Introduction: Muddled Constructs
In prior articles we developed the concept of Data Stream Dynamics. We showed that the architecture of information dynamics and material dynamics is identical. However, there are a few loose ends that need tying up.
Newton’s Differentiation of Mass & Weight
A central element in this architecture of dynamics is Newton's conception of force. A key part of Newton’s analysis of force had to do with the concept of mass. Prior to Newton, mass and weight were interchangeable. Newton recognized that weight was a feature of mass, but wasn’t mass itself. Mass was basic substance, independent of its measured weight. He further defined mass as the measure of an object’s resistance to change (its inertia). This isolation freed scientists to explore the nature of matter independent of its weight. This eventually led to the notions of neutrons and protons, as tiny fundamental substances.
Consciousness & Attention confused + 2 notions of Mass
Just as weight was confused with mass and speed with velocity, the Author confused consciousness and attention. He hadn’t isolated their functions. Strangely enough, Newton’s analysis of mass catalyzed the insight that provided the differentiation. Let’s take a biographical approach to understand how.
The Search for Data Stream Force & Mass
The current article develops the notion that mass has two components, substance and inertia. These two components are inseparable in the dynamics of the material world. In contrast, these two components are separate in the dynamics of the information world. Let’s examine the evolution of this novel idea.
Two Investigative Article Chains employ different version of mass
The Muse inspired the Author to initiate two investigative chains. One chain of articles focused upon the bottom floors of the architecture of data stream dynamics – velocity, acceleration, space and time. The other focused upon the top floors of this same architecture – energy, work and power. Each investigative chain employed a different notion of data stream mass. How is this discrepancy resolved? Read on.
Collaborative effort drives examination of Info Velocity
To render his writings intelligible to the reasonable public, the Author engaged the talents of his best friend King and his wife Laurie. In an attempt to explain the mathematical meaning of the Creative Pulse, a.k.a. the Pulse of Attention, the Author realized that he needed to introduce the notions of data stream velocity and acceleration. The collaborative effort impelled the Author to better articulate what it means for a data stream to have velocity and acceleration. Mathematically it was simple. The data stream’s 1st derivative is its velocity, while the 2nd derivative is its acceleration.
Data Stream’s Space & Time foundation of his Velocity
To provide a deeper understanding of these constructs, the Author examined the underlying notions behind velocity. As mentioned, velocity is the simple ratio between the change of location (∆d) and the change in time (∆t). In the material world these are simple concepts. However, it took an entire article to explain what traveling through data stream space and time actually means. In short, the organism’s perceptual limits determine the dimensions of info space and the feedback loop determines the dimensions of info time. Perception is subjective and feedback time is variable. In contrast to space and time in the material world, data stream space and time are not objective or even continuous. The articles surrounding data stream velocity, acceleration, space and time constituted the 1st article stream – a focus upon the foundation of the architecture of dynamics.
Sleep/Learning link leads to Info Energy & Power
As the Author was refining this article stream, a solar flare of insights provided him with an understanding of the link between Sleep and Learning. This connection is incredibly important as it also provides the mathematical root to the empowering notion of internal motivation. This inspiration eventually led to preliminary articles on Info Energy & Info Power, as well as articles on Attention, Evolution, and Learning. This 2nd article stream focused upon the upper levels of the dynamical architecture.
Data Stream Dynamics umbrella for both article streams
The Architecture of Dynamics
In the process of organizing the two streams of seemingly random articles, it finally hit the Author that both sets of articles are linked under the common heading of data stream dynamics. This included the articles surrounding Data Stream Velocity and the articles surrounding Data Stream Power. Upon closer examination of these verbal jigsaw puzzle pieces, the Author had the insight that both data stream dynamics and material dynamics share a common foundational structure (shown at right). He decided to arrange his Data Stream Dynamics article stream with this organization in mind.
Data Stream Mass, Momentum, and Force missing
It became evident that the Velocity articles constituted the initial part of the notebook and that the Power articles constituted the final section. However the middle of the study was missing and needed to be written. Between the Info Acceleration article and the Info Energy article there was a big gap. The Author had talked about all the Newtonian constructs except mass, momentum and force.
Data Stream Mass, the foundation: Attention?
Of these three, mass is fundamental. As the diagram shows, both momentum and force are functions of mass. Mass transforms velocity into momentum and acceleration into force. But what does Data Stream Mass mean? A cryptic sentence in the Info Space article provided the key. In a heightened creative frenzy the Author had been spewing about data stream space and time and somehow left a tiny verbal fragment behind. The insight from this fragment identified Attention as Info Mass. With this symbol in mind, the Author began developing a theory of dynamics based upon the substance of attentional mass. This construct provided underlying meaning to the notions of info energy and info power.
Happens upon Physics for Poets
In the translation of this insight into verbiage, it became apparent that the Author needed a deeper understanding of these dynamical concepts, mass in particular. He had already made some simple, but crucial mistakes. He knew he had to ground himself in some hardcore textbooks to avoid making a laughingstock of himself. He pulled his old Calculus and Physics books off the shelves, and happened upon the book Physics for Poets (February 2012). This proved to be the perfect reference book. Written by a Physicist, the book develops the concepts of Physics through its history. Most of the material in this article comes from this book.
Data Stream Mass as Inertia leads to Dead-end
Prior Inertia linked with Newton’s Mass
In the process of putting the diverse pieces of the dynamics puzzle together, it gradually became apparent that mass was more complicated than the Author had anticipated. Historically, mass was a newer concept. In contrast, philosopher scientists had been discussing space, time and even inertia for centuries. Indeed mass was one of Newton’s breakthrough notions.
Newton: Two components of Mass
In Newton’s analysis physical mass has two innate components. He was aware of this. Here is his initial definition of mass.
“The quantity of matter is the measure of the same, arising from the density and bulk cojointly.” (Newton’s Principia 1686; cited in Physics for Poets, p. 37)
Although Newton’s definition had pragmatic value that made intuitive sense, it took Einstein to clarify the definition over 2 centuries later.
“Newton was not able to define mass; nobody in a sense can define mass. Indeed you could say that the great step from Newton to Einstein was that Einstein was the first person who gave a reason for what had already puzzled Newton, namely, why gravitational mass and inertial mass are the same mass.” (p.48, Bronowski, The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination, 1978)
Certain ambiguities remained which were presumably resolved when the collective scientific community finally found evidence of the ‘God’ particle in 2012. The point is that it is not patently obvious that inertia and substance should be joined in the concept of mass.
Data Stream Momentum: Mass as inertia: Habits
It is no wonder that the Author confused these components of mass in his exploration of info mass. In an initial cursory investigation into classical dynamics, he found that mass is the measure of inertia, a body’s resistance to change. For instance, a heavier body is more resistant to change than a lighter one. The Author employed this definition of mass when formulating his Data Stream Momentum notebook (1994). He even identified the components of a data stream that indicated its resistance to change – its inertia. Note: the notion of inertial mass is intimately connected with the momentum of a data stream, but not its substance. However, this chain of reasoning went nowhere. Employing Newtonian constructs, he had identified a significant characteristic of a data stream, its momentum – the force of habit, in common parlance. But he really didn’t know what to do with this notion.
Dead-end: No mechanism for change. No force
In classical mechanics, force changes momentum or a changing momentum is force. But how is the momentum of a data stream changed? The Author developed some clumsy methods for determining when a force acted upon a data stream, but couldn’t determine any real mechanism behind this change. Realizing that this line of reasoning was going nowhere, he ended his discussion of data stream momentum with the discouraged statement that the constructs of Physics, such as velocity and force, aren’t relevant. It seemed to the Author that this line of thinking was certainly not worth pursuing. He had reached the dreaded scientific dead-end and moved onto other projects.
Breakthrough via Energy Analysis
18 years later: Top-down analysis of Dynamics – Begin with Data Stream Work
In his initial investigations, the Author combined data stream velocity with the inertial concept of mass to obtain data stream momentum. Yet he couldn’t see how to move forward and abandoned the investigation. But now some 18 years later (2012) due to providential guidance, the Author developed the notion of Data Stream Power. Instead of constructing Data Stream Dynamics from the bottom up as in the previous approach, he instead started from the top down. In these recent investigations he began with Data Stream Work and Energy, which led to the potent concept of Data Stream Power. In his original attempt the Author relied upon data stream momentum to describe behavioral reality. In his recent approach, he employed the concepts of data stream work and energy as his explanatory tools.
Author bypasses Force altogether
Despite developing a cogent theory surrounding the upper and lower levels of the architecture of dynamics, the Author still had not addressed the middle levels. In his initial Velocity articles, he stopped short of data stream force, and in his most recent Power articles he bypassed data stream force altogether.
Modern Physics also based in Energy Analysis, not Newton’s Forces
In symmetrical fashion, modern Physics has relegated Newtonian forces to the sidelines. Instead, physicists have focused almost exclusively on energy-based explanations for the behavior of atoms, molecules, and the first layer of subatomics. Energy is both transformative and is also based in balance – the maintenance of equilibrium. Any changes in one part of the system must have an effect on another part of the system. This transformative power centers upon the interactions between kinetic and potential energy.
Initial Insight: Potential & Kinetic Energy Interaction provides Data Stream Dynamic
The breakthrough insight into the symmetry between the dynamics of the two systems, material and informational, had to do with potential energy. After a refreshing nap where the Author reached the necessary state of chaos, his Liminals revealed that the dynamic between potential and kinetic energy also drives the Living Algorithm System. Without his rudimentary knowledge of Physics, this insight could not have occurred. He eventually realized, due to his wife’s acute perception, that the potential energy was not really stored energy, but was instead residual energy that hadn’t been fully digested.
Dynamics the same, but Info Energy and Physical Energy different
The give-and-take relationship between residual and kinetic energy drives the Living Algorithm System, just as the dynamic between potential and kinetic energy drives material systems. A significant difference between the two systems concerns their fundamental relationship with energy. The differences are appropriate to and differentiate the respective systems of matter and information.
Physical Energy conserved, never runs down: Info Energy consumed, always runs down
Let’s examine these differences. The Author found that data supplies the info energy of the Living Algorithm System. In material systems, energy is transformed but never disappears. In the Living Algorithm System, info energy immediately begins to decay or disappear once it enters the System. Without the addition of new data the Living Algorithm System runs down, as opposed to material systems, which go on forever. In material systems, energy is conserved; in the Living Algorithm’s information system, energy is consumed. The transformations of material systems continue indefinitely. The transformations of the Living Algorithm System fade to dying as soon as the system ceases digesting information. Similarly matter never dies, and living systems always die. Again these differences between the two systems are appropriate to the orthogonal universes they are describing.
1994 Investigation ended short of Force, 2012 Investigation skipped Force
Our initial investigation ended with Momentum, just short of Force; our recent investigation skipped Force altogether. Now that we had established the top and bottom of the structure of data stream dynamics, we decided to explore the middle.
Two types of Info Mass, Inertia & Substance
Major Discrepancy: Attention as Data Stream Mass has no Inertial Component
Let’s reiterate to refresh our memory. In the Author’s initial investigation, he employed the inertial component of mass to develop the potent notion of data stream momentum (a measure of habit pattern). In his recent investigation, he employed the substance-providing aspect of mass to develop the equally potent notion of data stream energy (a transformative mechanism). In the first study, he identified the innate inertial component of a data stream. In the latter investigation, he identified that which provided the data stream with living substance – Attention. Attention upon a data stream provides it with living meaning by differentiating it from the plethora of data streams that continuously bombard our senses.
Immersed in the potency of the constructs for providing an understanding of the meaning of his results, the Author overlooked some inconsistencies in his analysis. These discrepancies hit him in the face when exploring the factual information in Physics for Poets. While the classical definition of mass is the measure of a body’s inertia (the resistance to change), Attention, as Data Stream Mass, has nothing to do with inertia.
Mass transforms Abstraction of Acceleration into Reality of Force
Instead, the Author’s definition of Attention is based upon mass as substance. The substance grants reality to the transaction and, as such, is transformative. Strangely enough, Physics for Poets reinforced this notion and provided further insight. In the book’s discussion of vectors, its author made the comment that scalars transformed vectors into a new type of vector. For instance mass, a type of scalar, transforms velocity into momentum, both vectors, and also transforms acceleration into force, also vectors. In other words, mass transforms abstraction into reality.
Importance of Mass, as transformative Substance
The Author was acutely aware of how important the concepts of momentum and force are, as they lead to the concept of energy, which is the ability to change the world. He was also aware that without mass, momentum and force don’t exist. Velocity and acceleration remain abstractions without any connection to the real world of dynamics. This understanding had motivated the development of a concept of inertial mass in his Data Stream Momentum notebook. His frustrated desire to go from Data Stream Momentum to Force had also led to his conclusion that this line of reasoning had to go in a different direction to become successful.
Skips Mass & Force to go to Energy Analysis
But by now some 18 years later he had already developed effective notions of Data Stream Energy, the requisite construct that was necessary for changing the world. In fact, the only missing element from the structure of Data Stream Dynamics was the notion of Mass. The above mentioned cryptic comment provided the insight that Attention is Data Stream Mass. Employing symmetrical reasoning, Attention, as a scalar without direction, transforms Data Stream Acceleration into Data Stream Force, which via some other scalar transformations becomes the magical Data Stream Power.
Attention becomes Mass as Substance that transforms Abstraction into Reality
Then came the leap. The transformative power of mass connects mathematical abstractions with the real world. Mass, as substance, grants reality. In this way of thinking, Attention is the Active Observer that makes the Data Stream real, and Mass is the Passive Participant that is being observed. The substances of both are necessary for the other to exist.
Data Stream Dynamics employs 2 types of Mass
The potency of the notions of data stream momentum and data stream energy led to the inescapable conclusion that mass has two components – substance and inertia to change. Newton, Einstein, Bronowski, et al were aware of this odd feature of mass that most of us take for granted. Einstein proved that these components are inextricably combined in material dynamics. Requoting Bronowski:
“Einstein was the first person who gave a reason for what had already puzzled Newton, namely, why gravitational mass and inertial mass are the same mass.”
In contrast, the Author found that these two components are distinct in data stream dynamics. The data stream's innate inertia is transformed into dynamic, living substance via Attention. Repeating for emphasis: gravitational mass (substance) and inertial mass are the same mass in material dynamics. However, these two features of mass are by necessity different masses in data stream dynamics. Inertial mass is required to transform Info Velocity into Data Stream Momentum – the habit. The Substance of Mass (Attention) is required to transform Info Acceleration into of Data Stream Force, which leads to the transformative power of Data Stream Energy. Reiterating, the data stream has inertia, but no innate substance. Attention provides substance to the data stream, but has no inertia. This is evidenced by the constant distractions that pull our attention this way and that.
Real World Efficacy justifies Double Mass Notion
This line of reasoning is justified due to its efficacy in explaining real world results. Data Stream Mass as inertia provides a quantitative description of the strength of habit, but doesn't include any mechanism for change. In contrast, Data Stream Mass as the substance of Attention, while devoid of inertia, sends us soaring through the stratosphere, providing endless extensions into the real world. Substance and inertia in this sense seem to be distinct components of Data Stream Mass.
Symmetrical Pattern in the history of Physics - from description to causality
We see a symmetrical pattern in the history of Physics. Both Aristotle’s theories of falling objects and Ptolemy’s descriptions of celestial motion were fairly accurate descriptions of reality. However, these descriptive notions didn’t provide a deeper understanding of the underlying forces at work. Similarly, Kepler’s breakthrough work with planetary motion was purely descriptive. The power of Newton’s line of reasoning was its ability to identify the underlying forces at work. Newton’s insight into the transformative power of mass led to nearly miraculous extensions that have transformed our lives.
Are two Data Stream Masses really necessary?
Is it possible that either definition of mass could be abandoned in favor of the other? We already mentioned that the inertial component of mass transforms data stream velocity into data stream momentum. This is a measure of the resistance of habit momentum to change. While a potent description of an ever-present feature of reality, this notion led to a dead-end.
Attention’s Force changes Habit’s Momentum
Much later, we developed the notion that Attention provides substance to a data stream. Attention transforms data stream acceleration into data stream force, which has the potential to change data stream momentum, thus breaking the grip of habit. The combination of these two notions of info mass is an incredibly potent description of reality. The inertial component of mass leads to a relatively automatic habit, while the substantial component of mass (attention) provides the mechanism for changing this habit.
The Necessity of Splitting Consciousness & Attention
Creative Pulse phase: Consciousness and Attention merged
The necessity of employing Attention as the substance of a data stream broke it inextricably from the notion of Consciousness. In his earlier Creative Pulse phase, the Author merged consciousness and attention when considering a creative session. This merger was soon to be separated.
Triple Pulse phase: Consciousness as ingesting Information
Our explorations of the Active & Rest Pulses in connection with the Liminals led us to define Consciousness in a limited fashion – as the mere ingesting of information – no digestion. The Liminals provided the digestive feature – day and night. Consciousness merely turned on and off – like a light switch. Information is taken in while we are awake (Conscious) and is not taken in when we are asleep (Unconscious). The Consciousness of waking is defined in opposition to the Unconsciousness of sleeping
Attention, as the transformative substance of a data stream
On a separate path, we developed the notion that Attention is attracted to acceleration. This attraction creates a pulse – the Pulse of Attention. Then came the idea that Attention is the transformative substance that provides reality to a data stream. If it is not perceived, the data stream has no meaning. Consciousness can be on or off, taking in information or not; but it is sustained Attention that generates the Pulse which is the Force that does the Work of transforming the world.
We’re standing on Newton’s shoulders, as his insights led to ours.
Newton’s separation of mass from weight led to magnificent insights that provided both explanatory and transformative power in the world of matter. Similarly, the separation of consciousness from attention led to magnificent insights that provided both explanatory and transformative power in the world of biological information digestion. However, these differentiations are not distinct and personal. Newton’s identification of mass as substance independent of weight catalyzed the idea that Attention is the substance of the data stream, independent of other characteristics. This notion led to the complete differentiation of Attention & Consciousness. Accordingly, we are standing firmly on Newton’s shoulders.
Link
What is the significance of the dual nature of mass in the Living Algorithm System? Is this just a mathematical curiosity or does this notion have any relevance to everyday life? To discover some answers to these questions, read the next article in the stream – Energy Density in a Data Stream.