Now for the next instalment:
OK, I have now looked at the next iterations.
As we have already established that a randomized matrix can yield patterns in-determinedly, so there is no reason to explore that path.
Instead, I shall explore the more subjective path of finding patterns that seem interesting, and by rearranging try to create some narrative. I will re-arrange in predetermined repetitive steps, so I can't be accused of doctoring the sequences.
I start by taking Myriad's three words:
Try
Icy
Remap
I notice that the latter is actually: I remap co
Since the string cannot be more than 8 letters, I suspect the last word is abbreviated. For now I assume it stands for "code"
There is also "fun" and "tell". I'm not sure what those signify.
Notice that the remap sentence forms a bar that can be interpreted as a balance, weighing the two words "try" and "icy" against each other. Respectfully, I will abandon Myriad's interpretation of "icy" and instead interpret it as equivalent to "cool". So the balance tells us to "try to remap code" and the goal seems to make it cool. So we must make "try" outweigh "icy".
I will use Kingfisher's spiral scheme, but clockwise to move the balance in the right direction. I choose to start in the lower right corner.
So we look at iteration #1.
The first thing we notice is that "try2 and "remap" have now disappeared. This makes sense, since that message is delivered and acted upon.
"Icy" is still visible, as is "fun". They are, of course, shifted in position. A couple of new words have emerged:
Pool
Toy
Mall
Hot
The three first do not immediately make sense, except perhaps "toy"; are we only playing here?
Very interesting is "hot" which has emerged just beside "icy", and in the same direction. What is happening here?
Let us make another iteration (#2):
Obviously, "hot" and "icy" are now moving synchronously up the left side. The fun is still there. There was a 'LOL' present in iteration #1 (which I ignored), but now there are two, so together with 'fun', this must be significant. Note also that the two 'LOL' form a pattern known as the "spaceship" in the venerated game of Life. This pattern will wander across the screen in the game, permuting itself en route, but constantly existing.
So now we have allusions to fun, both as the word itself, but also the modern internet term 'LOL', and we have a reference to the game of Life. Since Life is also about letter patterns, we can take this to refer to real life, and a spaceship, no less. Note the "we" in a very noticeable position, so this could be spaceship we all occupy, Earth. Add to this the fact that "hot" and "icy" are still rising as started when we tipped the balance, this seems to evolve into a message about global warming. So far "icy" is leading, but that may not last. We also notice that the word "duo" has appeared, presumably alluding to the dual poles of hot and icy. Entirely embedded in three other words, the word "oil" has also made an appearance: We are certainly in for something about global warming.
We'd better look at iteration #3:
The plot really thickens, now. The LOL spaceship has disappeared, having served its purpose of signalling that we are talking about Earth.
"Hot" and "icy" are still on the rise, as expected. "We" is still present, as is "fun". However several ominous words have shown up, not least "CIA", forming a cross with "oil". - Didn't we all know deep down that those two were somehow involved? There is also a horizontal "oil" at a right angle with the other. Will we get a new angle on oil?
Then "paloa" has appeared. This is a fairly rare word, which can mean 'fire'! Suddenly the heat is in majority. There are also "duo" and "tri" which could must mean that one factor is to be doubled, another tripled. So in our global warming message, we have the unholy cross between oil and CIA, "duo" sits between "icy" and "paloa" so fire and ice forms a duo. This makes sense, because as the planet heats, the ice melts, so this duo starts our troubles. Then it gets hot, which triples our problems as water rises even more. Scary!
We rush to iteration #4:
This one seems to clear up things. The CIA/oil duo is still strong; hot and cold still battle. "Tri" is still there, but its star is falling. So omitting it, I notice that the patterns concentrate in one section. The oil conflict is crucial, hot and cold will battle long. There are other patterns, but which are emerging and which are flukes is too early to tell.
QED: From an input, which can be proved NOT to contain hidden codes, it is entirely possible, by systematic methods, to produce a sequence of patterns that can be coupled to an existing real-world narrative.
I have now done exactly as Kingfisher:
- I have taken a random piece of prose.
- I have rearranged it a matrix in way that scrambles its original sequence.
- I have performed a series of iterative re-arrangements in a systematic way.
- I have extracted words and positional patterns from the result and strung them together into a narrative that form a meaningful message about something external (in this case the real world).
The one significant difference is that I have incontrovertible proof that the initial piece of prose did NOT contain a deliberate message.
Hans