[PREV - THE_ABSTRACTION_GAME]    [TOP]

DEALING_THE_DECK

                                      May 31 2004 

How about: forced association 
between grand abstractions.   
                                                         
Pair up concepts, and try substituting
them in, with different connectors:            THE_ABSTRACTION_GAME
                            
   "is" "not" "or" "over" "was"
                           
Do you get anything useful ? 
                           

Okay, first let's just
try identity: "is"           Though maybe "is" 
                             isn't exactly identity.
                                                    
                                                (There must be a 
                                                 Clinton joke in here 
                                                 somewhere.)

For the deck of abstractions, 
let's start with my usual ones:       
                                      
    intelligence                    
    love                  (any others?)
    god         
    beauty 
    freedom
    responsibility


From Tolstoy's list:         THE_ABSTRACTION_GAME

    will 
    spirit
    substance

Lift a few items 
from the Sun Ra deck:

    judgment
    the world
    the chariot

    joy
    enlightment
                                              
     Some pairs of opposed                 (effectively allows      
     abstractions:                          some "is not" relations
                                            as well as "is"):          
    light       darkness
    life        death  
    chaos       order 
    the good    evil

Some cagey concepts:
    
    silence
    ego 
    chance 

How about a few of the oldies:

    fate
    passion 
    nature
    technology
    reality 

Throw in a few jokers: 
                                                       
    disappointment          (Skimmed for abstract nouns    
    hot                     in the first chapter of the
    limit                   "Glass Key".)                   
                                                        
And why not  
    the joker


A little existential-nietzschean crap:
    existence 
    essence 
    eternity
    morality
    authenticity

Beat:
    action        
    madness       
    sadness       
                  
    turmoil     (the beat-buddhism connection)
    illusion                                  
                                I have the impression 
                                that "samsara" can be 
                                translated as 
                                suffering/turmoil/illusion
Words of doom:
  
    depth
    complexity
    
  
And in summary, we have                         THE_DECK
the deck...          
 
--------
[NEXT - THE_DECK]