GRGR(11) - the Master (PPF 1&2)

[RICHARD_WILSON at udlp.com]

yesterday, i wrote:

> all this talk of "the master" in PFP is suggestive (to me at least) of the
Master Equation from statistics which 
> governs the evolution of probability distributions of Markov processes.

that should have been "probability distributions *in* Markov processes". (ouch!
sorry 'bout that)

also, if you're unfamiliar with the Master Equation, then perhaps you've heard
of the Fokker-Planck equation (which is closely related and has a similarly
deviant-sounding name ;-} )....

basically, slothrop is (or at least starts of as) the human embodiment of the
Poisson Distribution (a classic probability distribution). his evolution over
time seems to be controlled by some ultimate Master, just as the time dependence
of the Poisson Distribution is governed by the Master Equation. but Memory
(memories of what made him what he was in the first place such as the decline of
his new english ancestors) serves to cloud up the interfaces, makes the
variables less stochastic, and causes events to deviate from Zipf's principle.

also, i suspect that the (im)morality of a mathematical eqation should be
identically zero which would make the "creatures" (of the Master Eqn)
arbitrarily (or 'singularly' perhaps) innocent...
(how innocent do you want them to be?)....

--rwilson

"i repeat myself when under stress. i repeat myself when under stress. 
 i repeat myself when under stress. i repeat myself when under stress. 
 i repeat..." -- king crimson