Noetherpoetics

I’ve got a lot to say about this project, but it’s also the one I’m least prepared to share at this point. The basic premise is this: what happens if we combine Noether’s Theorem with the human mind? That is to say, can we extrapolate that Noether’s theorem - that physical symmetries are isomorphic to conservation laws - into neurological or psychological space?

Noetherpoetics-N (Mapping Neurological Space)

Consider the ways that every person seems to have different strengths and weaknesses. Sensory hypersensitivities are often paired with hyposensitivities. Kids who read a lot tend to develop face blindness. Someone who is really good with words often struggles with abstract reasoning, and vice versa (wordcels vs shape rotators). Doesn’t it almost suggest like there’s some sort of conservation law in play in cases like this? It’s like, you get a fixed number of points to allocate to various stats, and each point can only be allocated to one place.

If we can accurately model the possibility space here, might we be able to design better instruments for evaluating and understanding what we talk about when we talk about neurodiversity?

Noetherpoetics-P (Mapping Psychological Space)

Consider Jung’s notion of the archetypes. As we move through the world, we tend to embody different configurations - sometimes you’re the warrior fighting for what matters to you, sometimes you’re the trickster changing the rules of the game. But in some fundamental way it seems very difficult to be fully both at once. As someone moves between these different stances, doesn’t it kinda seem like something here is being conserved? Like energy flows out of the warrior shape and into the trickster shape when you lose the battle and start thinking about how to survive the war?

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