RE: The Power of Power Laws

Pedro, Terry,

I'm intrigued by the 'power laws' scenario. Worth exploring.

Without being too Occammish how does your neurological notion of
'power' map to cultural antecedents and meaning structures (Lord Acton,
Nietzsche,Adler, Foucault etc) or to quotidian usage (empowerment,
power walking, Power to the People etc)?

I imagine 'branding' and 'badging' are power law signatures of firms.

Re optimisation

Have you noticed that the native state of a folded protein strongly
resembles the Taoist symbol of harmony?
http://www.faseb.org/opar/protfold/protein.html

And even the fatalistic Greeks optimised Pandora's Box by leaving Hope inside...

John H

-----Original Message-----
From: "Pedro C. Mariju�n" [mailto:marijuan@posta.unizar.es]
Sent: Wednesday, 30 October 2002 0:34
To: Multiple recipients of list FIS
Subject: Re: The Power of Power Laws

Dear Terry and colleagues,

Thanks for adding the neuro-psychological dimension to the optimzation
theme. My view is that the power laws usually appear as a final structural
result because there are underlying dynamics of the very type you mention.
If we look at genomes, another structural/dynamic coupling of landscapes
would appear, perhaps easy to characterize than neuronal ones... I think
that whenever very dynamic 'infostructures' are anticipating for the sake
of underlying, slow (self) producing 'infrastructures' the power law
signature is the recurrent theme, marking that the adaptation game is going
fine. In economy (firms) it would also work.

Let me liberally add that, in our daily life, optimization as a behavioral
guiding theme is also quite clear. We optimize utility (as economists
insist), we are 'optimistic', we are 'great', we greet people by using
optimization-related formulas such as 'best wishes' and 'all the best' or
just 'best'... and in art and science we run an unending perfectionist
game, including Occam�s razor to cut and minimize unnecessary explanatory
stuff. Are they independent aspects or have a common
behavioral-motivational root?

all the worst (minimized!)

Pedro

At 01.43 26/10/02 +0200, you wrote:
>Dear Fellow FISers,
>
>I was intrigued by Pedro's post not too long ago, linking power laws as
>one common factor in the work of various complexity theorists. I, too have
>been fascinated by the brand new symmetry in nature, self-similarity, that
>lurks beneath power laws. I believe its ubiquity quite meaningful.
>
>In my opinion,self-similar dynamics and fractal geometry serve as a bridge
>between the imaginary and real, mind and matter, unconscious and
>conscious. Everywhere in nature, fractal separatrices articulate a
>paradoxical zone of bounded infinity that both separates and connects
>nature's edges. By occupying the "space between" dimensions and various
>levels of existence, fractal boundaries appear to exemplify reentry
>dynamics of Varela's autonomous systems. As a psychologist, I am most
>intrigued by fractal models of the psyche and how these dynamics appear to
>occupy that seamless seam where brain, mind and consciousness are most
>entangled.
>
>Best,
>Terry