dagblog - Comments for "And Now for Something Completely Different"

I guess it would bias it in a

Elusive Trope — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:51:57 +0000

In reply to That would bias the results,

I guess it would bias it in a different way. I would see where one could have the option of creating their stream of consciousness string or one which is feeding off other people's associations. I kind of like the latter in regards to interacting with on the web because I get to see what other people are associating to something I am thinking about and then feeding off of that. So the string that is created is more a "collectively" developed string. Whereas in the former option, aside from the beginning word, is just my string which is then added to pot afterwards, which in the end does create some interesting collective data.

That would bias the results,

Michael Wolraich — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:05:27 +0000

In reply to Like the updated version. I

That would bias the results, no?

Like the updated version. I

Elusive Trope — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:45:16 +0000

In reply to Great ideas which would be

Like the updated version. I think it's much better being given a word to respond to at the outset helps.

One addition maybe to think about - since it the global unconscious - and once there is a larger database of associations is to pop up randomly what others associate with the word one first types into the initial word. For example, if the initial word is "fork" and I put in "pie" then what pops up next for me to free associate is "chart" which someone associated with pie at one point.

Great ideas which would be

Michael Wolraich — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:07:27 +0000

In reply to Glad you like the ideas. Here

Great ideas which would be excellent in the future, but I'm going to keep it as simple as possible for now. Please check out the new and improved version that emphasizes riding the flow. I would live to hear your thoughts and those of the canaidan tree-guy and everyone else who has intelligent thoughts.

My plan, if this version is good, is to add a Share My Stream option for Facebook and Twitter. The share link would display the whole stream and encourage ohters to generate their own streams.

If nothing else you'll find

erica — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:16:54 +0000

In reply to I don't have a good solution

If nothing else you'll find out how many people can spell.

Hey. It's FREE association,

quinn esq — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 05:32:34 +0000

In reply to WTF?! Turnips?!!!!

Hey. It's FREE association, man. Free you mind, Bwak. The turnips will follow.

WTF?! Turnips?!!!!

bwakfat — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 03:15:06 +0000

In reply to And Now for Something Completely Different

WTF?! Turnips?!!!!

Ok, listen up, as I'm kinda

quinn esq — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:50:13 +0000

In reply to Glad you like the ideas. Here

Ok, listen up, as I'm kinda tired of this crap.

MY idea was... a tree.

Whereas YOUR version is some goddamn acid trip through all 11 (or 13) dimensions of Brian Greene's mind, flying Cutter John's wheelchair through a graphic representation of the global subconscious.

Clearly, yours would be more popular, draw in a lot more participants, generate more cash for Genghis and enable us earthlings to rapidly form a planetary consciousness, thus achieving world peace.

Still, man, think about it. A tree!

Glad you like the ideas. Here

Obey — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:17:43 +0000

In reply to Great ideas. I think it's

Glad you like the ideas. Here are a couple of more developing on the first ones:

To make the page more fun, you could have different activities

1. Take a ride on the stream (have the program give you a series of random words to associate)

2. Add words to the database (from which challenge words are picked)

3. Search function: Ask for expressions associated to a given word

So (1) is just for fun, (2) is when you have a word and want to see what others associate it with (you come back a couple of weeks later to see what word-associates it has), and (3) is to see the association map around a given word. Actually, the current setup, with the function where you insert both the challenge word and then its associate, might not have any role to play at that point.

As regards viralness, if you want people to share, it might be worthwhile thinking about how the pages for words are represented, and what is represented therein.

What would people want to share on FB or elsewhere? Imho, maybe something like the search results page for a given word, where the results may be funny, intriguing, or just somehow curious, right? So it helps if that page looks pretty good. And then there is the information therein. It might be fun to see not only the first-degree associations, but also the associations of associations, and maybe even third-degree associations. Kind of a picture of Hebbian pathways of connection like those in neural networks.

So representationally, you could have a pseudo-three-dimensional space of words, as seen from the perspective of the 'home' word. (i) The largest (nearest) words will be the first degree associate words, even varying in size according to popularity or frequency, then (ii) smaller (more distant) words that are the second degree associates each linked to one or more of the first degree associates. To make the difference between first degree and second degree associates clear, you could highlight the former in color, and leave the latter in grey, or something.

The screen then would look a bit like a word cloud, the 'home' word in large bold in the middle, and then large first-degree associates around it with smaller second-third-degree associates scattered in between in grey. It would be like looking at the night sky with nearer stars and planets and more distant stars and galaxies. The idea would be that interactively, the user could 'surf' through this space of word associations, clicking on associate-words and thereby 'hopping' to that word's 'home' page from which the perspective on the broader word-space changes. That could then be a fourth optional activity on the site - just surfing around the existing word-universe, hopping from word to word through already established associations, without necessarily adding any new connections nor seeking out any particular associations either.

Hm, my enthusiasm is getting the better of me. So do ignore if this is getting impracticable, or not what you were looking for.

But it would be literally like flying around the global subconscious, and the graphic representation should reflect that fact. It could be exhilarating stuff, which I'm sure lots of people would ... 'like'.

I like global

Michael Wolraich — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:51:42 +0000

In reply to I suspect it needs some sort

I like global unconsciousness. Better than my stupid blurb about crossword puzzles. And more likely to get people to share it.