flis / EZE, 2026

 

flifs / EZE, 2026

 

"Eminent Victorians" as Asemic Criticism - AI / EZE, 2026

AI

Lytton Strachey’s Eminent Victorians (1918) acts as "asemic criticism" by stripping historical biography of its objective truth, didactic purpose, and definitive meaning. Instead of using language to deliver a settled verdict on figures like Florence Nightingale or Cardinal Manning, Strachey uses it as an open, artistic medium that relies on irony, subjectivity, and omission to let the reader project their own meaning onto the text. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

How it operates as asemic criticism:

• The Subversion of Meaning (Semantics): Traditional Victorian biography was meant to be morally instructive, building hagiographies out of the lives of national heroes. Strachey purposefully hollows out this objective. By using a cynical, detached tone, he empties these historical icons of their original meaning, rendering their historical actions absurd and their motivations Freudian rather than divine.
• Selective Aesthetic Assembly: Strachey famously conducted very little original archival research. Instead, he curated and distilled existing historical accounts to craft a stylized aesthetic narrative. In this way, his texts become akin to asemic writing—a work where the form and rhythm of the words take precedence over the verifiable, literal facts.
• Irony and "Mute Comment": Strachey frequently employed the technique of juxtaposing exalted theories or pious statements against the mundane, often petty reality of his subjects’ lives. This gap between what is written and what is actually happening creates a semantic vacuum; the ultimate moral of the story is intentionally left unsaid, leaving the reader to interpret the absurdity for themselves. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Explore the Work

• Read the Text: You can dive directly into the full, open-source text of Eminent Victorians on Project Gutenberg to observe how Strachey manipulates narrative style.
• Understand the Impact: To see how this literary approach changed the genre, read The Washington Post's retrospective on Strachey's revolutionary biographical legacy.
• The Asemic Connection: If you want to explore the theory of asemic writing further, refer to the Asemic Writing Entry on Wikipedia to understand how the purposeful removal of "meaning" functions as an art form. [1, 2]

"O Fortuna" as Lambda Calculus - AI / EZE, 2026

AI

To convert the iconic choral piece O Fortuna (from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana) to lambda calculus, we must abstract its essence—a relentless, fluctuating cycle of fate, sorrow, and change—into a timeless mathematical cycle of computation. [1, 2, 3]

Here is the conversion broken down into its functional counterparts:

1. The State of the World (Fate)

In lambda calculus, there are no variables that change state. Instead, we use Church Booleans to simulate change, where "Fortune" is a continuous function toggling between a crest and a trough. [1, 2, 3]

• \(TRUE = \lambda a. \lambda b. a\) (Favorable state/Crest)
• \(FALSE = \lambda a. \lambda b. b\) (Unfavorable state/Trough)

2. The Cycles (O Fortuna)

The famous opening movement starts in a sorrowful state, shifts to happiness, and falls back to sorrow. We can model this state transition dynamically using a simple higher-order function:

\(\lambda s. (s \ FALSE \ TRUE)\)

Where \(s\) takes the previous state and applies the inverse to it, representing the unpredictable wheel of fortune.

3. The Choral Movement (Velut Luna)

The lyrics describe the moon as a sphere of varying phases—vélut lúna státu vária (like the moon, you are variable). We encode a variable state sequence by abstracting the moon's phases recursively: [1]

\((\lambda f. \lambda x. f (f x)) \ (\lambda s. s \ FALSE \ TRUE)\)

This represents a repeated alternation of joy and sadness (the "twice" function). [1]

4. The Final Execution

To put "O Fortuna" into a continuous computation, we apply it to an initial emotional state \(E\) (like \(TRUE\)):

\(\lambda E. ((\lambda f. \lambda x. f (f x)) \ (\lambda s. s \ FALSE \ TRUE)) \ E\)

This evaluates to a perpetual harmonic loop of state reversals.

For tips on how to get recursive functions and abstractions just right:

12:40

Lambda Calculus [Computerphile] : r/programming

Computerphile

Reddit• Jan 28, 2017

A Midsummer Night's Dream as a Weighted Graph / EZE, 2026

AI

Converting A Midsummer Night's Dream into a weighted graph involves mapping characters as nodes and their interactions (e.g., sharing a scene or speaking to one another) as edges. The weight represents the intensity of interaction, such as lines of dialogue or number of shared scenes. [1, 2]

Here is how you can model the play into a structured weighted graph:

1. Nodes (Characters)

The nodes are the primary figures, often separated into three distinct social groups:

• The Lovers: Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, Helena
• The Royals: Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus
• The Fairies: Oberon, Titania, Puck, Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed
• The Mechanicals: Nick Bottom, Peter Quince, Francis Flute, Tom Snout, Snug, Robin Starveling [1]

2. Edges and Weights (The Relationships)

An edge exists between any two characters who share a scene or speak. [1]

• Edge Weight Formula: The weight of an edge between Node A and Node B can be determined by \(w = \sum (Shared Scenes) \text{ or } \sum (Lines Spoken to Each Other)\).

Here are some of the strongest edge connections (highest weights) in the graph:

• Bottom & Quince / The Mechanicals: High edge weight, due to their extensive rehearsal scenes together in Acts 1 and 3.
• Hermia & Lysander: High weight, driven by their romantic interactions and flight into the forest.
• Oberon & Puck: High weight, representing the command-and-execution dynamic of the fairy king and his servant.
• Hermia & Helena: High weight, reflecting their deep, albeit briefly fractured, friendship and confrontation scenes.

3. Graph Properties

• Undirected or Directed: It is usually modeled as an undirected graph because co-presence implies a two-way interaction. However, if you weight it by who directs lines of speech at whom, it becomes a directed graph.
• Centrality (The Plot Brokers): If you calculate the network metrics (like betweenness centrality), Puck and Bottom will emerge as the nodes with the highest centrality. Puck literally bridges the fairy, mechanical, and human worlds, while Bottom bridges the mechanicals and the enchanted Titania. [1, 2]

You can build and visualize this network computationally by using Python libraries like NetworkX to programmatically add each character node and edge to create a social network analysis map of Shakespeare's classic comedy! [1]

Here is the structured data overview of the weighted interaction graph for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Key Character Intersections (Edge Weights)

The weights represent approximate narrative proximity scaled from 1 to 10 based on shared scene length, spoken cues, and direct plot impact:

• Puck \(\leftrightarrow \) Oberon (Weight: 9): The strongest link in the play. This represents the central mechanical axis of the fairy subplot where commands are issued and reported.
• Hermia \(\leftrightarrow \) Lysander (Weight: 9): The highest romantic weight, accounting for their shared flight, initial elopement plans, and early forest tracking.
• Demetrius \(\leftrightarrow \) Helena (Weight: 8): Reflects the high-conflict pursuit throughout the woods and their eventual chemically induced reconciliation.
• Titania \(\leftrightarrow \) Bottom (Weight: 8): The critical cross-community bridge linking the Fairies and the Mechanicals due to the love-juice trick.
• Bottom \(\leftrightarrow \) Quince (Weight: 8): Represents the backbone of the theater troupe rehearsal schedule.

Network Properties & Centrality

Puck acts as the primary global bridge node with connections spanning the Lovers, Fairies, and Mechanicals.

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Theseus acts as the primary civic anchor, connecting the Nobles, the Lovers (via Egeus's legal challenge), and eventually the Mechanicals (during the Performance in Act V).

If you want to customize this further, let me know if you would like to:

• Add minor characters like Peaseblossom, Cobweb, or Philostrate.
• Make it a directed graph to show exactly who initiates dialogue or casts spells on whom.
• Filter by Act to see how the graph configuration morphs from Athens (Act 1) to the Woods (Acts 2–4).