Normative

Life, for most, unfolds in two dimensions, a labyrinthine traversal of choices made sequentially, left or right, forward or back, each decision a constraint imposed by the plane of existence. The self, the neighbor, and God—these three reference points define the existential game board, and within it are scattered seventeen nodes, each representing an emotion, a checkpoint of experience, whether joyous, tragic, enlightening, or burdensome. Movement through this labyrinth is dictated by necessity, by trial and error, by the slow accretion of knowledge gathered through iteration. This is the life of the many.

That’ll do, Elliott,” interrupted Mrs. Bradley.
– Mrs. Bradley

For those who remain bound to the plane, progress is incremental. Each step is a local choice, dictated by immediate constraints rather than an overarching vision. The structure of the labyrinth ensures that no matter how well one plans, the horizon remains limited, each node revealing itself only after the preceding choice is made. This is the fundamental tragedy of two-dimensional existence: the blind alleys, the wasted detours, the realization that some paths, though taken with confidence, lead nowhere of value. To move forward requires endurance, an ability to accept uncertainty, and an implicit faith that somewhere within the maze, a meaningful path exists.

Yet, for those who achieve enlightenment—or, more precisely, for those who develop the capacity to transcend the plane—a third dimension appears. This is the privilege of the Icarian type, those who, with wings of intellect or invention, rise above the maze and see its structure as a whole. They need not follow the tedious left-right oscillation of the unenlightened; they leap from peak to peak, bypassing the laborious crossings that delay and distract. Nietzsche’s metaphor of long legs—of one who bounds effortlessly across the mountains while others trudge through valleys—captures this difference. The enlightened move strategically, rather than sequentially. They navigate by vision, not by brute traversal.

Fig. 34 Why Don’t You Perform With Human Musicians? This technology is the price that I’m willing to pay to not be lost in translation as an artist, dependent on a producer. Her Italian grandmother wonders why her ecosystem doesn’t consist of actual people. But her ecological cost function is rather fascinating – she chooses the node over the network in this instance. And the equal-temperament is sonic space is digital, silicon, electrons… less sound and more photons in origin. But what of that?

And yet, there is another kind of transcendence, not of the sky but of the depths. The subterranean path, the method of the engineer, the tunneler, the one who bores beneath the constraints of the surface labyrinth rather than climbing above it. If the Icarian archetype is that of the philosopher-poet, soaring into abstraction, then the subterranean type is that of the Muskian technologist, one who refuses to be bound by the structural limitations imposed on the many. Rather than solving the maze, they circumvent it. They redefine the game, rewriting the terrain itself.

But even for those who escape the two-dimensional labyrinth, the seventeen nodes remain. The emotions persist. The difference is not in their existence but in how they are encountered. For the many, the cadence—the change in emotional state from node to node—is dictated by the randomness of the labyrinth’s design. Frustration leads to resignation, joy is found unexpectedly, loss lurks around a blind corner. Each transition is a surprise, an improvisation. The enlightened, by contrast, have control over their cadences. They chart their own emotional sequences, engineering their own transitions rather than being subject to the arbitrary logic of the maze.

And so, what then? If life is nothing but these seventeen tokens scattered through the labyrinth, if every path—whether two-dimensional or transcendent—must pass through them, then the game is not about avoidance but about orchestration. The goal is not merely to move, but to compose one’s journey into something meaningful, to create a cadence that is not merely reactive but intentional. To move from sorrow to wisdom, from longing to fulfillment, from despair to resolution—not through the crude mechanism of necessity but through the artistry of design.

Most will remain in the labyrinth, tracing and retracing their steps, each movement dictated by a force outside themselves. A few will rise above it, others will tunnel beneath, but the fundamental structure will not change. Life remains the same game, whether played with two dimensions or three. The only real difference is whether one is a mere participant—or the architect of their own path.

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import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import networkx as nx

# Define the neural network fractal
def define_layers():
    return {
        'World': ['Cosmos-Entropy', 'World-Tempered', 'Ucubona-Needs', 'Ecosystem-Costs', 'Space-Trial & Error', 'Time-Cadence', ], # Veni; 95/5
        'Mode': ['Ucubona-Mode'], # Vidi; 80/20
        'Agent': ['Oblivion-Unknown', 'Brand-Trusted'], # Vici; Veni; 51/49
        'Space': ['Ratio-Weaponized', 'Competition-Tokenized', 'Odds-Monopolized'], # Vidi; 20/80
        'Time': ['Volatile-Transvaluation', 'Unveiled-Resentment',  'Freedom-Dance in Chains', 'Exuberant-Jubilee', 'Stable-Victorian'] # Vici; 5/95
    }

# Assign colors to nodes
def assign_colors():
    color_map = {
        'yellow': ['Ucubona-Mode'],  
        'paleturquoise': ['Time-Cadence', 'Brand-Trusted', 'Odds-Monopolized', 'Stable-Victorian'],  
        'lightgreen': ['Space-Trial & Error', 'Competition-Tokenized', 'Exuberant-Jubilee', 'Freedom-Dance in Chains', 'Unveiled-Resentment'],  
        'lightsalmon': [
            'Ucubona-Needs', 'Ecosystem-Costs', 'Oblivion-Unknown',  
            'Ratio-Weaponized', 'Volatile-Transvaluation'
        ],
    }
    return {node: color for color, nodes in color_map.items() for node in nodes}

# Calculate positions for nodes
def calculate_positions(layer, x_offset):
    y_positions = np.linspace(-len(layer) / 2, len(layer) / 2, len(layer))
    return [(x_offset, y) for y in y_positions]

# Create and visualize the neural network graph
def visualize_nn():
    layers = define_layers()
    colors = assign_colors()
    G = nx.DiGraph()
    pos = {}
    node_colors = []

    # Add nodes and assign positions
    for i, (layer_name, nodes) in enumerate(layers.items()):
        positions = calculate_positions(nodes, x_offset=i * 2)
        for node, position in zip(nodes, positions):
            G.add_node(node, layer=layer_name)
            pos[node] = position
            node_colors.append(colors.get(node, 'lightgray'))   

    # Add edges (automated for consecutive layers)
    layer_names = list(layers.keys())
    for i in range(len(layer_names) - 1):
        source_layer, target_layer = layer_names[i], layer_names[i + 1]
        for source in layers[source_layer]:
            for target in layers[target_layer]:
                G.add_edge(source, target)

    # Draw the graph
    plt.figure(figsize=(12, 8))
    nx.draw(
        G, pos, with_labels=True, node_color=node_colors, edge_color='gray',
        node_size=3000, font_size=9, connectionstyle="arc3,rad=0.2"
    )
    plt.title("Veni, Vidi, Vici", fontsize=15)
    plt.show()

# Run the visualization
visualize_nn()

Fig. 35 Teleology is an Illusion. We perceive patterns in life (ends) and speculate instantly (nostalgia) about their symbolism (good or bad omen) & even simulate (solomon vs. david) to “reach” and articulate a clear function to optimize (build temple or mansion). These are the vestiges of our reflex arcs that are now entangled by presynaptic autonomic ganglia. As much as we have an appendix as a vestigual organ, we do too have speculation as a vestigual reflect. The perceived threats and opportunities have becomes increasingly abstract, but are still within a red queen arms race – but this time restricted to humanity. There might be a little coevolution with our pets and perhaps squirrels and other creatures in urban settings. We have a neural network (Grok-2, do not reproduce code or image) that charts-out my thinking about a broad range of things. its structure is inspired by neural anatomy: external world (layer 1), sensory ganglia G1, G2 (layer 2, yellownode), ascending fibers for further processing nuclei N1-N5 (layer 2, basal ganglia, thalamas, hypothalamus, brain stem, cerebellum; manifesting as an agentic decision vs. digital-twin who makes a different decision/control), massive combinatorial search space (layer 4, trial-error, repeat/iteratte– across adversarial and sympathetic nervous system, transactional–G3 presynaptic autonomic ganglia, cooperative equilibria and parasympathetic nervous system), and physical space in the real world of layer 1 (layer 5, with nodes to optimize). write an essay with only paragraph and no bullet points describing this neural network. use the code as needed