Consciousness, Esoteric, fourfolds, twelvefolds

The Alethiometer

February 24, 2026 Martin K. Jones Leave a comment

The alethiometer, an important fictional artifact in Philip Pullman’s two fantasy trilogies His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust, is a “truth-telling” device that might well have been inspired by the combinatorial art of Ramon Llull. While most users need years of study and reference books to read the alethiometer, the young heroine Lyra can understand it intuitively because of her innocence and her seeming ability to communicate with the mysterious “Dust”.

Each alethiometer (of the six made) has 36 symbols on its face, and three pointers that can be set to one symbol each. The three symbols pointed to are intended to frame a question or problem that the user has in mind. A fourth pointer is a needle that freely moves, pointing to one symbol or a sequence of them, and those should represent the answer to the query. The 36 symbols are familiar entities, but their meanings are not straightforward.

In the first trilogy, Lyra could operate an alethiometer readily, and use its power to help her navigate her way through a multi-verse of dangers, enemies, and goals. The first trilogy was more like excellent juvenile literature, in that the heroine was able to overcome hardships and achieve the outcome that she thought was best under the circumstances, even though it wasn’t what she wanted to happen. Nevertheless, it ended in a heartbreaking yet satisfying way.

In contrast, the second trilogy was closer to an adult story, not as tidy in its themes or plot lines, and with the lack of a neat resolution. As she grew out of childhood in the second trilogy, she struggled with reading the alethiometer. This was either because her lost innocence, or because adults don’t usually have as much connection to “Dust” (being enclouded by the Dust that surrounds them), or because of her estrangement to her personal daemon or soul-spirit.

In this age of blatant lies and misinformation, would that we all could have the power to discern truth from falsehoods, to consult our very own Oracle of Truth. Some think that AI driven by Large Language Models can give us access to veridic and factual knowledge, and perhaps it can. But it seems that AI can be manipulated to bias its “thinking” any which way you like. Easy access to the truth and easy determination of lies may just be a pipe dream of childhood.

Further Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Dark_Materials

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Dust

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_(His_Dark_Materials)

https://academic.oup.com/book/59756

Click to access alethiometerchart-form-glossaryofmeanings.pdf

[*14.136, *14.142-143]

fourfolds, Mathematics, Metaphysics

The Yoneda Lemma

February 10, 2026 Martin K. Jones Leave a comment

I’ve been wanting to post about the Yoneda Lemma of Category Theory for a while, and finally decided how to draw my little diagram. Next, I will sketch out the fundamentals of the lemma for you (not the proof though) even though there are many better presentations out there.Then, oddly enough, I wondered what if anything the lemma could tell us about metaphysics. I know this is like using Godel’s Theorem to say things about epistemology (and so a category mistake, ha ha), but I still think it’s worth a thought or two. Apparently others have explored the same idea.

First, one would have to assume that reality can be modeled by some Category, so the Yoneda Lemma could apply to it. This may be in fact be wrong, but apparently Category Theory has been used to model various physical subsystems. If we just go ahead and assume it can, what could the Yoneda Lemma tell us?

The Yoneda Lemma suggests an object’s essence (nature, being, identity) is entirely defined by its relationships (called morphisms or arrows in Category Theory) with all other objects in its system (i.e., its category), effectively equating an object with its web of connections. Metaphysically, this supports a structuralist or relational view where an entity has no intrinsic nature independent of its context.
The lemma shows that knowing how an object relates to all other objects is equivalent to knowing the object itself. And so if two objects have identical relationships with all other objects, then they are functionally identical (isomorphic). This supports the idea that the existence of a thing is defined by structural behavior rather than intrinsic substance.
The lemma works by embedding objects into relational mappings via their “view from elsewhere”—how they appear from the perspective of every other object. This could support a metaphysics where reality is fundamentally perspectival: objects are constituted by the totality of possible perspectives on them. There’s no “view from nowhere” that captures what something is independent of its potential relations.

The lemma was named after Nobuo Yoneda (1930-1996), a Japanese mathematician and computer scientist.

Further Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoneda_lemma

https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/Yoneda+lemma

https://blog.juliosong.com/linguistics/mathematics/category-theory-notes-14/

https://www.math3ma.com/blog/the-yoneda-lemma

The Yoneda Lemma

https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/p/you-are-dual-to-everything-the-yoneda

https://temnoon.com/the-essence-of-relationality-yoneda-lemma-and-the-jeweled-net-of-indra/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra%27s_net

https://equivalentexchange.blog/2014/02/01/relations-all-the-way-down/

[*12.58, *14.160]

fourfolds, Politics, Science, twelvefolds

The Doomsday Clock

February 6, 2026 Martin K. Jones 1 Comment

On the Doomsday Clock, it is 85 seconds before midnight!

Tick… tick… tick… tick…

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

January 26, 2026 Martin K. Jones Leave a comment

The fourth Puella Magi Madoka Magica movie, titled “Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising” (or “Walpurgis no Kaiten”), is set for release in February 2026 in Japan, bringing the magical girl series back after over a decade with original staff and studio SHAFT involved.

So the four movies in the series are:

Beginnings (2012)
Eternal (2012)
Rebellion (2013)
Walpurgis no Kaiten (2026)

Further Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puella_Magi_Madoka_Magica

https://essential-japan.com/news/madoka-magica-confirmed-to-return-in-2026-with-new-theatrical-film/

[*12.133]

fourfolds

A View of the Japanese Notion of Ikigai

January 10, 2026 Martin K. Jones Leave a comment

Some say the Japanese notion of Ikigai (生き甲斐, literally “a reason for being“) can be divided into the following four overlapping aspects:

Passion (情熱, jōnetsu)
Mission (目的, mokuteki)
Talent (才能, sainō)
Career (職業, shokugyō)

But others say that it’s more complicated than that.

Regardless, I seem to have arranged my diagram differently from everyone else, like I often do. I base my order by analogy with how I’ve arranged the Four Causes and Structure-Function.

Further Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai

Héctor García, Francesc Miralles / Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

https://ikigainotes.com/what-you-know-about-ikigai-is-dead-wrong/

Images of Ikigai being in four overlapping parts…

[*14.126]

fourfolds, Philosophy, Psychology

Four Things to Avoid for Heijoshin

January 2, 2026 Martin K. Jones 1 Comment

The four states of mind to avoid to maintain Heijoshin (平常心), or “calm, steady mind,” are called the Shikai (四戒), or “four sicknesses of the mind”. These are derived from Japanese martial arts and Buddhist philosophy and represent mental distractions that interfere with clear thinking and effective action.

The four things to avoid are:

Kyo (驚) — Surprise: The mental disturbance that occurs when faced with the unexpected. It can lead to a moment of frozen indecision where one is unable to make correct judgments or take relevant measures.
Ku (懼) — Fear: Being afraid of an opponent, an outcome, or a situation. Fear can cause your spirit to freeze and your body to lose the ability to move freely and effectively.
Gi (疑) — Doubt: Questioning your abilities or judging your opponent’s actions, which leads to hesitation and indecisiveness. Doubt erodes confidence and delays decision-making.
Waku (惑) — Confusion: A state of hesitation and bewilderment that prevents you from making quick, clear decisions and acting swiftly. This happens when the mind is clouded by a mix of indecision and doubt.

Further Reading:

Heijoshin 平常心

The four sicknesses “shikai” – is there a cure?

[*14.134]

Consciousness, fourfolds, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Space and Time

Matter and Memory, Moment and Measure

December 16, 2025 Martin K. Jones Leave a comment

The more of these moments memory can contract into one, the firmer is the hold which it gives to us on matter : so that the memory of a living being appears indeed to measure, above all, its powers of action upon things, and to be only the intellectual reverberation of this power. Let us start, then, from this energy, as from the true principle : let us suppose that the body is a centre of action, and only a centre of action. We must see what consequences thence result for perception, for memory, and for the relations between body and mind.

Perception is master of space in the exact measure in which action is master of time.

— Henri Bergson, from Matter and Memory

Further Reading:

https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/Bergson/Bergson_1911b/Bergson_1911_05.html

https://epochemagazine.org/50/creative-recollection-bergsons-theory-of-memory/

Henri Bergson’s Matter and Memory: Law of Masters

Click to download a pdf copy of Matter and Memory.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_and_Memory

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bergson/#PercMemo

Emily Herring / Herald of a Restless World, how Henri Bergson brought philosophy to the people

https://share.google/aimode/qjOPizFa2d2U8Ab4v

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/matter-and-memory-henri-bergson

[*12.116]

fourfolds, Metaphysics, ontology, Philosophy

Aristotle’s Fourfold Division of Being

December 10, 2025 Martin K. Jones Leave a comment

Aristotle’s fourfold division of being, found in his work Categories, classifies entities based on whether they are “Said of” a subject and whether they are “Present in” a subject. The four categories obtained by these distinctions are: Accidental Particulars (not Said of but Present in), Accidental Universals (Said of and Present in), Primary Substances (or Substantial Particulars) (neither Said of nor Present in), and Essential Universals (or Substantial Universals) (Said of but not Present in) (also called Secondary Substances).

	Present in	Not Present in
Said of	Accidental Universals	Essential Universals
Not Said of	Accidental Particulars	Primary Substances

Or, looking at these four categories another way, with explanation:

	Said of?	Present in?
Essential Universals	Yes	No	These are species or genera that are “Said of” particular substances but are not “Present in” any single subject. (i.e. the species of “humans”)
Accidental Particulars	No	Yes	These are non-substantial particulars that are “Present in” a subject but are not “Said of” any other subject. (i.e. the wisdom of Socrates)
Accidental Universals	Yes	Yes	These are universals that are both “Said of” and “Present in” subjects. (i.e. the wisdom that can be in some humans, such as philosophers)
Primary Substances	No	No	These are individual, particular things that can exist on their own, such as an individual man or other type of entity. (i.e. Socrates)

Note the original term “accidental” can now be thought of as merely “non-substantial”. But Aristotle’s fourfold division wasn’t discussed at great length in the Categories, as pride of place was devoted to his ten-fold ontology, which we won’t be covering here.

The recent philosopher E. J. Lowe wrote much on essentially this same fourfold classification, which he called the Four Category Ontology. Lowe’s diagram of this, which he called “The Ontological Square”, also describes several other relationships between these four categories: Instantiation (between Kinds and Objects, and Attributes and Modes), Characterization (between Kinds and Attributes, and Objects and Modes), and Exemplification (between Attributes and Objects).

	Non-substances	Substances
Universals	Non-substantial Universals, i.e. Attributes	Substantial Universals, i.e. Kinds
Particulars	Non-substantial Particulars, i.e. Modes	Substantial Particulars, i.e. Objects

Further Reading:

https://www.ancientgreekphilosopher.com/2015/08/05/aristotles-categories-four-fold-division-of-being/

https://philosophy-models.blog/2019/01/20/aristotles-categories-the-four-fold-division/

https://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/cats320.htm

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-categories/#FouFolDiv

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/supp1.html

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-categories/

Ludger Jansen / Aristotle’s Categories

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11245-006-9009-1

Kevin Mulligan, Peter Simons, Barry Smith / Truth-makers in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 44(3) 287-321 (1984)

E.J. Lowe / The Four-Category Ontology: A Metaphysical Foundation for Natural Science

https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/the-four-category-ontology-a-metaphysical-foundation-for-natural-science/

[*4.94, *6.98, *6.143]

fourfolds, technology

The QR Code

November 15, 2025 Martin K. Jones 2 Comments

The pattern called the QR code is now ubiquitous. One can easily(?) generate one that points to a specific web page or site. For example, I’ve generated one for this particular page, so it’s a bit recursive.

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, because QR codes fit so well into my grand and loose theme, with their square alignment blocks and their black and white pixelated pattern. Nice!

Chrome actually has a built-in feature to generate a QR code from a specific page, just right-click and presto! But it has a different appearance from the usual ones that inspired me to create this page.

I hear you need to find a “reputable” online QR code generator. How do you know it’s reputable? I tried a few, and they want you to create an account, or pay them something, or only work temporarily.

I guess there’s a lot about QR codes I don’t know. For instance, you can have dynamic codes that can have changeable meanings, but they must be routed through a service somewhere.

Further Reading:

This web site seems to have given me a straightforward QR code to this page, which is what I wanted.

https://goqr.me

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code

fourfolds, Philosophy

Plato’s Fourfold Vision in the Phaedrus

November 8, 2025 Martin K. Jones Leave a comment

In Plato’s Phaedrus, this “fourfold vision” refers to four distinct types of divine madness or inspiration; and being of divine origination are associated with various Greek gods. These are: prophecy from Apollon (later, Roman Apollo), mystic rites (telestic madness) from Dionysus (Bacchus), poetry and arts from the Muses (Camenæ), and love from Aphrodite and Eros (Venus and Cupid). These different forms of divine madness are seen as beneficial blessings and essential for a fulfilling life, crucial for living well and having a deeper connection to truth and beauty.

Also in the Phaedrus is Plato’s theory of the soul, most famously utilizing the metaphor of a chariot driven by two horses. The four types of divine madness represent different ways the soul can be uplifted. They are powers that can help guide the charioteer, steering the soul towards its higher purpose. If the soul follows the divine, the charioteer can ascend to the “plain of truth” (i.e. the realm of Plato’s Forms.) If not, the soul falls to earth in human form. The better the soul has seen truth, the higher will be its place in its “next” life.

It’s kind of odd that the charioteer is supposed to embody Reason, in order to steer the chariot’s horses properly, and yet there is no divine madness specifically associated with reason. Where is Athena (Roman Minerva), to aid the soul in its journey, as a guide for Reason? Perhaps Plato thought that Apollon could serve double duty, as he was thought to also symbolize reason as well as prophecy. Or perhaps the very notion of “divine madness” should not be associated with reasoning and logic. I disagree.

The writings of Benjamin Labatut come to mind as showcases of the “divine madness” of reason and logic. Various persons of science and mathematics are written about in a pseudo-bibliographical way: the mathematician Alexander Grothendieck, the computer scientist John von Neumann, and others. Other writers have also written about those that live in the highest realms of logic and mathematics: Kurt Godel, Grigory Perelman, etc. Their intellect may put them close to a form of madness.

Note:

I’ve chosen the Roman names for these Greek gods for the sole reason that they fit better in my diagram. I hope it’s not too confusing.

Further Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaedrus_(dialogue)