The Minciu Sodas laboratory. Working group for OurOwnThoughts. Public Domain 2000.

MindSet

Version 0.1 (Draft) October 27, 2000

Diagram added February 27, 2001

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Author: Andrius Kulikauskas, [email protected]

Introduction . MindSet Guidelines . MindSet CSV Format . Sources

Introduction
What is MindSet?
What is the purpose of MindSet?
How does MindSet work?
What aspects of our thinking do we model?
How do we model a thought?

MindSet Guidelines
We recognize our thoughts within our material.
We consider our material as levers for our thoughts.
Six levers capture our thought.
"Content" sustains our thought.
"Prompt" evokes our thought.
"ID", "FromID" and "ToID" plot our thought locally.
"Intent" pictures our thought globally.
We define Intents structurally.
"Self-oblivious" systems are not "Self-reflective".
We assign Intents conceptually.
"Independent Thought" | "Unordered Hierarchy" | "Nondirected Network" | "Acyclic Network" | "Closed Sequence" | "Open Sequence" | "Directed Network" | "Irregular Structure"
We extend the MindSet standard by creating more kinds of levers.

MindSet CSV Format
What is CSV?
Which CSV?
What must a table in CSV format satisfy in order for us to interpret it as structured by the MindSet guidelines?
How do we interpret a table in CSV format as expressing the MindSet guidelines?

Sources
Bibliography
Dedication
Acknowledgements

Introduction

What is MindSet? MindSet is a standard for modeling our thinking. MindSet consists of a modeling language and various implementations.

What is the purpose of MindSet? MindSet frees us to reexperience our thinking. MindSet makes us aware of the consequences of using "mental levers" to approach our thoughts. MindSet is particularly helpful when we wish to use software tools for organizing large numbers of thoughts. MindSet helps us transfer our accumulated thoughts from one software tool to another.

How does MindSet work? MindSet assumes that we record "mental levers" to help us reexperience our thoughts. MindSet guides us how to structure our mental levers in a single table. We identify the rows of this table with our thoughts. We identify the columns of our table with basic kinds of mental levers. MindSet then offers concrete ways to format our table. One such format is CSV.

What aspects of our thinking do we model? MindSet asks us to distinguish between static thinking (focusing on a thought), and dynamic thinking (jumping from thought to thought). Also, MindSet asks us to distinguish between immersive thinking (engrossed in a thought), and reflective thinking (detached from a thought).

How do we model a thought? MindSet has us identify a thought with a bundle of six mental levers: ID, FromID, ToID, Intent, Prompt, Content. Our mental levers let us choose to think statically or dynamically, immersively or reflectively.

MindSet Guidelines

We recognize our thoughts within our material. We wish to methodically direct our thinking with material we have accumulated and structured. We therefore need the ability to recognize our thoughts, stable states within our thinking.

We consider our material as levers for our thoughts. We need the ability to distinguish and isolate the particular aspects of our material that help us reexperience our thought. These aspects are levers for our thought.

Six levers capture our thought. MindSet guides us how to capture our thought using six kinds of levers: ID, FromID, ToID, Intent, Prompt, Content. For a given thought, any of these levers may be undefined.

"Content" sustains our thought. Content is our lever to support immersive thinking. We record as Content that information by which our thought maintains our attention. Content has nontrivial internal structure that engrosses us. Content may be a paragraph of text, or any other expression of an idea, perhaps as an image, file, code, data.

"Prompt" evokes our thought. Prompt is our lever to support reflective thinking. We record as Prompt that information by which our thought evokes our attention. Prompt refers us to the Content. Prompt is succinct enough so that we may view many Prompts at once. Prompt may be, for example, a name, address or sign.

"ID", "FromID" and "ToID" plot our thought locally. ID, FromID and ToID are our levers to support dynamic thinking. Together they let us interpret our thought (identified by ID) as the movement of our mind from one thought (identified by FromID) to another thought (identified by ToID). If ID=X, FromID=Y and ToID=Z, then Y refers to the thoughts in our table for which ID=Y, and Z refers to the thoughts in our table for which ID=Z. We do not require that thoughts exist for which ID=Y or ID=Z. In general, we place no restrictions on ID, FromID or ToID. In particular, they need not be unique. We consider thoughts to be interchangeable if they have the same value for ID.

"Intent" pictures our thought globally. Intent is our lever to support static thinking. We record as Intent our structural expectations for our thought with respect to all other thoughts. If our thought has ID=X, FromID=Y and ToID=Z, then we can consider our thought as a structural relationship between thoughts with ID=Y and ID=Z, and its Intent gives the structural nature of this relationship. There are eight reserved choices for Intent, described below. In these cases, Intent signifies our global expectations regarding the structure of the system formed by the local relationships described by all thoughts having that Intent. We do not require that the local relationship actually satisfy our global expectations. Intent simply makes explicit our mental picture within which we intend our thought to participate as a local relationship between two other thoughts. Aside from the reserved choices, we are also allowed to create other choices for Intent, as needed, for our specific purposes.

We define Intents structurally. In what follows, let I be a choice of Intent. Let S be the set of thoughts with Intent I. Let V be the set of values of FromID and ToID for all thoughts in S. Let X, Y, Z, A, B, C, A1, A2, ..., An be values in V. We write Y=>Z if there exists a thought in S with FromID=Y and ToID=Z. We write Y>>>Z if there exists a sequence of values A1, A2, ..., An with n>=1 such that Y=>A1, A1=>A2, ... , An=>Z.

"Self-oblivious" systems are not "Self-reflective". We say that S is "self-reflective" if in S there exists at least one thought with ID=X, FromID=Y and ToID=Z, such that there also exists in S a thought with ID=Y or ID=Z. Otherwise we say that S is "self-oblivious". When S is self-oblivious, then we have two disjoint systems of thoughts: relationships in S, and nodes in N, where N consists of all thoughts whose IDs are values in V.

We assign Intents conceptually. Choose from the eight reserved choices of Intent. Do not worry if your thought violates the structural expectation. Such violations are natural consequences of forming mental pictures. Instead, choose Intent to express the conceptual nature of the system. Have you structured your thought so that your mind moves from FromID to ToID? Doublecheck! If you are not happy with any of the reserved choices of Intent, then please feel free to create your own.

Note: Diagram added February 27, 2001

Independent Thought

Structural expectation: S is self-oblivious. The set V is empty, which is to say, the levers FromID and ToID are undefined. In other words, thoughts in S are disjoint nodes.
Conceptual expectation: Each of our thoughts stands by itself. We ignore any relationship that our thought might convey with FromID and ToID.

Unordered Hierarchy

Structural expectation: S is self-oblivious. There exists an A in V such that for all X in V, X>>>A or X=A. If Y is in V, but Y is not A, then there is a unique Z in V such that Y=>Z. In other words, thoughts in S are the branches of a tree, and they all point towards the root of the tree. This aside, branches are not ordered.
Conceptual expectation: Our mental picture is of a Catalog, a hierarchy which violations restructure with a network of crosslinks. Systems use this to organize tags, distinctions that enable selective interaction. Systems of thought often use this for channeling convergence. How does our mind move? Idea (FromID) relates to topic (ToID).

Nondirected Network

Structural expectation: S is self-oblivious. If Y and Z are in S, then Z=>Y whenever Y=>Z. In other words, thoughts in S are the links of a network, and the links come in pairs. Each link represents the motion of our mind, in one direction or the other.
Conceptual expectation: Our mental picture is of an Atlas, a network which violations restructure with a hierarchy of global and local views. Systems use this to organize diversity, the stability of niches. Systems of thought often use this for inspiring divergence. How does our mind move? Conception (FromID) suggests reconception (ToID).

Acyclic Network

Structural expectation: S is self-oblivious. If Y is in V, then it is never the case thatY>>>Y. In other words, thoughts in S are the links of a network, and they never form cycles.
Conceptual expectation: Our mental picture is of an Evolution, a hierarchy which violations restructure with a sequence, as when we synchronize the branches of the tree of life. Systems use this to organize building blocks, the generators of candidate models. Systems of thought often use this for appraising scenarios. How does our mind move? Outcome (FromID) brings possibility (ToID).

Closed Sequence

Structural expectation: S is self-oblivious. There exist B and C in V, such that for any additional Y in V, B>>>Y and Y>>>C. In other words, thoughts in S are the steps in a sequence which has an absolute beginning and an absolute end.
Conceptual expectation: Our mental picture is of a Chronicle, a sequence which violations restructure with a hierarchy, as when we group together adjacent events into historical periods. Systems use this to organize internal models, the selective emphases of experience. Systems of thought often use this for selecting context. How does our mind move? Context (FromID) influences event (ToID).

Open Sequence

Structural expectation: S is self-oblivious. If X and Y are in V, then either X=Y or X>>>Y or Y>>>X. In other words, thoughts in S are the steps in a sequence which are ordered relative to each other, without an absolute beginning or end.
Conceptual expectation: Our mental picture is of a Canon, a sequence which violations restructure with a network, as when reuse occurs within a Scripture, or within a factory line. Systems use this to organize nonlinearity, where effects of changes can be disproportionate. Systems of thought often use this for ranking judgements. How does our mind move? Lesser priority (FromID) is overshadowed by greater priority (ToID).

Directed Network

Structural expectation: S is self-oblivious. In other words, thoughts in S are the links in a network, with no other expectations.
Conceptual expectation: Our mental picture is of a Tour, a network which violations restructure with a sequence that we walk along. Systems use this to organize flows, the effects of propagating and recycling. Systems of thought often use this for examining legitimacy. How does our mind move? Cause (FromID) leads to effect (ToID).

Irregular Structure

Structural expectation: None. In particular, S may be self-reflective.
Conceptual expectation: Our mental picture is of a Template, the internal structuring of a thought. Systems use this to organize aggregation, the attributes that distinguish a collective from its members. Systems of thought often use this for analyzing independence.

We extend the MindSet standard by creating more kinds of levers. We all are welcome to invent additional kinds of levers to help us approach our thoughts.

MindSet CSV Format

What is CSV? Comma Separated Values (CSV) is a format for storing data within a single table. For the purposes of this standard, CSV is defined as follows. The values in the table must be strings of text. These strings must consist of ANSI characters from among those corresponding to the numbers 9 (tab), 10 (linefeed), 13 (carriage return) and the inclusive range 20 through 255. CSV is a text file that lists the rows of the table. Adjacent rows are separated by a carriage return followed by a line feed. Each row in the table consists of the same fields, and always lists them in the same order. Each row in the table is a string that lists out the field values. Adjacent field values are separated by commas. What happens if one of these delimiters occurs within the field value? Double quotation marks " are used to encode these field values. Therefore, every double quotation mark " within a field value must first be replaced by a pair of double quotation marks "". Next, if a field value contains a parsing element (comma, carriage return, line feed, exclamation mark, back slash, or double quotation mark), then an additional double quotation mark must be inserted just before the front of the field value, and another double quotation mark just after the end. How do we know whether a field value will need to be decoded, and how do we know where it starts and ends? We know that a field value needs to be decoded if it starts with a double quotation mark. We examine, in sequence, the double quotation marks which follow it, to decide whether they mark the end of the field value. Upon encountering a double quotation mark, if there is a double quotation mark after it, then we move on. If there is not, then if we have an even number of double quotation marks in the field value so far, then we know that we have come to the end of the field value.

Which CSV? Please be aware that the CSV format has no standard description, so you will find variations of CSV differing from the one described for this standard. There is no agreement on which characters are allowed. There is no agreement on what are the parsing elements that trigger the use of double quotation marks. There is no agreement on the functions of the parsing elements. For example, the exclamation mark ! may be used for comments, and the double back slash \\ may be used to wrap long lines, especially to accomodate text editors.

What must a table in CSV format satisfy in order for us to interpret it as structured by the MindSet guidelines? The first row must start with the string: ID, FromID, ToID, Intent, Prompt, Content The first row may not contain any double quotation marks ".

How do we interpret a table in CSV format as expressing the MindSet guidelines? The names of the kinds of levers are given by the values of the first row. We interpret all of the other rows as our thoughts. We associate the first six columns with the reserved kinds of levers, and any additional columns with invented kinds of levers. We interpret the value at a column and a row as a lever for a thought. If a field value is the empty string, then we interpret the lever to be undefined. We interpret the following two letter codes as our reserved choices for Intent: IT=Independent Thought, UH=Unordered Hierarchy, NN=Nondirected Network, AN=Acyclic Network, CS=Closed Sequence, OS=Open Sequence, DN=Directed Network, IS=Irregular Structure. We ignore any row which starts with an exclamation mark (this is done to insert comments, which we ignore). We interpret any row which starts with a double back slash \\ as extending the previous row (this is done to simplify work with a text editor when rows are long).

Sources

Bibliography The author found two books particularly helpful: "The Thinker's Toolkit: 14 Powerful Techniques for Problem Solving" by Morgan D. Jones, 1998, Random House. "Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity" by John H. Holland, 1995, Perseus Books.

Dedication The author dedicates this draft to Kestas Augutis, who inspired work on this standard. He wished to teach children to write in sequences, hierarchies and networks.

Acknowledgements Thank you to TheBrain, LLC for sponsoring the investigation "Linking Locally is Thinking Globally" at the Minciu Sodas laboratory to develop this standard. Thank you also to MindJET, LLC for sponsoring work towards this standard. A special Thank You to all of the members of the OurOwnThoughts working group of the Minciu Sodas laboratory: Jeffry Archambeault (Open Idea Project), Koy Kong Aw (Multicentrix), Zigmas Bigelis, Algis Cibulskis, Stephen Danic (Lucid), Ben Darnell (Thoughtstream), Hans Donner, Nick Duffill (MindJET), Flemming Funch, Christian Jeyaraj George, Joseph A. Goguen, John Harland, Anna Herbert (TheBrain), Paul Jones, Dr.Rodney King, Yasuaki Kudo, John Leppik, Saulius Maskeliunas, Cass McNutt, Mark Oeltjenbruns, Steve Raiff, Roy Roebuck, Marjorie Stamm Rosenfeld, Mudis Salkauskas, Lucas Gonzalez Santa Cruz, Bronius Tamulynas, Carol H. Tucker, Raimundas Vaitkevicius, Caspar van Beek, William Wagner, George Chih-Chao Wu, Kenneth Yu.