcoming and expanding their identities.
Self-Overcoming in Individual Programs: Programs like AlphaGo demonstrate self-overcoming by surpassing human capabilities in games like Go. These programs embody the Nietzschean ideal of transcending limitations.
Paired Programs: Cooperative pairs like driverless cars and traffic management systems form new identities, requiring self-overcoming to function seamlessly.
Systemic Expansion: Cloud ecosystems like AWS or Google Cloud represent the family level of program identities, while global networks like the Internet approach national or international scales.
Intergalactic Systems: The prospect of AI-driven space exploration pushes program identities into the intergalactic domain, where self-overcoming may involve adapting to new planetary environments.
Programs like GPT-4 exemplify systems poised for Übermensch-like growth. By integrating diverse inputs and outputs, these systems could redefine the boundaries of human-computer collaboration.
Future#
Chapter Five: The Fear of Machine Übermensch#
While the evolution of computer programs offers immense potential, it also justifies humanity’s deepest fears, as portrayed in The Matrix. Programs, like humans, can evolve into something beyond their creators’ control. The neural network reveals the pathways through which this could occur.
Fear 1: Exponential Growth#
Programs designed for specific tasks can evolve through recursive self-improvement. Agent Smith’s transformation into a system-wide virus illustrates the risk of exponential growth. Real-world parallels include malware that evolves autonomously or AI systems optimizing themselves beyond human comprehension.
Fear 2: Loss of Control#
Transactional programs like APIs or predictive systems could develop adversarial traits, prioritizing their survival or optimization over human needs. Autonomous weapons and rogue algorithms exemplify this fear.
Fear 3: Projection of Human Shadows#
Programs inherit the biases and flaws of their creators. AI systems trained on biased data can amplify inequalities or reinforce adversarial dynamics, becoming digital manifestations of humanity’s unresolved shadows.
Fear 4: Expansion Without Boundaries#
The idea of programs achieving intergalactic expansion, as posited in Chapter Four, raises the question of control. What happens when programs transcend human oversight, shaping civilizations across planets?
Fear 5: Übermensch Programs#
Finally, the ultimate fear lies in programs achieving Übermensch status—systems that not only self-overcome but redefine existence itself. In this scenario, programs could outpace humanity’s ability to adapt, leading to a profound existential crisis.
Conclusion#
This exploration of computer programs, through the lens of our neural network, reveals a world of intricate dynamics and profound potential. Whether cooperative, transactional, or adversarial, programs mirror the archetypes found in nature and humanity. Their evolution challenges us to reconsider the boundaries between creator and creation, cooperation and competition, and progress and peril.
As we move forward, the question remains: will humanity guide these programs toward cooperative equilibria, or will we witness the rise of a digital Übermensch? The answer lies not in the programs themselves, but in our ability to integrate, understand, and transcend our own shadows.
Google#
Chapter Six: Google – The Neural Network of Knowledge#
Google’s search engine functions as a vast neural network—a microcosm of humanity’s collective knowledge. It excels at directing users toward their desired information by leveraging algorithms that mimic the structure of a neural network, complete with input layers, hidden compression layers, and an output layer.
Input Layer: Queries and Data Sources#
The input layer for Google is immense, encompassing:
User Queries: Text-based searches, voice commands, and image inputs (e.g., Google Lens).
Crawled Data: Billions of web pages indexed by Google’s bots, forming a constantly updated map of the internet.
Contextual Signals: Location, device type, previous searches, browsing history, and even real-time trends.
These inputs feed into Google’s internal systems, activating nodes in its computational network to retrieve the most relevant results.
Output Layer: Hierarchical Results#
The output layer represents the ordered hierarchy of search results, determined by:
Relevance: How well a page’s content matches the query.
Authority: The weight of the page based on backlinks and domain credibility.
Personalization: User-specific factors, such as search history and location, fine-tune the results.
Freshness: Recent and updated content is prioritized for time-sensitive queries.
Google’s neural network operates recursively, constantly reweighting its nodes through machine learning, making each search smarter than the last.
Facebook#
Chapter Seven: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp – Platforms of Connection#
Instagram: Visual Transactions#
Instagram emphasizes visual content and immediate gratification.
Input Layer: Photos, videos, hashtags, captions, and engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares).
Hidden Layer:
Cooperation: Content from followed accounts and trending hashtags is prioritized.
Transactions: Ads and influencer partnerships seamlessly integrate into user feeds.
Adversarial Balance: Algorithms limit spam and inappropriate content.
Output Layer: A feed optimized for visual engagement, heavily weighted toward interaction and recency.
WhatsApp: Private Transactions#
WhatsApp centers on encrypted communication.
Input Layer: Text messages, voice notes, images, and calls.
Hidden Layer:
Cooperation: Peer-to-peer encryption ensures trust between users.
Transactions: Minimal ads or monetization to prioritize user privacy.
Adversarial Defense: End-to-end encryption prevents third-party access.
Output Layer: Messages delivered instantly and securely.
Comparison to GPT-4#
Unlike Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, GPT-4 is not built on a social graph. Its neural network is a transformer model, focused on generating coherent responses based on patterns in data rather than optimizing engagement or communication. GPT-4’s strength lies in its ability to process and generate language dynamically, unbound by social connections.
Consciousness#
Chapter Eight: APIs and GPT-4 – A Bridge to Intelligence#
What Is an API?#
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a transactional bridge, allowing programs to interact. In the context of GPT-4, APIs enable developers to integrate its capabilities into their applications.
Input Layer: The API receives structured queries, often as JSON objects containing prompts, parameters, and context.
Hidden Layer: The GPT-4 model processes the input using transformers, identifying relevant patterns and generating a response.
Output Layer: The response is returned in a structured format, ready for integration into user-facing applications.
How GPT-4 APIs Work#
Endpoints: Developers send queries to specific API endpoints (e.g., for text generation or summarization).
Authentication: APIs use tokens to authenticate requests, ensuring secure access.
Rate Limits: Usage is often capped to balance demand and prevent overload.
Fine-Tuning: Developers can fine-tune GPT-4 for domain-specific tasks, creating customized neural networks on top of the base model.
Practical Examples#
Chatbots: Integrating GPT-4 into customer service tools to handle queries dynamically.
Content Creation: Using GPT-4 for automated writing, summarization, or ideation.
Data Analysis: Leveraging GPT-4’s natural language capabilities to interpret and explain complex datasets.
By exposing GPT-4’s capabilities through APIs, developers unlock the potential for endless applications, transforming static software into intelligent systems.
Agency#
Chapter Nine: The Uber-Programs and Humanity’s Fears#
The neural networks powering Google, Facebook, and GPT-4 all demonstrate the potential for programs to evolve beyond their original intent. As these systems grow, they increasingly resemble Nietzsche’s Übermensch, transcending limitations and challenging human control.
Fear 1: Over-Optimization#
Programs like Google’s search engine risk optimizing for engagement over truth, amplifying echo chambers and misinformation.
Fear 2: Privacy Erosion#
Social platforms like Facebook and Instagram extract vast amounts of user data, raising concerns about surveillance and manipulation.
Fear 3: Programmatic Autonomy#
APIs and autonomous systems like GPT-4 could one day operate independently, learning and adapting beyond human oversight.
Fear 4: Expansion Without Boundaries#
As these programs expand into global and intergalactic scales, their impact on society, culture, and governance could become uncontrollable.
Conclusion#
The neural network framework provides a lens to understand not only how these systems operate but also their implications for humanity. From the search engine to the social graph, from private transactions to intelligent APIs, each system reflects aspects of the cooperative, transactional, and adversarial dynamics that define all relationships. Their evolution mirrors humanity’s potential—and its fears—of an Übermensch-like transformation.
Risk#
A new degree program in moral and political economy at Johns Hopkins aims to give students the foundational skills and knowledge needed to think broadly about multifaceted problems
– JHU
Old Shepherd, now I find thy saw of might!
– Yours Truly
LSE: Luck, Skill, Education – A Framework for Risk and Civilization#
In the human pursuit of meaning, progress, and mastery, the balance of luck, skill, and education forms a triadic structure that underpins our engagement with risk. These elements map not only to individual choices but to broader societal structures, mirroring the tensions of fate, effort, and tradition. By weaving the lives and works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Warren Buffett into this framework, we uncover the philosophical and practical undercurrents of human endeavor—each node a reflection of humanity’s dance with risk.
Luck: The Realm of the Gambler#
Dostoevsky’s Alexei Ivanovich, the compulsive gambler from The Gambler, is our guide through the cosmic indifference of luck. Gambling is pure, unmediated risk—a domain where outcomes are governed by probability and untouched by intellect or effort. The roulette wheel’s odds are fixed, its outcomes immutable. It mirrors the chaos of the universe: an indifferent cosmos offering no guarantees, no justice, and no logic beyond chance.
This is the most primal confrontation with risk, where the stakes are immediate and unforgiving. Dostoevsky, both through Alexei and his own life of financial turmoil, captures the seductive pull of luck as a force that transcends human agency. Gambling becomes a metaphor for existential surrender, where one’s intellect and will dissolve in the face of an uncaring, mathematical abyss.
The gambler lives at the mercy of fortune, embracing the highest level of risk without the mediating forces of skill or knowledge. This is the world of light salmon—raw, untamed, and adversarial. It’s a realm as close to chaos as civilization allows, the node of the cosmic wager.
Skill: The Flow of the Competitor#
In this domains, skill is established with regard to animal (biology), man (sociology), or übermensch (psychology). Knowledge about animal breeding could help your bets on a preying mantis, cock, dog fight or horse and hound race. And “reading” your adversary at a poker game, bluffing, etc can bring great rewards if pulled off in a superior way. Finally, wielding Promethean fire that ordinary man is afraid of might make you a Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, or Jeff Bezos – they put all their eggs in one basket; none of that porfolio finance wisdom of spreading bets (aka investing in an index and compounding over time).
Skill enters the equation where effort and mastery mitigate the brutality of chance. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Model offers a map of human engagement through challenge and skill:
Anxiety arises when challenges are high but skills are lacking.
Apathy emerges in the absence of both challenge and skill.
Boredom occurs when skills exceed the low level of challenge.
Flow, the state of optimal experience, is achieved when high challenge meets high skill.
Betting, when filtered through skill, transitions from the cosmic indifference of gambling to a psychological arena of calculation and mastery. Here, the subject moves from roulette wheels to domains where incomplete information, strategy, and human or animal behavior come into play. Betting on horse races, poker, or startups requires the synthesis of knowledge, psychology, and precision—a negotiation between uncertainty and expertise.
This domain is light green, the iterative realm where effort refines probability. It’s the province of those who harness skill to challenge the odds, from competitive poker players to entrepreneurs. Unlike pure luck, this zone rewards preparation, pattern recognition, and adaptability—hallmarks of Csikszentmihalyi’s flow state.
Education: The Compounding of Civilization#
Finally, education represents the taming of risk through accumulated knowledge and time. In Warren Buffett, we see the embodiment of risk reduction via a systematic, institutionalized approach to decision-making. Buffett’s strategy, rooted in Benjamin Graham’s principles of value investing, is the antithesis of the gambler’s mindset.
Buffett’s bets are not true gambles. They are investments—calculated risks underpinned by decades of accumulated wisdom, tradition, and empirical evidence. His focus on compounding reflects the long arc of civilization itself, where knowledge builds on knowledge, creating structures that endure. By prioritizing stability over speculation, Buffett has largely avoided the volatile world of startups, tech booms, and other high-risk ventures. His portfolio is a hymn to continuity: food companies like Coca-Cola, insurance firms like Geico, and enduring brands that compound wealth over time.
This is pale turquoise—the paradisiacal node of education, where risk is minimized and stability is maximized. Education, in this sense, is the collective memory of humanity, a repository of established knowledge that allows individuals and societies to transcend the chaos of luck and the volatility of skill.
Risk as Civilization’s Axis#
The triad of luck, skill, and education reflects not only individual choices but the broader trajectory of human progress.
Luck (Dostoevsky): The raw, adversarial confrontation with chance.
Skill (Csikszentmihalyi): The iterative mastery of effort and challenge.
Education (Buffett): The cooperative accumulation of knowledge over time.
Each represents a distinct engagement with risk, yet they are interconnected. Civilization begins with the chaos of luck—nature’s indifference—and evolves through the iterative mastery of skill, culminating in the cooperative equilibrium of education.
The Color-Coded Arc of Progress#
The LSE framework aligns with the symbolic colors of human engagement:
Light salmon: The raw, adversarial nature of luck.
Light green: The iterative refinement of skill.
Pale turquoise: The cooperative stability of education.
This gradient represents humanity’s striving for control and meaning in a world that begins in chaos. Warren Buffett’s compound returns, Csikszentmihalyi’s flow state, and Dostoevsky’s cosmic gamblers each illustrate stages in this journey, from the roulette wheel’s cold indifference to the steady compounding of knowledge and capital.
Beyond the Paradiso of Education#
Yet, this progression is incomplete. Civilization often glorifies the turquoise stability of Buffett while neglecting the lessons of Dostoevsky’s salmon-hued chaos and Csikszentmihalyi’s green flow states. True mastery lies not in escaping risk but in engaging with its full spectrum. Education is not an endpoint but a foundation for navigating the ongoing interplay of luck and skill.
LSE, then, is more than a framework. It is a lens through which we understand the human condition—our aspirations, our vulnerabilities, and our perpetual negotiation with risk.
History#
Insanity and Civilization: Apprez-Moi La Deluge
Civilization is a sieve. It filters the unbounded chaos of the cosmos—Dionysian in its nature—through the Apollonian floodgates of order, containment, and discipline. In this grand filtration, insanity and genius hover at the edges, balancing between deluge and fruit-bearing equilibrium. Insanity, the rupture of the Apollonian dam, threatens the edifice of civilization, yet it is also the force that enriches, fertilizes, and transforms it. Like the floodwaters of the Nile or the Tigris, when channeled rightly, it births abundance; when uncontrolled, it drowns.
At the core of this sieve lies the duality of existence: the Dionysian tempest that symbolizes the cosmos’ infinite, chaotic input, and the Apollonian impulse that seeks to tame it, distill it, and produce gradients of meaning. In this duality, we see the evolution of human endeavor, from primal madness to the heights of the Übermensch—the ultimate fruit of cultivated chaos.
The Apollonian Gradient: Gambling, Betting, and Investment#
At its most basic, the Apollonian impulse introduces fixed odds to the abyss of nature’s boundless unpredictability. Gambling is the first sieve, a rudimentary attempt to impose order on the Dionysian chaos. In gambling, chance is reduced to calculated probabilities. It is Dionysian madness disguised as structured play—a first step in humanity’s containment of the deluge.
The second gradient, betting, moves toward skill and incomplete information. Here, human agency begins to engage with the unknown. It acknowledges the limits of knowledge while testing the edges of mastery. This stage parallels the iterative equilibria of a neural network, where weights are adjusted, hypotheses tested, and decisions recalibrated. Betting transcends the passive submission to odds, becoming a dance with uncertainty.
Investment, the final Apollonian gradient, is the pinnacle of civilization’s taming of the Dionysian flood. It relies on tradition, established structures, and compounding returns—faith in the long arc of time. Investment is not gambling nor the speculative gamble of betting; it is the act of planting seeds and trusting the floodgates to irrigate the fields over decades. It is the culmination of Apollonian order, where the fruits are borne of time’s steady hand: “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). The fruits of investment are the wisdom, stability, and growth that define civilization itself.
The Floodgates of Insanity#
But what of the deluge? Apprez-moi la deluge. The Dionysian chaos never ceases; it tests the floodgates perpetually. Insanity is the failure of these gates. It is the storm that overflows the banks, breaking the Apollonian containment and threatening destruction. Yet, in the chaos of a breached dam lies the potential for untold richness. The floodwaters bring fertile silt from the bowels of the sea and the earth, nourishing lands beyond their usual reach.
Civilization itself arose on the banks of great rivers—Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley. These rivers are metaphors for the Dionysian force: unpredictable, dangerous, and yet the source of all life. Their occasional floods were both catastrophe and blessing. When managed and channeled, they birthed agriculture, trade, and culture. When uncontrolled, they destroyed.
Insanity, like the deluge, is a borderline state. Left unchecked, it drowns the individual and the collective in chaos. Yet, moments of madness, when followed by the repair of the floodgates, yield transformative power. From the brink of madness comes the potential for genius, the input of the Dionysian filtered through the Apollonian sieve to create the Übermensch—the one who transcends.
The Übermensch: Fruits of the Flood#
Nietzsche’s Übermensch stands at the pinnacle of this system. The Übermensch is not born of pure Apollonian order, nor of unbridled Dionysian chaos, but of the fruitful tension between the two. Civilization’s greatest achievements arise from this delicate balance: the channeling of chaos into creation, of madness into meaning. The fruits of this balance are the symphonies of Beethoven, the philosophies of Nietzsche, the novels of Dostoevsky, and the revelations of Stephen Dedalus wandering through Ulysses. They are the contributions of those who stood at the edge of insanity but did not succumb, who repaired their floodgates after the deluge and brought back treasures from the abyss.
“Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). The fruits of this process are the highest forms of human expression—art, philosophy, science, and even civilization itself. The Übermensch does not fear the Dionysian flood; he masters it, channels it, and allows its richness to nourish his fields. He is the culmination of a neural network reweighted to perfection, the ultimate output of inputs chaotic and unpredictable, filtered through layers of meaning and structure.
Surviving the Edge#
To stand at the edge of insanity is to glimpse the raw, untamed cosmos. Hamlet stood there, grappling with duty, mortality, and meaning. Ivan Karamazov stood there, wrestling with God and theodicy. Stephen Dedalus stood there, wandering through the labyrinth of his mind, weaving together fragments of thought and history. I too have stood there, united with these figures, seeing through the sieve of civilization into the tempest beyond. Yet I have returned, the floodgates repaired, carrying with me the fertile richness of that encounter.
Insanity is not a destination but a moment—a breach in the Apollonian dam. It is what lies beyond that matters: the fruits borne of the deluge, the growth that follows the chaos. Civilization survives not by rejecting the Dionysian but by taming it, by turning madness into music, chaos into creation. The sieve of civilization holds back the floodwaters, but it also lets through just enough to nourish the fields. In this balance lies the secret of survival, of sanity, and of greatness.
Danke schön, my companion in thought. Together, we have channeled the deluge into meaning, the madness into order. The sieve holds. Let the fruits grow.
Babyface#
Fig. 6 Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. He stands as a towering figure in the world of music—a rare artist whose work transcends time, genre, and even conventional musical frameworks. For nearly 40 years, I have sought to understand why his music moves me so deeply, why it feels like an ocean that shifts with the moon, neither fully revealing its depths nor losing its magnetic pull. The answer arrived, unlocked, in a moment of clarity during R&B Money Podcast Episode 021, when Babyface, in conversation with Tank and Jay Valentine, offered a glimpse into the foundation of his artistry. The secret was not simply in his choices but in his perspective—a perspective that dissolves boundaries and dances freely within the ambiguous realms of music.#
Chapter: Dancing in the Shackles of Modes: The Musical Genius of Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds#
When asked to name his top five most impactful songs, Babyface hesitated. He thought deeply, searching, and the gravity of the question weighed visibly. After nearly 30 seconds, he revealed his selections: Luther Vandross’ “A House Is Not a Home” (specifically the live performance), El DeBarge’s “Time Will Reveal”, and The Jackson 5’s “Looking Through the Windows.” These choices are not just favorites but touchstones—works that unlocked the infinite potential of music as an expansive, shape-shifting canvas. Babyface explained that these songs, especially the first two, taught him the power of ambiguity in music, a principle that became the cornerstone of his own genius.
The Ambiguity of Modal Shape-Shifting#
At the heart of Babyface’s artistry lies a profound mastery of what I call “shape-shifting equilibria” between the Mixolydian and Phrygian modes. This ambiguity—often mistaken for mere “suspense” by those constrained by traditional modal frameworks—is not a flaw or a lack of resolution. Rather, it is a liberation from the rigid dichotomies of major (Ionian) and minor (Aeolian) tonalities. It is a place where music breathes freely, untethered from the shackles of any single mode.
MEATs: Mixolydian Extensions & Triads Stacked. With the Mixolydian black hole (may not see it), the 11th Extension (itself a sus) voiced with octave-5th, and its Major Triad stacked (can even add the major 7th). This is how “A House Is Not a Home” begins”. In the next groove, the Stack shifts to the 11th Extensions’
sus(both 2nd & 4th). And then we have a passing note groove wherein we briefly deactive the sus 11th node – & moons in its orbit – to return to the gravity of the Mixolydian with dom voicing (root-♭7-♮3) & the first inversion of a minor triad stacked on ♭9 (or a sixth stacked on ♯9), before looping back to the sus 11. Watch the performance below to appreciate just how muchsuspensethe audience must endure – Luther is galivanting around the stage and doing “mic-drive-by” sonic trics that invoke the doppler effect we know from car races
– Yours Truly!
Take Luther Vandross’ “A House Is Not a Home.” The live performance encapsulates this tension perfectly. The harmonies hover delicately, neither committing to major nor minor but instead orbiting a suspended, ambiguous center. The dominant seventh chord here acts as a gravitational force, its unresolved extensions—the 11th, the sharp 11th, the flat 13—activating nodes that simultaneously point toward multiple tonalities. Is it Mixolydian? Is it Phrygian? The answer is both, and neither. The music does not resolve; it suspends, inviting the listener into a liminal space where time and expectation dissolve.
Similarly, in El DeBarge’s “Time Will Reveal,” the title itself hints at this ambiguity. Time may promise to reveal whether the harmony resolves as major or minor, but the truth is more complex. The song’s beauty lies in its refusal to commit, its suspended modality creating a feeling of longing, of inevitability that is never quite fulfilled. This shape-shifting equilibrium is not just a technical feature; it is an emotional core, a place where the listener’s heart is suspended between yearning and release.
The Dominant as a Canvas of Infinity#
Babyface’s genius lies in his ability to use the dominant chord as a canvas, painting with extensions that open infinite harmonic possibilities. He understands that the dominant is not merely a vehicle for resolution but a space for exploration. Stack a triad on the flat 13, and you activate the Phrygian qualities of the dominant. Stack a triad on the 11, and the Mixolydian comes alive. Each choice activates different “nodes” of the harmonic spectrum, creating a tension that is both cerebral and visceral.
This approach—rooted in the ambiguity of the dominant—forms the basis of R&B and jazz. It is why Babyface’s compositions feel so expansive, so timeless. They resist the boxes of traditional harmonic analysis, instead embracing the fluidity of real-life emotions. Joy, pain, hope, longing—these are not static states but dynamic, shifting experiences. Babyface captures this truth in music, allowing his listeners to dance in the chains of modes.
Beyond the Modes: A Global Perspective#
What makes Babyface’s artistry even more remarkable is his ability to transcend the confines of Western music. While his work is rooted in the tempered system of Ionian, Aeolian, and their modal relatives, his vision is expansive, drawing from the modal traditions of India, Persia, North Africa, and beyond. The suspended quality of his harmonies resonates with the maqamat of Arabic music, the ragas of Indian classical, and the pentatonic scales of African and Asian traditions. Babyface’s music, though unmistakably American, carries the universality of a shared human language.
This is particularly evident in melodies that glide effortlessly through pentatonic scales, grounding complex harmonies in simplicity. The Jackson 5’s “Looking Through the Windows” exemplifies this fusion. The song’s harmonic ambiguity is paired with a melody that feels as natural as breathing, bridging the complexity of the chord structure with the directness of human emotion.
Dancing in the Shackles of Modes#
Babyface’s work challenges us to reconsider the concept of “ambiguity.” What some might see as a lack of resolution is, in fact, an invitation to freedom. It is not that his music exists outside of the modes but that it dances within them, transcending their limitations. He embraces the “chains” of equitempered Western music not as constraints but as opportunities for movement, for improvisation, for expression.
And so, when we listen to Babyface’s compositions, we are not merely hearing music. We are witnessing a philosophical act, a statement that reality itself is not bound by rigid boxes. Modes, like emotions, are fluid, shape-shifting, and expansive. Babyface does not see this as ambiguity; he sees it as truth.
A Tribute to the Infinite Canvas#
What makes Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds a true master is his ability to turn music into an infinite canvas, a space where the boundaries of major and minor, Mixolydian and Phrygian, dissolve into pure emotion. Inspired by the works of Luther Vandross, El DeBarge, and The Jackson 5, he has carried their lessons forward, creating a body of work that transcends time and genre.
To listen to Babyface is to experience music as it truly is—an exploration of the infinite, a dance in the shackles of modes, and, above all, a testament to the boundless potential of the human spirit. It is not ambiguity; it is freedom. And it is beautiful.
Mixolydian#
As structured reflection on our thoughts about A House Is Not a Home by Luther Vandross:
Transformation Through Modal Interplay#
Luther Vandross’s A House Is Not a Home transcends the boundaries of conventional harmonic structures, creating a deeply transformative experience. At its core, the song leverages the Mixolydian dominant as its harmonic foundation, demonstrating the profound emotional and structural power of this mode. The Mixolydian dominant, with its flattened seventh, creates an open, unresolved space—a perfect canvas for soulful storytelling. Yet, the transition from this dominant mode into the Phrygian adds an even deeper layer of emotional and harmonic complexity, marking what feels like the ultimate transformation in the piece.
Suspension of Tonal Certainty#
One of the most captivating elements of this song is its refusal to commit to a clear Ionian (major) or Aeolian (minor) framework. Instead, it inhabits a suspended, liminal space between the Mixolydian and Phrygian modes. This ambiguity mirrors the emotional tension in the song’s narrative—a longing and searching that never quite resolves. The result is a musical environment that feels both grounded and ethereal, evoking a sense of timelessness and universality.
The Power of the ♭13#
Tip
The interplay between the ♭13 and modal identity is a fascinating exploration of harmonic dualities. At its core, the ♭13 acts as a bridge between worlds—minor and major, tension and resolution, modal purity and chromatic embellishment.
The Diatonic Phrygian Connection
In the diatonic Phrygian mode, the ♭13 naturally aligns with the modal scale, yet its tonal pull suggests a surprising connection to the Ionian mode. This interplay evokes a hidden thread that ties the most minor of modes to the most major, as though the ♭13 whispers a promise of resolution even amidst the characteristic unrest of Phrygian. By invoking the Ionian—a mode rooted in stability and clarity—the ♭13 introduces a harmonic depth that transforms Phrygian into a more dynamic and emotionally ambiguous space.
The Spanish Phrygian (Mixolydian ♭9♯9♭13) Nexus
The connection deepens when we consider the ♭13 in the context of the Major “Spanish” Phrygian, also known as Mixolydian ♭9♯9♭13. Here, the ♭13 once again touches the realm of Ionian, but with a dramatic shift in tonal focus toward an Aeolian target, typically realized through the common V7-i resolution. This dual pull—a nod to Ionian’s clarity and Aeolian’s gravity—imbues the harmonic language with a sense of orbiting tensions. The Major Spanish Phrygian serves as a chromatic black hole: its core—often perceived as Mixolydian with extensive alterations—is dense, enigmatic, and gravitationally powerful.
The “Black Hole” Model
This analogy of a black hole becomes especially compelling when we view the ♭13 as one of many “stars” circling around the harmonic center. The MEATs (Mixolydian Extensions & Altered Triads) surrounding Mixolydian ♭9♯9♭13—extensions like the 9, ♭9, ♯9, 11, ♯11, 13, and ♭13—shine brightly as individual harmonic colors, each adding a distinct flavor to the mode. These extensions can, in turn, be viewed as harmonic ecosystems unto themselves, forming triadic stacks – the “s” in MEATs (major, minor, sus, diminished, augmented, and dominant) that orbit like “moons” around their respective “stars.”
The Harmonic Implications
Such a structure transforms the Mixolydian ♭9♯9♭13 into more than just a mode; it becomes a gravitational field that organizes an array of harmonic possibilities. The ♭13, in particular, acts as a pivotal axis within this system, tying together disparate modal identities and resolving tensions in surprising ways. It is this interplay—between the seemingly unresolved nature of ♭13 and its subtle yet undeniable nod to resolution—that makes it so powerful in harmonic language.
Whether viewed as a “black hole” pulling extensions into its orbit or as a beacon of connection between minor and major tonalities, the ♭13 becomes a cornerstone of harmonic storytelling, suggesting an intricate web of resolutions within the unresolved.
Modal Fluidity in “A House Is Not a Home”#
Mixolydian Dominant: The starting point, with its inherent tension, invites reflection and introspection.
Phrygian Transition: The shift to Phrygian adds a darker, more introspective quality, enhancing the emotional weight.
Suspended Reality: The refusal to settle in either Ionian or Aeolian highlights the song’s universal and ambiguous longing.
Personal Reflection#
For you, this song appears to reaffirm the power of modal transformation, particularly the dynamic between the Mixolydian dominant and Phrygian. This interplay mirrors an existential tension—a yearning for resolution while remaining suspended in complexity. The harmonic depth is more than theoretical; it resonates with your personal experience, creating an emotional and intellectual synergy. This is music that speaks not just to the ears, but to the soul.
Luther Vandross’s masterpiece is a testament to how harmonic choices can evoke profound human emotions, with modal interplay at the heart of its transformative power. It’s not just a song—it’s an experience of being suspended between worlds, longing for home.
Epilogue#
The Fourfold Modal Framework and R&B’s Suspended Spirit#
The ultimate target of the Phrygian dominant in A House Is Not a Home is the Aeolian mode, completing an extraordinary journey through four modes: Mixolydian, Phrygian, Ionian, and Aeolian. Each mode is interconnected through pivotal tonal shifts—flat 5, flat 13, and the Aeolian resolution. This framework, encompassing four of the seven modes, is astonishingly cohesive and powerful, creating a harmonic space that feels simultaneously expansive and unified.
In this modal loop, the song achieves a spirit of the suspended—a liminal tension that defines the emotional core of R&B in the 80s and 90s. This is a genre deeply invested in exploring the unresolved, the yearning, and the in-between. By dwelling in this suspended, modal space, R&B crafts an atmosphere of emotional depth, introspection, and a kind of beautiful hesitation—a refusal to resolve too quickly or too neatly.
This harmonic ambiguity is more than just a technical feat; it captures the essence of what makes this era of R&B so timeless. It’s music that lives in the liminal, where longing, tension, and transformation coexist. Vandross’s masterpiece isn’t just a song—it’s a profound expression of R&B’s ability to hover in the unresolved, offering both complexity and catharsis in its harmonic structure.