---
date: '2024-02-25'
description: and the state of being.
id: representations
modified: 2026-06-05 15:08:30 GMT-04:00
tags:
  - seed
  - philosophy
title: representations.
created: '2024-02-25'
published: '2024-02-25'
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slug: thoughts/representations
permalink: https://aarnphm.xyz/thoughts/representations.md
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full: https://aarnphm.xyz/llms-full.txt
---
resources: Edward Tuffe’s [The Visual Display of Quantitative Information - ISBN-13: 978-1930824133](https://www.edwardtufte.com/book/the-visual-display-of-quantitative-information/)

> \[!question\] Question
>
> How do we represent [[thoughts/data|information flow]] when we interact with different mediums, esp. text?

Maps shape _<mark>how we see and understand the world</mark>_, which in turn shapes how we act within it.

## maps

[Linus’ talk on Representation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt_hDVN5TZE\&list=PL_Kh09CR3iHa1ZPi4EsHeqX-1IB3CRLbA\&index=2\&ab_channel=CharStiles)

how it shape our _agency_

## as technology

\[@viégas2023modelusermodelexploring\]

How can we manipulate new ideas and abstractions to create new <mark>notations</mark>?

Thesis: Technologies for _representation_ mediate how we see the world.

Tenet:

1. A representation must abstract
2. An interface always gives or takes agency. _Be intentional_ about which you choose
3. Represent to communicate, not model.

## internals grokking

In the realm of AI, how we [[thoughts/mechanistic interpretability|grok]] these systems to understand its internal representations would help us understand how we think.

<mark>Seeing clearly</mark> to exercise _[[thoughts/Agency|agency]]_

## interface

Instrumental use:

- frictionless input, low-latency progress: payments.

Engaged use:

- see clearly from right perspectives. Express intent naturally and precisely.
- Explore the possible spaces only through engaging with the information

> \[!question\] Why don't we do this more?
>
> It is a hyperreal produced from a radiating synthesis of combinatory models in a hyperspace without atmosphere.

_Simulacra and Simulation, Jean Baudrillard_

> Art of Cartography attained such Perfection that the map of a single Province occupied the entirely of a City \[…\] <mark>saw that that vast Map was Useless...</mark>

_On Exatitude in Science, Jorge Luis Borges_