ideasthesia

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Ryan Collison

I write about cool science and share it here.

Physics illuminating psychology—and its limits

What Physics Can't Tell Psychology (And What It Can)

Formative Note This essay represents early thinking by Ryan Collison that contributed to the development of A Theory of Meaning (AToM). The canonical statement of AToM is defined here. We’ve been using the language of physics. Manifolds. Curvature. Topology. Metrics. Geodesics. The whole apparatus of differential geometry, information geometry,

Natural transformations—different paths same destination

Natural Transformations: When Different Paths Lead to the Same Place

Formative Note This essay represents early thinking by Ryan Collison that contributed to the development of A Theory of Meaning (AToM). The canonical statement of AToM is defined here. Different therapies work. Psychoanalysis works for some people. Cognitive-behavioral therapy works. EMDR works. Somatic experiencing works. IFS works. Even apparently

Coherent parts failing to compose—compositionality problem

The Compositionality Problem: Why Coherent Parts Don't Guarantee Coherent Wholes

Formative Note This essay represents early thinking by Ryan Collison that contributed to the development of A Theory of Meaning (AToM). The canonical statement of AToM is defined here. You’ve seen it happen. Two people, each individually capable and emotionally regulated, enter a relationship and become versions of themselves

Functors preserving structure across scale jumps

Functors: How Structure Survives the Jump Between Scales

Formative Note This essay represents early thinking by Ryan Collison that contributed to the development of A Theory of Meaning (AToM). The canonical statement of AToM is defined here. Something strange happens when you look at coherence across scales. At the neural level, coherence is oscillatory synchronization—neurons firing in

Category theory patterns repeating across domains

Category Theory for People Who Hate Math (But Love Patterns)

Formative Note This essay represents early thinking by Ryan Collison that contributed to the development of A Theory of Meaning (AToM). The canonical statement of AToM is defined here. You’ve noticed that certain patterns keep appearing. The way a conversation spirals follows the same dynamic as the way your

Literal geometric bottleneck—feeling trapped topologically

Bottlenecks Aren't Metaphors: The Literal Geometry of Feeling Trapped

Formative Note This essay represents early thinking by Ryan Collison that contributed to the development of A Theory of Meaning (AToM). The canonical statement of AToM is defined here. There’s a feeling you recognize. The sense that no matter where you’re trying to go, you have to pass

Coherence operator unifying curvature topology divergence

The Coherence Operator: One Equation for Integration Across Scales

Formative Note This essay represents early thinking by Ryan Collison that contributed to the development of A Theory of Meaning (AToM). The canonical statement of AToM is defined here. We’ve accumulated pieces. Manifolds that belief states inhabit. The Fisher metric that measures distances between probability distributions. Curvature that captures