The House of Jack
— Eigenstate Example Eventline Exegesis —
[Example relating to a text on time tunnels.]
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The House That Jack Built
House and Malt
Let us look at the events transpiring in the house that Jack built, as retold by Mother Goose. In the house that Jack built, there was malt.
- This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built
Malt is an uncountable, a mass, comparable to water or something else that is indistinct or indeterminate in some way. The parts that make up the malt are individuals if taken out of the group, but as malt they are not individuals. On their own, as individuals, they are not malt.
Further, malt can be divided without losing its nature. Put half the malt into one container, the other half into another container, both will still contain malt.
In the house that Jack built, malt cannot be considered a unique causal event excepting the ultra-generic case of being an initial state of non-differentiation from which events start to develop. This would be why we can say the malt. It is also fitting that malt implies germination, which is to say that wherever there is a situation, something will come along and happen to it. Something is brewing, though we know not what yet.
The presence of the malt, however, is not a unique event. It describes the fact that there is always a general background, the Eigenstate of a situation, that every situation is situated. Everything that exists, exists within a context. This is, however, completely generic, indeterminate and non-specific. The malt might have been made from other particular ingredient grains, or might even have been something else that would have attracted the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
Malt and Rat
In the house that Jack built there was malt. There was also a rat.
- This is the rat that ate the malt
As an event the rat eating the malt is one step removed from the generic Eigenstate of the situation. The situation has attracted activity into itself. Compare with how in a single slit-experiment you “force” the photon to materialize in particular form. Had there been both malt and cheese, perhaps this rat would have chosen the cheese. In a dual-slit variation of the house that Jack built, there would be wave interference, something else might have happened.
A rat eating the malt is an individual in a sense the malt cannot be. You cannot divide the rat without making it a dead rat, and dead rats do not eat malt. It is, however, conceivable that has this particular rat not eaten of the malt that lay in the house that Jack built, another rat would have. Such is the way of rats. Which is why people in Jack’s time used to have a cat, so that the cat could eat the rat if the rat ate of the malt in the house they had built.
Rat and Cat
In the house that Jack built there was a cat that killed the rat that ate the malt.
- This is the cat that killed the rat
Now the generic state and the rat-event meet up with the cat’s eventline. The situation is getting entangleder and entangleder. We now also have a vague hint at self-reference, as if there had been no rats in the house that Jack built, there might not have been a cat. Cats were part and parcel, in a way, of the house house-ness, as a house that someone lives in at least.
The interpretation we are invited to is that when the rat interacts with the Eigenstate of the house that Jack built, the house reciprocates. The situation changes. The malt that the rat ate and the rat that the cat killed may be dead and gone, but these events will now irrevocably have taken place. They are now links in a chain of events.
We can say that the situation has been stirred. The house, the ultimate context, is no longer quite the same. The cat, being a very sensitive being, notices this, and is therefore easily disturbed by the dog.
Cat and Dog
Let us now look at the disturbance scenario.
- This is the dog that worried the cat
We have an escalation of events going on here. We may consider the dog worrying the cat a “ripple” in the Eigenstate. There may be a slightly smaller amount of malt but it is hardly all gone, but one rat is gone and the cat is getting worried. Change is escalating through the system and is now alerting the dog.
Obviously, the system — which is the house that Jack built — was at some kind of tipping point. It is a common idea that cats and dogs are like cats and dogs, but it is not for that reason necessary that they are, or that they are at all times.
This time, though, critical mass is reached. The dog has just had it. It worries the cat, which was only doing what it was supposed to do, following its nature too. Any disinterested observer with a sense of fairness and appreciation of proper order would be disturbed by that. As it happens, there was one such peaceful observer present.
Dog and Cow
Say hello to Frau Bovine, disinterested observer with a preference for peace.
- This is the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog
The cow is a representative of the larger system outside the bounds of the system we have looked at so far. The cow does not reside in the house that Jack built, but outside of it.
Interpreted as an archetype, the cow is an extra archaic archetype. To the Hindus the cow represents Aditi — the limitless — mother of the gods. A non-theist term for Aditi borrowed from Greek philosophy might be the Apeiron. To the Egyptians she was Nut and in Norse mythology we have Auðumbla.
The cow getting involved means that the chain of cause-and-effect following the rat eating the malt in the house that Jack built has now escalated to such an extent that the house cannot contain, or control, subsequent events any longer.
One may also think of the cow as inertia. When the rat shakes things up before getting killed by the cat, in the house that Jack built, the cat was inertia counteracting the rat eating malt by killing the rat, setting things straight again.
Only events cannot be reversed. Killing the rat does not make the malt come back. The house that Jack built, considered as a system and as represented by the dog, is now in the rôle of the rat versus Bovine. Bovine does not like dogs worrying cats doing what they should any more than cats can stand seeing rats eating the malt.
In short, the escalating chain of events are now upon a higher “level”. The universal level of die Frau — the Frame of Reference As Universe —, the largest frame of reference we are capable of; the universe. We may consider the Frame of Reference As Universe as both center-point and containing frame at the same time, analogously to center and surface of a three-dimensional sphere. This loops back to the idea that objects are points in eventlines.
Cow and Maiden
At this stage the story seems to become less distinct. There is no obvious connection between die Frau and our next character; the maiden.
- This is the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow
How do we make sense of the maiden following die Frau? We had a discrete chain of events, but the maiden milking the cow is not a necessary next step in the chain of events. At least not obviously so. So, how do we make sense of this?
My suggestion is that we make the following conclusion: When a system is disturbed to such an extent that it cannot contain or control events, it will affect its environment, and it will do so in unpredictable ways. As soon as a chain of events is not contained within the system, it results in interaction between the system and the larger system it is a part of, the meta-system. The Eigenstate of the larger system changes. The cow tosses the dog.
The dog-tossing will ripple throughout the meta-system.
Somewhere in the system there will exist a situation which is close enough to ‘critical mass’ in its Eigenstate that the smallest of ripples will affect it. Somewhere there is someone that could hear a butterfly flexing its wings in the rainy forest. The ripple never dies out or disappears but extends outwards and outwards, towards the very end of the Frame of Reference As Universe. Perhaps a photon here, a graviton there, a thought re-thought or un-thought somewhere.
However, the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow indicates to us that the ripple will start to seek for matches close to the center of rippling; die Frau.
Like the rat attracted the attention of the cat, which was subsequently worried by the dog, the dog-tossing in the larger system will have an effect, somewhere, sooner or later, as soon as it has rippled to a place which matches the size of the ripple, like a key matches the lock to a door.
We understand this as the story Mother Goose tells us specifically details that the maiden is forlorn. This is the opposite state to the one we have assumed the dog was in. The dog had had it, was filled to the brim with having had it. The maiden, contrariwise, was forlorn. This is really the opposite to the idea of critical mass, which is apt for the dog, but not really for the maiden.
The forlorn maiden could be said to have an negative Eigenstate in comparison to the dog-state. Where the dog was brimming, she was unbrimming. The maiden, milking the cow, is not only forlorn, she is also indicated to be close to the output of the universe, which is represented by the milk provided by the cow. The ripples in the bucket of milk being milked by the maiden splashes a drop upon her hand, and — like a key in a keyhole — she is affected.
Perhaps the maiden licks the milk from the hand, awakening in her the memory of a kiss never had. Perhaps seeing a drop of milk against skin she sees in her imagination a drop of milk escaping the mouth of a breast-fed child. We cannot know. But she is forlorn, and the universe is pouring out next to her. She will be affected.
The milk is the surplus net result of the processes going on in an everexpanding universe, the expansion as such. Where expansion is a fact, change is a fact. But change is not random. Change will seek the forlorn maidens that milk the cow that tossed the dog. Then the maiden will look at change.
Maiden and Man
For this maiden change will come in terms of a man.
- This is the man all tattered and torn that kissed the maiden all forlorn
Whatever happened to the maiden when milking the cow, if a drop of milk moved her memory or if the dog was not disturbing maiden thoughts because the dog was now wary about the cow, we will never know. Perhaps it is beyond what can be known. Maidens are mysteries, all men agree on that. They are close to die Frau, and die Frau is ultimately beyond not only the comprehension of man but also of human comprehension altogether.
Whatever happened to the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow when milking the cow, she met a man. The cow, possibly a drop of milk on her hand too, a messenger from die Frau, now having changed the maiden, somehow, the man looking upon her is not ignored, though he is tattered and torn.
Having seen the whites of its eyes her own frailty is now apparent to her. So is the futility of keeping a stiff upper lip — appearances! The man may be tattered and torn, but he looks at her. She does perhaps not encourage him when slightly blushing, she cannot help it — how long if ever did a man look at her with such gentle appreciation? When she modestly turns her gaze downwards she is not playing games, this is not coquetry. She is a forlorn maiden not certain whether she can abandon ship, abandon her forlornity for the sake of a gaze. We all know the hurt of hoping when there is nothing to hope for, we must understand her. It is our duty, for understanding her hesitation is necessary.
The man all tattered and torn needs no encouragement, though. Like her, he is in an Eigenstate susceptible to change, sensitive to the most minor of ripples in the spacetime fabric. The maiden forlorn, hopefully soon to be forlorn no more, is the ripple happening to him, shaking his foundations.
Unlike her, though tattered and torn, he is, however, not forlorn. He also understands her hesitation. He sees her as she is, and appreciates that which she is, nothing else. He cares for her. He knows he must not scare her, yet he knows as well that he must climb her forlornity and throw her roses for her to have hope again.
Which he will gladly do. They may have to be metaphorical, he will have to make do with what he has got, but roses will be thrown. He will wander her walls seven times seven times seventy times, trumpeting his presence, until they come tumbling down for him. Then he will wait for her to ask him to enter. He knows what it is to be tattered and torn and taken advantage of. He will not do that to her.
— Your trumpet dissolved the stones in my walls, she would say. She would now no longer cast her glance downwards but look him straight into the eyes. Not defiantly.
— Milady, I am sorry, he will answer. I ran out of roses. I will gladly rebuild your walls for you, if you let me. It would be the least I could do.
— I do not know your name, she would answer him.
— I am Josh, he would answer, now his time to blush, quickly removing the headwear that had protected him from the sun while walking around her walls, trumpeting loudly. His inner self slaps him in the neck for standing there talking with that thing on his head!
— I am Maia, says Maia, now smiling when he blushes. Neither of them thinks in terms like that, but his fumbling with the headwear has put them on equal terms. It becomes obvious, though they do not for a moment think about it, that her forlornity and his trumpet speak about the same thing; want. Loneliness. But sharing want is to be no longer alone.
Maia offers him her hand in greeting, and as he happens to hold the poor headwear in the right hand the right hand suddenly becomes the wrong hand and he must fumble with the thing again. And Maia laughs.
Josh does not kiss her there and then, but she might have let him, had he tried. Now the first battle is won. She is no more forlorn, imprisoned in forlornity. He won the battle not because of the trumpeting, but because of the mistakes with the headwear. They made him not a warrior and conqueror — they will always leave when the house is emptied of its riches —, but an equal. He is humble. Fumble-humble. Maia thinks he is cute.
She is no more forlorn, and Josh —equally untorn — is happy, holding her hand in greeting.
Man and Priest
Our story having moved from maiden to man, it continues forward to the next event.
- This is the priest all shaven and shorn that married the man all tattered and torn that kissed the maiden all forlorn
Fast-forwarding to the next event, following the ripple as it travels through the four-dimensional spacetime event-fabric, noting in passing there was a kiss after the holding of hands, the ripple stabilizes. There was a turn-around happening when the rats and the killing and the worrying and the tossing entered into awareness, as symbolized by Maia recognizing her forlorn state.
Maia recognizing the state of affairs, understanding the meaning of dog-tossing, cat-worrying and rat-killing — metaphorically speaking — was able to allow her walls to tumble down.
As the time tunnel has proceeded from juncture to juncture it has also become more and more abstract. Let us recapitulate the sequence.
- House — Generic situation
- Malt — The specifics of this particular situation; its Eigenstate.
- Rat — Hunger, eat to live, death.
- Cat — Kill to live. Fear.
- Dog — Anger, lack of control, no self-discipline.
- Cow — Inertia, control, corrective environment; the world. Peace and equilibrium.
- Maiden — Recognition of the state of affairs. Cognition.
- Man — Wish to change the state of affairs. Agency.
We are now at priest.
In the sequence it becomes a symbol for the means by which change is accomplished. That the priest is shaven and shorn shows that we are at an encultured stage.
The implicit symbolism, marriage, is also one that signfies cognition and agency becoming one body. Cognition and agency may have two bodies, but these two bodies will become and be one body. They have a shared purpose.
In terms of time tunneling, this is entanglement. Events before entanglement happens are tossed aside after having led to further causes. With entanglement, however, event-points become event-lines. Lines moving create a plane, making possible the plane moving and an event-object to surface. That is, a subject.
- Priest — Means to affect change. Cognitively informed action; adequacy.
The random rat-ripple is now becoming a ripple well integrated in the event-fabric, at a meta-system level compared to the rodental activity that was in the beginning of the tunnel. But randomness had to meet with cognition and agency for this to come to pass. So how does the rooster enter into the picture? Is not adequate cognitively informed non-random action the end of the story?
The Priest and the Cock
There is something beyond informed action. The world itself.
- This is the cock that crowed in the morn that woke the priest all shaven and shorn
Informed action is possible only in a world where such is possible. If we could not count upon the sun rising in the morning or the rooster saluting the sun, the priest would not awake or be able to be shaven and short, as required by convention.
Relating back to the beginning, there was no one reflecting or reacting upon events as a self-conscious autonomous being. The priest, here the symbol of the union between Maia and Josh, now incorporates into themselves the lower-order signals and acts accordingly.
The rooster is a good counterpoint to the rodent, as the symbolism of the rooster is related, but positive. We had a “thief”, but now we have a guardian and helper. The random noise in the spacetime fabric caused by non-integrated rodental signals is now replaced by a punctual cockerel solar salute, part of the meta-system that has evolved from the lesser-order rodental and carnivoral levels into peaceful co-existence allowing marriages to come into being.
The call of Gallus Gallus provides structure and orientation — if listened to.
The Cock and the Farmer
The eventline now approaches presenting its final participants.
- This is the farmer sowing his corn that kept the cock that crowed in the morn
The presence of a rooster is no coincidence. The rooster calls out when seeing the sun because the farmer keeps it and feeds it. The continuation of the union between Maia and Josh and the priest and the civilization they are a nucleus of, in, depends upon our participation. Eventlines are random before being integrated, but once we hear and see what happens around us, we are called to become rational agents and act rationally.
We are to become farmers. We are to till the acres, produce the corn, feed the cockerel so that it may call its cockerel call. We must take responsibility for the eventlines we continuate. Maia and Josh show us where to look, the priest how to continue, the farmer the goal.
The Farmer, the Horse, the Hound and the Horn
In the end is the beginning.
- This is the horse and the hound and the horn that belonged to the farmer sowing his corn
Random events intrude upon us, but if we follow the way of Maia and Josh, we can let these events turn into something good. We can cultivate our experience. Eventlines can become domesticated.
The farmer in his context shows someone creating a system that will function, for the necessary parts are there. The house houses life.
The horse is a carrier. A functioning system carries the purpose it was meant to house. Only living beings can house purpose.
The hound is also a sign of cultivation. It was an undisciplined cat-scaring animal, not in control of itself. It is now a noble hound, helpful in hunting, domesticated through-and-through. Self-discipline is functional and random noise events are not allowed to needlessly escape the system but supervised and dealt with, brought to the attention of the farmer.
The presence of a horn shows that what the cockerel stood for is becoming incorporated at a level where one is not forced to rely upon “nature” for keeping things going. There is a danger in that, but there is also a danger in cockerels oversleeping when there are marriages to happen. Watchfulness as such is incorporated. The hunt is again implied in the horn, for the farmer is ever watchful, having incorporated the lesson of the rooster.
Yet, in the end is the beginning.
The farmer may start to hunt for pleasure, get carried away and forget to be watchful at home. If so, the corn that the farmer has been sowing and which keeps the Sunrise Bird will as malt be eaten by vermin — causing the cat to kill, have the dog irritated, the cow tossing, and so forth.
Then again, if the meta-system — die Frau — is robust, it will be able to handle such disturbances. It may even profit from them.
Speaking of handling disturbances, Mother Maia and Josh the Farmer send their love. They are now living inside the once crumbled but now restored walls together, welcoming everyone passing by to come inside and visit. They are only happy if someone wants to join with them in sharing beer and bread in their happily forever after — in the house that Josh built.
♖
