From: Whitten@Fwva.Saic.Com (David Whitten)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Subject: Re: IF Theory Article
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 21:40:31 GMT
Organization: Science Applications Int'l, Corp. - Computer systems operation

jorn@chinet.chi.il.us (Jorn Barger) writes:
>Here's an article I wrote for the JCGD a couple of issues ago:
>
>Representing Stories: History, and a New Approach
>by Jorn Barger
>
>Abstract: To pack the maximum story content into the smallest memory, you
>need a concise vocabulary that can summarize the full range of human
>behavior.  If person, place, thing, and motive are taken to be the simple
>elements of such a vocabulary, the primitive compounds should be the
>standard *relationships* that any two (or more) of these normally display.
>
>The cornerstone of this system lies in that hoary old trio: person place
>and thing.  But we add to that a little psychology: a typology of human
>*motives*: food comfort sex respect family self-expression.  And then we
>ask, for any two of these "initials"-- person place thing motive-- what
>are their normal relationships?
>
>jorn barger
>jorn@chinet.chi.il.us
>
 
Let me start by saying I'd love to read the entire article!! the abstract
is fascinating!
 
In your typology of human motives, I would suggest that you include 
survival instead of food.  Since you have already thought of subclassing
your motive list, you can include food under survival, and I think a lot
of interesting behaviours of people relate to death, life after death,
survival before death, etc.
 
I know that if you are going to include person place and thing you should
also include ideas as well.  (Since nouns can also be ideas...)
I think a sample typology would be a neat basis for story fragments as well.
 
I think you can get a pretty broad coverage of a lot of story fragments pretty
easily, but you do get a fast growth in number of fragmentss.
 
IE: if you have only four things taken two at a time == six combinations
                only five things       two           == ten combinations
                     four things       three at time == four combinations
 
The general formula (I believe--math wizzes please double check)
is n things taken m at a time thus==factorial(m)/(factorial(m)*factorial(m-n))
 
As an upper bound to the number of fragments you would have to store, we
are interested in the number of possible fragments you can get from:
 n
----
\     ( n )  
/     ( m ) 
----
 m=1
 
Using the binomial expansion formula and (n m) to mean n things taken m at a
time: (ugly and hard put them on top of each other in ascii)
 
     n		0 n          1 n                n  0
(p+q)  = (n 0) p q  + (n 1) p q  + ... + (n m) p  q  
 
 
and then substituting p=1/2 and q=1/2 means: 
 
               n
       n      ----
(.5+.5)  =    \     ( n )    
              /     ( m )  
              ----
               m=0
 
            ---------------
                  n
                 2
 
        n                                                 n
moving 2   to the left hand side we get the sum equal to 2
 
but the sum starts at 0 so we have to subtract (n 0) == 1 to get the answer.
 
                                       n
Thus the number of fragments would be 2  - 1.
 
Since the plots would actually only be interesting when you talk about
expansions to at least the next hierarchy level, you have a number of concepts
(person place thing idea survival comfort sex respect family self-expression)
I have expanded motive since I think interesting stories involve more than
one motive, but someone else may disagree with me.
 
These ten concepts would still only be 1024 basic story fragments.  I know 
that this seems big, but some of these possible fragments probably would take 
a bit of thinking to even expect to make sense at all. What does family mean 
without a person? or what does it mean to have self-expression for an idea or 
a place?
 
Perhaps you have already done some of the hard work, but I think this would
be an interesting thing to discuss on rec.arts.int-fiction in the future.
 
comments anyone?
Dave (whitten@fwva.saic.com) US:(619)535-7764 [I don't speak as a company rep.]
 
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction