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The traditional I Ching material contains the hexagram images and prose covering attempts to interpret what the images represent. Some claim is to the original material being in the form of the 64 hexagrams and a name/ideogram for each and that's it.

If we focus on the method used to formally derive the 64 hexagrams we find ourselves dealing with the method of recursion, where a dichotomy, that of yin/yang is applied to itself and then to the output of that application six times. This gives us the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching but no more, the rest is supposedly up to interpretations. ( we can break this up to a process of (a) deriving trigrams and then (b) combining them to give us hexagrams)

However, in a cognitive analysis of the basic hexagram meanings, and so coverage of the many books describing hexagrams, we can draw-out common terms to form a set of generic meanings for each hexagram; these common terms are indicative of shared meanings we all have as emotion-using, neuron-dependent life forms; as such many different words cover the same underlying qualities of meanings where such are derived from our neurology and customised through emotion. With these meanings, combined with the use of logic operators (the source of our sense of syntax etc) we then find that we can in fact get each hexagram in the I Ching to describe itself through use of analogy to all of the other hexagrams in the I Ching. In other words all of the pages and pages of prose, spanning 3000 years, trying to describe a hexagram meaning becomes redundant when we can get the I Ching to describe a hexagram in good enough detail as a universal to then let our consciousness refine the meaning as it applies to some local context.

Thus arguments about what a hexagram means are generically resolved simply by 'asking' the hexagram to describe itself. The local details are then added by consciousness where it is consciousness that is the final arbiter in linking the generics of the universal form (hexagram) to the specifics of some local context interaction to then give us the full strategic and tactical situation and future developments.

As covered in the original work on 27-ness, we can 'ask' such as "from whence were you born" and get a generic description of such through XORing the hexagram with hex 27. "How do you begin" shifts focus to 24-ness; "How do you prune" shifts focus on 23-ness and so on. Furthermore, due to the language nature of the I Ching, each answer to a question can be analysed in its own right (e.g. "How do you prune" leads into "what signals the ending/completion of pruning?" (the 63-ness of 23 etc)) - what ties all of these together is the original context under consideration, lose sight of that and all meanings disappear or more so revert back to universal forms awaiting some local context in which to be grounded.

The Emotional I Ching focus covers (a) the ability to use emotional assessments of situations to derive a representation of such, and (b) to use the I Ching self-referencing to 'tell us' generally about that situation in the I Ching's 'own words' and we then fill-in the details.

Chris
http://www.emotionaliching.com

Introduction
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 I have spent some time searching for a mathematical representation of what IDM and the EIC try to cover and I think I have find a fruitful path for development of such a representation.  In the context of the IDM and the Emotional I Ching prediction capabilities and identifying some form of mathematics to use, consider: -

"Markets are efficient:

This assumption suggests that people cannot consistently predict the direction of the market or an individual stock. The market operates continuously with share prices following a continuous Itt [implied trinomial tree] process. To understand what a continuous Itt process is, you must first know that a Markov process is "one where the observation in time period t depends only on the preceding observation." An Itt process is simply a Markov process in continuous time. If you were to draw a continuous process you would do so without picking the pen up from the piece of paper. " [and so not make distinctions of T1, T2, T3 etc)] http://invest-faq.com/cbc/deriv-black-scholes.html


In our brains this dynamic covers the analogue experience of reality 'as is' vs the increasing precision of analysis 'as interpreted' where a price (value) comes in the form of confabulations and so eliciting of paradox and 'imaginative' interpretations - especially given lack of information of past observations.

In the first sequence of the IDM Dimension of Precision (http://www.emotionaliching.com/myweb/idm006.html and http://www.emotionaliching.com/myweb/dicho2.html ) each moment is 'unique' and not considered tied to any previous form. As such we can derive the first sequence where there is NO consideration of previous observation and so we have:

0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

The Markov process is akin to the second sequence in the IDM Dimension of Precision of considering past context (and so "previous observation") where such will elicit the integer sequence (we take the previous as an integer and add it to the current):

0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

as compared to considering the previous TWO observations where such elicits a Fibonacci sequence:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8,...

If we take ALL previous observations into consideration we develop a BINARY sequence:

0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64....

At this point we have reached a peak in stability in that from here we move into the unstable in the form of complexity/chaos dynamics.

Note from the above "markets are efficient" comment - with the Emotional I Ching we can (a) make an emotional, holistic, immediate, assessment of the market and (b) derive from a holistic assessment, due to its object nature, details covering the probable outcome of the process where such is derivable and so refine the possibility of "consistently predict[ing] [vaguely] the direction of the market [at least]".

The precision issues in the IDM perspective cover a window of stability from the Markov process (That covers travelling a circular form of spiral) to the Binary sequence process (that covers travelling a SQUARE form of spiral). The binary focus brings out the use of XOR, high precision, discrete focus, positive feedback, as compared to the circular focus that is more bias to EQV (equivalence - any point on the circles 'sees' the same perspective - negative feedback, getting towards 'perfection' etc and so symmetry)

Implied Trinomial Trees (for a technical coverage see such as http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/series/sfb-649-papers/2005-7/PDF/7.pdf )
-----------------------

In 1973 emerged the "Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model" with a focus on binomial trees etc (see first link above - note that this method has been blamed for the current 'world financial crisis' due to introducing derivatives trading in a big way that led to risk spreading into 'junk' bonds/mortgages etc. That said, note that neuroeconomics brings out the risk focus of our brains and the use of probabilities in moving from partial to whole information - note a link of interest is in binomial tree mapping in quantum mechanics to bring out the asymmetry of time - time being an essential element in our prediction toolkit - http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0911/0911.4528v1.pdf ).

"Binomial trees" and "implied trinomial trees" are used in options trading and cover a derivative dependent upon an underlying asset - note the qualitative nature here where the derivative is a form of metaphor for the asset - we can communicate asset dynamics/value through the derivative format; generalise this and we see here reflected the derivation of abstract representations of the concrete 'reality' we all share as a species - as covered in IDM/EIC in the focus of derivation of meaning, and so of VALUE. Thus we have a pointer to the possible form of mathematical representation of the IDM and so EIC dynamics of meaning derivation.

In the stock trading industry options/futures allow for one to hedge and so spread their risk. In the context of the EIC, the predictions possible cover this form of 'looking ahead' where regardless of local dynamics, and overall form is consistent in its development and so outcome.

A tie in options trading to Brownian motion (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometric_Brownian_motion and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_motion ) can be used to represent the interactions of a life form with its immediate sensory environment with no memory capabilities - as such we have a basic, concrete dynamic that is 'mindless' other than aided to varying degrees by development of instincts/habits over considerable periods of time - thus we can see the basic Markov process at work of an "efficient market".

Thus an 'underlying asset' in the IDM/EIC realm is the set of classes of meanings derived from the neurology working through recursion of a dichotomy. Exposure to a context sets off all members of this class being exposed to stimuli and responding in an initial pattern of Brownian motion.

The focus on a TRINOMIAL tree is instinctively due to our inclusion in meaning creation of the mediation nature of consciousness - thus instinctive emotional responses are anti-symmetric/symmetric and favour binomial trees but consciousness introduces delay and mediation and so a trichotomous focus over a dichotomous focus.

The nature of a PRICE covers a specialist, quantitative, focus on VALUE and so a qualitative element expressed in us in general through use of emotional assessments later refined by reasoned experiences (the TIME element is in (a) considering the value and (b) maintaining or gaining on that value over a time period and so the sense of any effort being 'worth it or not'.)

In the EIC we intuitively use EMOTIONAL assessments and so a focus on binomial tree representation that we then qualify through use of consciousness to add more precision and so aid in refining our assessments of validating what we have already. Any form of prediction using analogy/metaphor covers the same general dynamic of derivative creation (and that includes an analogy/metaphor being replaced where its usefulness/time runs out).

The complexity covered in the above links may serve to cloud what is being expressed, but my intent is to focus on a path of complex representations that appear to reflect the use of EIC-like methods if but in more formal, specialist, contexts. Simply put, the use of emotions, and so qualitative assessments of value, to assess contexts, based on a set of all POSSIBLE classes of meanings applicable, directly reflects the development and dynamics of derivatives trading, where the concrete is represented in an abstract form with the latter capable of taking on a life of its own but still 'wind' in that fundamentally it is the concrete that endures as different forms of derivatives are manufactured.

I think the path I have identified is the best-fit to date for formally mapping out the meaning/language derivation process of the brain from a generic position. I will endeavour to try and develop things as clearly as possible but may wander-off into the occasional equation if such is essential for understanding! ;-)

Chris
http://www.emotionaliching.com

The traditional I Ching ("Book of Change") is a text sourced in ancient China about 1000 BC and covers the use of a particular method of divination to predict events. The method that we formally associate with the I Ching is through the use of throwing of yarrow sticks (like millet) or coins or dice or marbles etc etc and the derivation from such of a symbol made-up of six lines with each line representing either a yang state (representing qualities of such as differentiating, expanding, light, 'male', fight) or a yin state (representing qualities of integrating, contracting, dark, 'female', flight)

From a scientific perspective, the method of derivation is considered to be 'random'. For believers in some 'spiritual' presence the method is considered a way of accessing some spiritual realm where all that is to be is already known down to the level of the individual's interactions with reality - and so their personal destiny. The issue being that this destiny is outside of our immediate, local context, tactical, interactions but its structure is identifiable using divination.

Whether we focus on the random or the spiritual, the method involved is (a) not consistently reproducible and (b) not consistently predictive; as such the dynamics of cause-effect, as covered from a scientific focus, are not present in such a method, or more so any presence is vague and would generate results akin to chance (with a 'hit' being amplified and countless 'misses' being ignored/repressed).

Given work in neuroscience and cognitive science, we can at best cover the use of the I Ching traditional methods covering (a) the use of a filtering system through which we assess the universe, and (b) using random methods to extract some particular of that filtering system to represent the same situation - as such a part of the filter is taken to be as if representative of a whole (this is called 'metonymy' - as the whole of the I Ching representing a whole is considered metaphor (or more so a conceptual metaphor - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lakoff as well as critique of:-

http://apperceptual.wordpress.com/2009/08/23/criticisms-of-lakoffs-theory-of-metaphor/).

Since any event passes through the WHOLE of the filtering system, all parts of that whole contribute in some way to the interpretation of an event, with the particulars of the event sorting the parts of the whole into a best-fit/worst-fit order, and so an ordering of probabilities. As such, ALL hexagrams of the I Ching apply to ANY moment and can be interpreted as 'meaningful' for that moment, with consciousness able to manipulate interpretations such that even deriving the worst-fit hexagram will elicit some degree of 'meaning'.

If a question is asked of the I Ching, in the context of it being some form of 'oracle', the I Ching filter processes the question but the above method does NOT allow for (a) identification of reproduction and (b) identification of prediction since the answers can turn up 64 possible results in a row and as such disallow the identification of 'sameness' in asking a specific question of a specific event many times and getting a consistent, testable, reply.

Furthermore, the sorting mechanism described means that if one does not get the 'best-fit' hexagram for some situation, if one gets the second-to-tenth-best-fit hexagram it is easy to credit such as if the 'best-fit' and so as if the I Ching is some 'external being' independent of the user with a life of its own and so presenting as if organic.

In considering the foundations of meaning through neural activities, it becomes obvious that a scientific analysis of the traditional I Ching presents us with material that is clearly NOT scientific. However, there is still a cognitive element in the I Ching that elicits interpretations of events that is useful in understanding in particular, and more so useful from a philosophical perspective in general - this manifest in the grounding of many perspectives in Asia in the making of yin/yang assessments of the universe (not just from a divination position).

Thus in focusing on the derivation of meaning in humans the question emerges as to how does the I Ching elicit a consistent following that spans some 3000 years and extends from an Asian perspective to other perspectives - e.g. Western(Europe/USA etc)?

In analysis of the basic dynamics of category formation by the brain, it has emerged that such appears to be grounded in the dynamics of recursion of dichotomies. These dichotomies come in two basic flavours as per their formal definitions - (a) a pair of opposites and (b) elements involved in bifurcation, one element emerging from the other.

George Kelly, the founder of Personal Construct Psychology, wrote:

"Our psychological geometry is a geometry of dichotomies rather than the geometry of areas envisioned by the classical logic of concepts, or the geometry of lines envisioned by classical mathematical geometries. Each of our dichotomies has both a differentiating and an integrating function. That is to say it is the generalized form of the differentiating and integrating act by which man intervenes in his world. By such an act he interposes a difference between incidents -- incidents that would otherwise be imperceptible to him because they are infinitely homogeneous. But also, by such an intervening act, he ascribes integrity to incidents that are otherwise imperceptible because they are infinitesimally fragmented. In this kind of geometrically structured world there are no distances. Each axis of reference represents not a line or continuum, as in analytic geometry, but one, and only one, distinction. However, there are angles. These are represented by contingencies or overlapping frequencies of incidents. Moreover, these angles of relationship between personal constructs change with the context of incidents to which the constructs are applied. Thus our psychological space is a space without distance, and, as in the case of non-Euclidian geometries, the relationships between directions change with the context." (Kelly, 1969)

Jung covered the grounding of archetypes in basic, concrete, neural activity wrote:

“…it must be pointed out that just as the human body shows a common anatomy over and above all racial differences, so, too, the human psyche possesses a common substratum transcending all differences in culture and consciousness. I have called thus substratum the collective unconscious. This unconscious psyche, common to all mankind, does not consist merely of contents capable of becoming conscious, but of latent predispositions towards identical reactions. The collective unconscious is simply the psychic expression of the identity of brain structure irrespective of all racial differences. This explains the analogy, sometimes even identity, between the various myth motifs and symbols, and the possibility of human communication in general. The various lines of psychic development start from one common stock whose roots reach back into the most distant past.” From “Commentary on ‘Secret of the Golden Flower’” CW 13 par. 11

This play of inner and outer and the emergence from primitive mappings of reality to more advanced, complex, etc shows a general focus on distinction making leads to consideration where :

“It becomes apparent that if certain facts about our common experience of perception, or what we might call the inside world, can be revealed by an extended study of what we call, in contrast, the outside world, then an equally extended study of this inside world will reveal, in turn, the facts first met with in the world outside: for what we approach, in either case, from one side or the other, is the common boundary between them” p xxv Spencer-Brown. G., (1972) “Laws of Form” EP Dutton

Closer analysis of the dynamic (covered in such as "IDM : An Abstract Domain Model" - http://www.emotionaliching.com/AbstractD.html ) brings out a methodology of deriving sets of categories, or classes, of meanings from the recursion of, and so apparent layering in a hierarchic manner, the differentiate/integrate dichotomy, where such is isomorphic ('same form') to the dichotomy associated with brain functions of WHAT (who,which) / WHERE (when,how).

In his original text, The Psychology of Personal Constructs Vol 1, Kelly spells out the concept of Hierarchical scales (pp 99-100) where he writes:

"Just as it is possible to express an infinite number of gradations of value in terms of binary number systems, so it is possible to express an infinite number of gradations of value in terms of a dichotomous construct system. One may construct such a scale by assuming a hierarchy of construct.
Consider a hierarchy of four constructs in the order of A, B, C, and D, each of which has two possible values, 0 and 1. A hierarchical scale of values may be built up from these four constructs. It will have log2^-1 4 or sixteen steps. The values of the sixteen steps can be represented by the first sixteen numbers of the binary system as follows:
0000
0001
0010
0011
0100
0101
0110
0111
1000
1001
1010
1011
1100
1101
1110
1111
Suppose we build a hierarchical scale of integrity vs disintegrity out of four basic constructs of honesty vs dishonesty, candour vs deviousness, courage vs defeatism and objectivity vs subjectivity. Suppose also that these constructs are arranged in that hierarchical order. Let the binary digit 1 represent the first of each pair and the binary digit 0 the second of each pair. A dishonest, devious, defeatist, subjective person would be represented by the scale value 0000 and would be at the disintegral end of the scale. An honest but devious defeatist, subjective person would be represented by the number 1000. Because if the high relevance of honesty to integrity, he rates in the upper half of the scale. A person who was dishonest, devious, defeatist, and objective would be represented by the number 0001 and would still be near the bottom of the scale" pp99-100

Analysis of the I Ching creation method for hexagrams brings out an alternative ordering of hexagrams (called the 'binary sequence' where such reflects Kelly's above structure but 6 dichotomies deep and so 64 categories - e.g. :

000000
000001
000010
000011
..
..
111110
111111 )

This ordering is isomorphic to the ordering derived from recursion of differentiate/integrate or WHAT(who,which)/WHERE(when,how). In other words, the recursion of the yang(1)/yin(0) dichotomy will elicit a dimension of classes of meanings that are found to be, in general, of similar characteristics to those generated from recursion of the what/where, or differentiate/integrate, dichotomy. Thus the 0/1 form of representation allows for the translation one set of specialist characteristics into another.

This creation of classes of meanings has nothing to do with reality per se, it has to do with classes of meanings used to represent ANYTHING, real or imagined, and it is trial and error (heuristics) that then determines the 'reality' of meaning.

Thus we find that the classes of generic meanings derived from recursion of a dichotomy seemingly hard-coded into our brains (the what/where aka differentiating/integrating dichotomy) can be made into 1:1 relationships with classes of generic meanings derived from recursion of yang/yin. Thus the meanings found represented in I Ching hexagrams have foundations in our brains and as such reflect our brains at work in the process of meaning derivation and communication in the form of categories. The differences as such are the local labels; the categories derived by the neurology, and working unconsciously, become manifest in local contexts, and so cultures, through local language development that map instances of classes to some local dynamic through labelling.

From a scientific perspective we are thus able to identify, in general, through cognitive analysis, an ancient form of categorisation then used for divination purposes where the categories can be differentiated from the act of divination. This differentiation serves to make the categories  representatives of core meanings we all share as neuron-dependent life forms (in the IDM work this covers the generic categorisations of sensations of wholeness, partness, static relatedness (sharing of space), dynamic relatedness (sharing of time) and their composites).

Ignoring any traditional divination aspects, a focus on the meanings associated with I Ching hexagrams, and so attempts to make finer differentiations of the meanings of hexagrams and so, by association, the core classes of meanings derived from the neurology, has brought out a property of the method of creation of these hexagrams.

The property was initially identified by noticing that if one 'flips' the top and bottom lines of any hexagram, and so turn yin into yang or yang into yin, the resulting hexagram was interpretable as describing the generic characteristics of the original hexagram. For example, if I am focused on hexagram 01 (111111 where 1 = yang and the image is of a six line symbol with the lines stacked vertically:

http://www.emotionaliching.com/lofting/bx111111.html )

), changing the top and bottom lines gives me hexagram 28 (011110 - http://www.emotionaliching.com/lofting/bx011110.html ). This hexagram has the generic meaning of 'excess, too much yang' and as such serves to describe the skeletal form or 'mud' from which hexagram 01 has developed (there is symmetry here such that hexagram 01, interpreted generically, identifies the skeletal form of hexagram 28)

Cognitive analysis of all of the hexagrams showed that this flipping of top and bottom lines applied across the all hexagrams; flipping the lines presented a hexagram that, interpreted generically, described the skeletal form of the original hexagram under consideration. What then followed was the realisation that hexagram 27 (100001 - http://www.emotionaliching.com/lofting/bx100001.html ) (a) covers skeletal/infrastructure issues and (b) if XORed with all other hexagrams gives a result that is equivalent with flipping the top and bottom lines of a hexagram.

(XOR (exclusive OR) is a logic operation and is part of our brain's capabilities in information processing where such includes the capability to extract (decompress) parts information from a whole. Details on XORing etc are covered in the Emotional I Ching literature as they are covered in the IDM material (http://www.emotionaliching.com/AbstractD.html - to get XOR to work requires conversion of a dichotomy to a form of representation grounded in the 0/1 dichotomy - thus yin/yang becomes 0/1 and hexagrams are interpreted as sequences of 0s and 1s; the ability to do this is due to the nature of dichotomies being forms of metaphor and so interchangeable))

Further analysis showed that this XORing exercise applied to ALL hexagrams and brought out a feature where a hexagram expressed through a different context than its own was 'modified' by that context (where the context is representable by some other hexagram) such that its expression was derived using the XOR methodology. For example, XOR hexagram 01 with any other hexagram serving as context (and so a whole) and you will get a resulting hexagram describing how that context will express the characteristics of hexagram 01.

Thus we have the discovering of a hidden property of the I Ching, its ability to describe itself by reference to itself - a standard property of well-developed languages and showing how the I Ching can describe 'anything' since it is a language; thus we have a whole new level of interpretation of I Ching meanings, one not grounded in ancient China or modern Hollywood but in a universal methodology of our neurology in deriving languages. These interpretations will be vague since the I Ching focus is on classes of meanings, not instances of classes where such are described through such as consciousness and its skill in identifying local details.

Given the capability of a hexagram to represent some situation (a context) and the identification of hidden properties of that context through using XORing, what is noticeable is that included in the set of I Ching hexagrams are such concepts as beginnings and endings. In other words we see present the elements that make-up the representation of purpose.

Identification of the presence of, the representation of, purpose in ANY context, allows us to extract details that allow for the clear identification, prediction, of the development of a context. Thus we find in the modern form of I Ching a capability that is consistent, replicatable, and predictable - and so testable and falsifiable; a scientific I Ching.

To suppress the rationalisation function of our consciousness, the ability to map yang/yin classes of meanings to fight/flight classes of meanings allows us to use our emotions to make assessments of situations and translate such into yang/yin forms of representation. This process is what takes place in the Emotional I Ching work (see the sample of the book, covering the first 50 pages - http://www.emotionaliching.com/ShortEmotionalIChing.pdf where this dynamic is covered)

Given this discovered feature of the I Ching, further analysis shows that this feature is not limited to the I Ching, it is in fact a property of recursion where such was used to derive the 64 hexagrams. What is observed here is that the mechanistic process of recursing a dichotomy will elicit categories 'mindlessly' for the first 5 recursive steps but when we transition to the 6th step a transition takes place where the mechanistic process becomes organic - we see emerge a proto or vague language such that the potential 'infinite regress' of the mechanistic recursion has a brake system present - but it takes 6+ loops of recursion to reach that organic level (and few have considered this dynamic, assuming that recursion will 'inevitably' lead to an infinite regress when the fact is it wont (or else there is a brake supplied that limits such)

This level of 64 categories seems to be a recognised minimum in eliciting 'folk taxonomies':

"...The hypothesis, which we shall call the "2^6 rule", is, then, that irrespective of race, culture, or evolutionary level, culturally institutionalized folk taxonomies will not contain more than 2^6 entities and consequently will not require more than six orthogonally related binary dimensions for the definitions of all of the terms. ...In the area of cultural semantics, we are suggesting that a somewhat similar principle applies...the evolution of cultural complexity is limited, in so far as folk taxonomies are concerned, by the two-to-the-sixth-power rule. ...What is limited is the complexity of the taxonomies which are components of the various cultural sub-systems" Wallace,A.F.C.,(1961) "On Being Just Complicated Enough" Proc. of N.A.S. 47 (1961): 458-464

Implicit here is that lower levels are possible, e.g. trigrams etc, but lack any organic content that emerges intuitively, holistically, when working with hexagrams (and using XOR we can access that information in high detail)

Since recursion is a fundamental in all language creation, this includes the genetic code such that the identified 'entanglement' in the I Ching of all hexagrams describing properties of each introduce us to the feature being, in some way, manifest in the genetic code (the recursive focus is in the form of the purine/pyramidine dichotomy where such leads into genetic code development into 64 amino acid codes etc) as it is in any model of the universe based on the use of recursion (we see here aspects of symmetry and the focus on 'all is connected', as we do the asymmetry element that allows us to create languages)

Chris
http://www.emotionaliching.com

The majority of programs on the 'net that focus on interactions with humans using natural language processing are grounded in a perspective that is focused on direct interaction with the consciousness of the individual and depend on such interaction for gathering of information.

However, there is a lot of information available that is unconscious and can aid in identifying underlying intent etc of the individual, often suppressed by consciousness as being 'not appropriate at this time'.

Our unconscious nature is grounded in a focus  on instinctive self-preservation (be it of self or species) and as such is the source of emotional expressions focused on such preservation regardless of any social 'requirements' for expression. This realm of the unconscious is tied to our holistic, organic, parallel, immediate, interactions with context and include what Jung called "Mythic" thinking; an emphasis on the psyche processing information through use of sensory experiences such as images etc., and reflects a mindset grounded in our more primitive natures as a developing aware species. We note that, linguistically, this mindset is limited and tied to the use of analogies/metaphor to the local context where such includes local history/legends/myths. As such, any sense of personal identity is tied to the local context and so difficulties come in attempts to move the individual or species to some other locale.

The development of consciousness reflects the development of "directed" thinking and the focus on thinking in words, and so an emphasis on the serial and the use of delay, where such allows for refinement in details processing as it does the ability to suppress instinctive expressions in that the realm of consciousness includes the learning of social rules of conduct applied to regulating instinctive expressions - either due to inappropriateness socially or due to a premature response to some stimulus where the precision, and delay, of consciousness identifies an aspect of a stimulus that changes the overall perspective.

The IDM work (http://www.emotionaliching.com/AbstractD.html ) and the model's application through the Emotional I Ching (http://www.emotionaliching.com ) brings out the ability to 'communicate' with our sub/un-conscious and in doing so give us access to complex forms not obvious in the normal day-to-day dynamics of normal, verbal, language usage. As such we can gather information quickly as compared to the extensive questioning required through basic linguistic interaction.

The information gathered is always 'vague' in  that it can lack the precision of consciousness but it can also reveal material that consciousness has intentionally suppressed from expression/consideration. In this revelation issues can be identified and more quickly resolved than the traditional 'talking cures' of current depth psychology methods. (See example in the EIC FAQ).

Thus the Emotional I Ching work, and the associated IDM abstract domain model, give us new insights into how the neural hierarchy of our being operates, with levels operating almost autonomously but with a top-down property ready which can influence all levels below it (bottom-up can influence immediate levels above/below but top-down is more imposing in its regulatory manner)

The EIC program is a particular example of using a small set of questions to elicit a generic perspective of some situation/persona. As the book covers, we can also create alternative questions based on different contexts to elicit the same overall responses and so insights into unconscious activities at work. The ESSENTIAL element is that the questions used are in the form of asymmetric dichotomies and ordered in a strict hierarchy from general to particular - and so a focus on syntax to bring out precision in responses.

In the past the realm of depth psychology etc has required considerable time periods to reveal underlying concerns of individuals in that the suppression of information, and so resistance issues etc, have to be lifted/bypassed to get at the core issues present. With the IDM work this time period is reduced and with such tools as the EIC many can 'solve it yourself' by forming an intimate relationship with the unconscious and so be sensitive to those vague feelings that appear at first to have no 'meaning'. That said, the limited number of questions aids to limit the depth analysis where some times additional aid is required in the form of a human therapist.

More on 37:

Prior to the discovery of the language nature of the I Ching, trying to understand the meanings of hexagrams included a focus on the opposite structure of a hexagram where the two hexagrams involved represented opposite sides of the same coin - name the coin.

For hexagram 37:




this focus on the coin meant consideration of the characteristics of hexagram 40. Through consideration of the traditional material, plus various translations combined with the IDM categories, the name of the coin was identified as "Tension Release". Hexagram 37 covered tension release through imposing of RIGID structure (as in clan/family where all had their place and so no competition at home) as hexagram 40 covered tension release through the sudden RELAXATION of structure (the tie to a sudden summer thunderstorm clearing the oppressive heat).

With the discovery of the ability to extract a hexagram's spectrum using the XOR operator of logic, so came the identification of the properties of hexagram 37 covering such as:

27-ness, and so the 'mud' or 'skeletal form' of 37, ready for adding meat/muscle. This described by analogy to the generic characteristics of hexagram 39 with its focus on development of an obstruction, standing up against the 'mindless flow' and as such an interpretation covering the establishment of some order in all of the chaos (the complementary interpretation of 39 also includes bypassing an obstructing, using the mindless flow to get around it, but the primary focus here is on the obstructiveness. We note that 39s 'skeletal' form is described by 37 and ITS focus on rigid structure aiding in tension release, so that theme of some form of rigidity dominates)

63-ness, and so the purpose/completion of 37 is described by analogy to the generic qualities of hexagram 23 with its focus on cutting things back to the essentials, stripping away all of the 'rubbish' to leave behind the clean and tidy form ready for future development; thus the family/clan establishment satisfies this purpose of a well order form open to development.

24-ness, and so the beginnings of 37, described by analogy to the generic qualities of hexagram 53 with its focus on gradual development, on maturing, and so the establishment of the rigid structure is like the development of a green, and so flexible, tree to a solid form.

Given these language capabilities we can, for example, identify the completion of stages of development - thus the 24-ness of 37 is described by analogy to 53, so the ENDING of that development phase is described by analogy to the 63-ness of 53 where that is 27 where we reach a stage where the skeletal form is completed and ready for the adding of meat and muscle; we have a mature support structure, strong and dependable.

In the Emotional I Ching (EIC), changing lines covers uncertainty in answering the basic, exclusive OR, questions. The basic three questions presented (they can be different in detail but must remain in their hierarchic order - the book presents alternative questions) cover:

Do you feel that:

Is X more facts OR values?
Is X more about what was/is/will-be OR about what could-have-been/is-not/could-be?
You being instigating (proactive) OR responding (reactive) to X?

If one is unsure we exploit the past or imagination in asking 'was X previously more facts or more values?' what this does is give us a changing line path from yang to yin or yin to yang.

The second three questions can be as the first but apply WITHIN the context set-down by those first three - as such the bottom trigram of a hexagram. We can use the focus on (a) asking these questions as YOUR assessment of what is going on outside or (b) get someone else to answer the questions, but again about assessing the outside.

The resulting changing line hexagram covers (a) the hexagram describing the raw situation and (b) a hexagram reflecting responses to that situation that are all ready underway (no changing lines implies we are dealing with the situation 'as is' and have not, or find no need to, respond to the situation by changing assessments of that situation).

In the traditional material we can see that the changing line comments were (a) applied to a single line and (b) made AFTER the full hexagram was completed in form, for such is essential in the setting down of the context of changing lines, the change is made WITHIN the context of the whole hexagram; thus the Duke of Chou came to the line studies within a context of meaning set down by the completed hexagram (the 64 hexagrams supposedly completed by his father, King Wen). However, when we CREATE a hexagram, and so a line at a time, bottom-up, the changing lines occur with the process of creation and so PRIOR to any completion of the hexagram; if we have just created a changing line 1, it applies to 32 possible hexagrams, not one hexagram.  Thus a process that changes line 1 prior to the rest of the hexagram being developed implies a generic change associated with the line position pre any customisation of meaning that comes once the hexagram is completed.

Thus, in the building of hexagrams recursively, and so developing the binary sequence of hexagrams, the base line covers a sense of beginning and of the general in ALL hexagrams. As such 32 hexagrams have a yin base line and 32 have a yang base line. With this perspective we see that the base line of ALL hexagrams cover the generic qualities of hexagram 24(44) with its focus on beginning/re-beginning. Additional traditional material brings out the hierarchy of line position associations free of the details of a particular hexagram, thus all hexagrams have a hierarchy interpreted as worker, supervisor, local lord, minister, ruler, sage and so reflect  the qualitative differences of line positions, they may cover 'yin' or 'yang' and so all lines are identical in that context, but add hierarchy and the qualitative differences appear; the 'yin' nature of line 1 is not the same as the 'yin' nature of line 6.

Given these distinctions of universal change vs local change, the generic nature of the base line in a hexagram is (a) universal in that it covers generic 'beginnings', be they social position or the restart of a loop in a cycle etc etc and (b) a local concept of beginning within the context of the full specific hexagram meaning.

In the EIC this focus on universals is IMPLICIT through the hierarchic form of the questions; thus asking 'is X about facts or values' fills in the IMPLICIT position of a beginning, the base line of a hexagram.

At the base level of our neurology all is concrete, immediate. All is determined by our senses and so by the limitations of such where those limits define the bounds of one's universe. In this realm all meaning is derived recursively but applicable WITHIN the current context and we can map out that meaning to give us qualities later used, when we abstract, to map labels to contexts outside of our immediate experience. Thus the labels of 'fight/flight' and 'yang/yin' map to the ONE set of qualities we all share as neuron-dependent species and so at this level we can translate emotional content into I Ching content.

IF we analyse the line dynamics further, we find that their interpretation as 0s and 1s is also extendable into interpreting the lines as manifestations of wave forms, in particular a square wave that gives us the qualities of 0s and 1s. The hierarchic ordering means the frequency of the wave is doubled for each line and the summing of the lines give us a unique waveform for a hexagram made up of summing the waves to give us constructive/destructive interference patterns.

We find in this model that we can build hexagram meanings from summing of basic waves where such are defined by single yang line hexagrams, and so actualising potentials, as well as yin line hexagrams where actualisations are damped. For example, hexagram 29 covers the summing of hexagram 08 (representing the actualisation of line 5) and hexagram 07 (representing the actualisation of line 2). Both of these core hexagrams cover implicit/explicit authority dynamics (2nd and 5th lines of a hexagram) and emphasise a focus on control dynamics - and the trigram model of hexagram 29, given the recognition of a trigram in an upper position represents the qualities of the trigram in the bottom position doubled, gives us "with/from containment (water in bottom) comes control (water in top, containment doubled/refined/concentrated)"

The main focus here is on the neutrality of meaning in hexagrams at this basic level of meaning, there are no labels, there is just the differentiating/integrating dichotomy applied to itself six times and qualitatively moving from general to particular. WE then add the labels to differentiate contexts. Thus the questions asked in the EIC are isomorphic to the qualities covered in hexagrams 24(44), 07(13), 15(10), 16(09), 08(14), 23(43); the sense of 'beginning' in creating a hexagram covers the ground from which we build meanings. Local context then relabels things to cover such as 'facts' or 'values'; the beginning of the assessment maps to what the brain does in dealing with novelty and that is the initial setting of a ground regardless of what the detailed meaning is supposed to be.

Simply put, the first question of the EIC has NOTHING to do with the generic meaning of hexagram 24. It is the POSITION of the question, and the associated QUALITIES of the elements of the dichotomy used, that matters. The focus on meaning generation is in the elements of the dichotomy mapping qualitatively to the generic qualities of differentiating and integrating; in the facts/values dichotomy the 'facts' element is more associated with characteristics of differentiating (objects, the discrete, thingness, point, concentrated field) and the 'values' element is more associated with characteristics of integrating (attachments, the continuous, relatedness, the space in between, field, diffuse point).

The association of the facts/values dichotomy and hexagram 24 is simply the POSITION involved, the BEGINNING of 'something' (even if the return of a cycle) will set the context for all that follows. We could ask "do you feel the situation to be more yang focused or yin focused" or some other question but the QUALITIES of the question must be of differentiation vs integration and the question must be the context setter, the BEGINNING of the meaning.

Our brains will oscillate across both hemispheres when dealing with the new/complex and so reflect (a) the focusing of attention and (b) the repeating of the differentiate/integrate (aka yang/yin) dichotomy, within the bounds of the focus, moving from the general to the particular. The consequence of such is a layering of meaning arriving at a meaning within the set of possible meanings given the number of oscillations. The LIMIT to the oscillations is in coming across a meaning that 'fits' such that pragmatism steps in and we need to go no further. There is a NATURAL process at work here with refined meaning, but of a vague form, emerging after six loops of recursion and so 64 possible classes of meanings:

"...The hypothesis, which we shall call the "2^6 rule", is, then, that irrespective of race, culture, or evolutionary level, culturally institutionalized folk taxonomies will not contain more than 2^6 entities and consequently will not require more than six orthogonally related binary dimensions for the definitions of all of the terms. ...In the area of cultural semantics, we are suggesting that a somewhat similar principle applies...the evolution of cultural complexity is limited, in so far as folk taxonomies are concerned, by the two-to-the-sixth-power rule. ...What is limited is the complexity of the taxonomies which are components of the various cultural sub-systems" (Wallace 1961)

Wallace,A.F.C.,(1961) "On Being Just Complicated Enough" Proc. of N.A.S. 47 (1961): 458-464

What the EIC/IDM work shows us is that this level of categorisation is the first level where all of the classes of meanings can be used to describe the properties of EACH meaning - as such we see emerge form 'mechanistic' categorisation and organic form leading into language creation (and so the EIC bringing out the I Ching's ability to describe itself through self-referencing).

The second question of the EIC maps an identical quality with the first question but applied WITHIN the context of that first question and so focused on differentiating/integrating qualities within the original, general, differentiating/integrating qualities. This is akin to identifying the yin within yang and the yang within yin, we are zooming-in, particularising, to give us more details.

In the I Ching this second line position focus is represented by hexagram 07 and covers a beginning (line 1 an its position association with hexagram 24 - the implicit sense of imposed direction) followed by a containing; we can see the summing of this in the form of hexagram 19 where lines 1 and 2 are all yang (and so the meaning of 19 is contained in summing 07 and 24). The emphasis in hexagram 19 is on (a) a direction (approaching the high) and (b) an attempt at uniformity (getting the high to defer to the low, all to become vaguely 'one').

In the EIC questions, the generic qualities of question two cover (a) the differentiating/integrating aspects (what was/is/will-be is more differentiating; what could-have-been/is-not/could-be more integrating), and (b) the application of the specific meanings WITHIN the general meanings of facts/values (there is a superficial sense of the second question being orthogonal to the first in that the labels appear to be so different; but close analysis shows us the sameness of the qualities in both questions - we are just repeating the ONE set of qualities but in a hierarchic manner).

The third question of the EIC consolidates the assessment with something more qualitatively particular - one's involvement with the situation, one is being proactive (differentiating bias) or reactive (integrating bias) but all within the context set by the previous two questions. If we remove the differentiating labels then all we have done here qualitatively is asked the one question three times - "is the situation yang (differentiating) or yin (integrating)" - and then asked the questions again but with slightly different focus (outer rather than inner). It is the HIERARCHY that elicits the range of possible meanings given the methodology where that hierarchy introduces context dependencies in asserting meaning; asking the general question "is the situation yang or yin" is NOT the same qualitatively as in asking the same question to fill-in the line 6 position of a hexagram. To avoid confusion we thus create sets of questions that appear to be totally unrelated in their labels but are in fact identical at the base level of meaning - they are about acts of differentiating vs acts of integrating.

Given the EIC questions we can quickly identify a changing line situation and determine what is causing it for each line (the cause being our choice of answer for the question associated with the line) and at the same time sum the lines to give us an overall cause. For example, if I cannot determine lines 1 and 6 but present a focus on their changing from yang to yin or yin to yang then the overall emphasis is on hexagram 27(28) in that I can derive a change influence hexagram by making all lines yin and the changing lines yang to give me, in this case, hexagram 27.

Given the above, there are 63 'changing line' patterns applicable to a hexagram but at the core level these can be reduced to the summing of the single line meanings given to each line. Thus if a hexagram has two changing yang lines in positions 1 and 6 then the general influence overall is from hexagram 27(28) and the details are in hexagram 23(43) covering the top line and hexagram 24(44) covering the bottom line. The overall interpretation covers the change from the situation hexagram to the emerging response. We can work generically and consider our decisions in creating the bottom and top lines or we can use XORing to extract fine details not obvious at the generic levels of analysis but still present.

The essential point is to understand the duality present in changing line interpretations - as we BUILD a hexagram, regardless of method, any changing lines are only valid at the universal level (their line positions) - their LOCAL value only occurs once the derivation process is complete and we have a particular hexagram representing a particular situation.

Chris.

There are often debates in the more traditional circles of whether a hexagram is to be interpreted as negative or positive. The truth of the matter is that each hexagram, being general in meaning, is both positive and negative with consciousness acting as the final arbiter in fitting a hexagram to a context.

An often confused form of interpretation is found with hexagram 41:



Hexagram 41 is nterpreted in the more traditional texts as 'decrease' where such is considered negative. However, with the EIC analysis of the properties of the I Ching and its hexagrams we find that hexagram 41 covers decrease in the sense of distillation, concentration, and the possible failings of such. In other words there is an air of alchemy present where a focus on distilling a pure form can fail and so leave 'sludge' as it can succeed in leaving a lesser, more concentrated, purer, form.

We can identify the mud or clay from which hexagram 41 has emerged by XORing it with 27. This gives us the description of the skeletal form of 41 as characteristics of hexagram 07 with its focus on establishing uniformity (the social example being an Army - all dressed, in general, the same). Thus we see a focus on all parts of 'something' being made indistinguishable and so 'pure'; a concentrated 'force' (as far as an army is concerned).

the reverse here is in interpreting the 41-ness of hexagram 27 and this is the same hexagram, 07, giving us the description of how the infrastructure, the skeletal form, manifests distillation - it does so in the form of uniformity in structure (which is what a skeleton IS - all bone).

Another example is with hexagram 23, pruning. XORing 23 with 41 gives us hexagram 19. Hexagram 19 covers deference, the rising of the low and deference to such of the high - a mix of approach and deference. Thus in hexagram 23, the act of pruning manifests the distillation process in the form of balancing-out relationships and so becoming 'one' - the high and low mix even if only temporarily.

Chris.

In the EIC we focus on meaning generation and the hexagrams serving as 'memes', the memory version of genes, and as such a form of language, coding for basic meanings derived at the neurological level of our species. As such, a hexagram in its own context has no differences between genotype, or memotype, and phenotype, the form of expression of that gene/meme.

 Thus hexagram 27 in its own context covers issues of quality control and the level of developing an infrastructure, a skeletal form, and filling-in that form, adding meat and muscle and so satisfying a 'need' to be filled. The trigrams reflect a bottom trigram of thunder, with its focus on surprise, shock, an original distinction, and a top trigram of mountain, with its focus on self-restraint doubled to give us a focus on discernment, quality control.



If a context is described by some other hexagram, we can identify the expression of the qualities of hexagram 27 through that context by XORing hexagram 27 with the hexagram describing the context. For example, if the context is described by hexagram 01 then XORing 01 with 27 gives us hexagram 28. The generic characteristics of hexagram 28 cover excess and as such here indicates 'too much yang' as the description of the skeletal form or 'mud/clay' to which we add content and so shape what hexagram 01 represents.

Another example is to hexagram 37. If we XOR hexagram 27 with 37 we get hexagram 39. Thus the infrastructure of hexagram 37 and its 'rigid structuring to reduce tension' (aka the family/clan) is the initial establishment of an obstruction, an obstacle that goes against the flow, that sticks out forcing the need to go around or combat. This is then developed into covering the two sides of 39, dealing with an obstacle by going around it, as well as being an obstacle against the 'mindless flow'. The trigrams read "with self-restraint comes control".

Thus the infrastructure or 'mud/clay' from which 37 has developed is described by this analogy to the generic properties of hexagram 39 where the analogy is made through XORing hexagram 27 with hexagram 37.

Chris.

In the traditional material of the I Ching, hexagram, 37 is associated with a focus family, on clan, and more generically on social order.





The EIC analysis of hexagram 37 brings out the generic property of establishing tension release through imposition of rigid structure, "with guidance comes influence", as compared to the structural opposite of hexagram 37, hexagram 40, where the focus is on the relaxation of rigid structure, the sudden release of such, where THAT elicits tension release.

In the "I Ching as language" format, XORing any hexagram with hexagram 37 will elicit a hexagram serving as analogy in describing how 37-ness is expressed through that particular hexagram. For example, XORing 37 with 01 gives us hexagram 40, the supposed opposite of 37. However the CONTEXT of hexagram 01 is hear influencing the expression of hexagram 37 such that that expression will appear in the form of hexagram 40; thus the rigid structure of hexagram 37, placed in this ever moving context of yangness, goes through perpetual tension release through immediate relaxation of structure where such reflects an imposition of structure! The dynamics of pure yang cover the perpetual engagement/re-engagement with context and so a focus on high energy mediations. To express the tension release possible by asserting rigid structure means an imposition that lasts for an instance, it cannot be held constant for any period of time unless it is cycled - i.e. perpetually presented/re-presented to last but an instant and appear as the seed for what hexagram 40 represents, the relaxation of structure (as a summer storm breaks a heatwave).

If we change the context to, say, hexagram 07, and XOR it with 37 we have hexagram 10. In this context the focus on rigid structure is a focus on the conduct needed in following a path whilst under close scrutiny. That conduct is an act of imposing rigid order on behaviour and as such serves to relax tension through its formality - formal conduct serves to avoid 'surprises' and covers the use of ritual in following a path.

The context of 07 already sets a focus on setting-down a sense of social uniformity (expressed in the traditional I Ching interpretation of 07 as "The Army") and the expression of tension RELEASE in such a context, through use of rigid structuring, is manifest in the form of the formality of expression covered in hexagram 10.

Chris.

The Emotional I Ching identifies hexagrams as elements of a language where their form is qualitative, as such hexagrams can take-on the nature of the genetic code (as genotypes) and express themselves (as phenotypes) through contexts described by analogy to other hexagrams.

Thus hexagram 23 in its own context covers the focus on what we can call 'pruning'; the last bastion of 'order'. We can under-exaggerate this label through use of another - that of 'housekeeping' where such covers the 'lite' pruning of a context, clear away the dust etc. OR we can over-exaggerate the pruning label through reference to some high priest/priestess wrestling with the struggle to purge the faith of accumulated 'stuff' to bring out the true nature of that faith. Any hexagram has this range of magnitudes, intensities, of expression.




The emphasis in pruning is as an act of preparation prior to the emergence of winter, and so preparing for the end of season cycle, and getting ready for spring where the structure imposed by the pruning will enable better development of what has been pruned in that new season.

If we XOR hexagram 23 with any other hexagram we will get its phenotype, the expression of the 'gene' given the influence of a context. For example, if the context is described by analogy to hexagram 01 then we can identify how 01 'prunes' by XORing 01 with 23. This will give us hexagram 43 and its focus on robustness, resoluteness, and so 'spreading the word/seed'. Pruning is usually a contractive act, we cut back, but the context here is of pure yangness and so a focus on expanding and strong on movement (it never stops). AS such pruning here is described through the properties of hexagram 43 with the focus on the particular, singular, 'word' that is heavily promoted, and being such, reflects pruning in that all possible alternatives are excluded, pushed aside as the one 'true' word is promoted - and so an act of 'pruning' but in an expansive, dynamic, form.

Thus XORing hexagram 23 with any other hexagram will describe how some situation/context represented by that hexagram will express 23-ness, pruning.

If I rotate hexagram 23 I get hexagram 24.




Hexagram 24 covers the beginning of a cycle (and that includes a cycle yet to be deemed as such!) and XORing it with any hexagram gives us an analogy as to how any hexagram 'begins'. For example, for a context represented by hexagram 01, the beginning is identified with analogy to hexagram 44 and so an initial focus on intensely persuading/seducing (there is a competitive edge here). If we focus on the beginnings of hexagram 23, and so XOR it with 24, then we have analogy to hexagram 27 and its focus on issues of infrastructure, a focus on the mud/clay from which something is built, and this is so given the pruning focus of 23 where the focus is almost to cut back to that level.

Given the language nature of the I Ching, we can zoom-in for finer details on any hexagram. For example, given hexagram 44 covering the beginnings of a context described by hexagram 01, we can identify the pruning aspect of 44 by XORing it with 23 to give us 28. Thus the I Ching language aids in identifying the properties of a hexagram representing a whole situation, as well as properties representing parts of that situation (e.g. beginnings, endings, etc)

Thus we see the I Ching as able to describe itself, and so interpret itself, by reference to itself through the use of logic operators in our brains where their focus is on deriving 'correct' meanings - if but vague. It is then local context through the actions of consciousness that then contributes the finer details that bring a unique moment to life. The fact that this approach has not been covered in the more traditional texts brings out the fact that our ancestors lacked understanding of the dynamics of meaning derivation 'in here'. Through neuroscience etc we are in a better position to understand meaning derivation and as such 'refine' the abilities of the I Ching to present us with meaningful data for any situation.

Chris.
http://www.emotionaliching.com