Reflections on GO
by Shay Jones
Personal Info
Family: A very tolerant and kind wife (Kelly), 2 fun kids (7 ducks & 2 dogs)Non-GO Hobbies: Martial Arts (Karate, Aikido), Linguistics, Philosophy, Kayaking, Camping, Novice Computer Programming, Guitar, Politics
Background: Born in Parma Heights, Ohio. Attended Wheaton College (BA in Psych and Ed.), Cornell University, Duke University (Physician Assistant), Johns Hopkins University (MPH), Univ. of Minn (Philosophy), Univ. of Wisc (Philosophy), Meiji School of Oriental Medicine (Japan), Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania (M.Ed.).
My WeiQi History
1978 : As a philosophy grad student in Madison, Wisc. I was saw some folks gathered around a WeiQi game. I had never seen the game so wandered up and watched for 20 minutes trying to figure out the rules -- I couldn't. So I asked, "What is the purpose of this game?". A bearded player smoking a pipe look-up with consternation and said, "Buy a book, why don't ya?" After that rude dismissal, I read a little but had noone to play so I gave up trying to learn. Hopefully our club is much more friendly and helpful.
1987: Taught by my good Iraqi-British friend (Mazin Al-Khafaji) while in Taiwan. We were both studying Chinese and acupuncture -- I was there on a three month vacation from my home in Japan. I have dabbled since.
2004: Again started playing on KGS.
2007: Started the "Sewickley Go Club" with my most obsessed student Brandon Smith. Soon, Mike Bath joined and brought graphic beauty to our fold.
WeiQi Master Quotes
<-- "Go is Harmony !" (Go Seigen 9P, b 1912. One of the twentieth century Go Masters. Chinese name, Wu Qing Yuan, came to Japan in 1928.)
"Whatever one encounters, whenever the mood strikes, turn your attention in that direction and investigate as one's interest is stimulated. That is a sufficient approach to study." -- (Sakata Eio 9P, b 1920, Tesuji and Anti-Suji of GO. pg 43) -->
<-- "If the fundamental do not operate subconsciously when you sit down to play, you have not mastered them yet." -- (Kageyama Toshiro 7P, b 1926-d 1990, Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go, pg 50)
<--"Replay professional games. Eventually you will start playing better moves because your fingers will know where to play. Not your mind, your fingers." --(Nakayama Noriyuki 6P, U.S. GO Congress 2007)
Test Your Philosophy
Problem: Here is the smallest real GO-board on which you could play Go. Imagine this board empty, would you want to go first, second or doesn't it matter? No komi, of course. E-mail me your responses.
Truth: Truths are relative to the system for which they apply. But because the human mind is not a "truth machine", often usability of a theory trumps the truth of a theory in common practice and persuasion. Thus, though a theory may be false, it still may be useful. Nonetheless, here I am interested in the Truth of a Theory. If you want to test the truth of a theory, a good method is to use the system's extreme data set. WeiQi is normally played on a 19x19 board. The above problem explores WeiQi's simple rules at one extreme of the data set.
Weiqi, Math and Awareness
Awareness: WeiQi is the universe touched by mind. In Weiqi, we have an opportunity to use something very precious in human life -- awareness. Alas, we have the opportunity to be aware each moment of life but we forget. Weiqi demands awareness under the threat of stagnation. In our habitual activities, stagnation lulls us to sleep; In Weiqi (as in many arts), stagnation slaps us in the face demanding our awareness.
But this is jumping ahead of my story. Conway's Game of Life is what prepped me to be open to the beauty of Weiqi. Weiqi would then help me better understand Awareness and Life. OK, I promise not to get much more philosophical.
Conway's Game of Life: As a nerdy High School sophomore in 1970, In 1970, I read a series of articles in Scientific American by John Conway concerning his " Game of Life". I was enamored by the simple 'game' and it helped me understand science and math in ways I had never seen before. So in 11th grade, I programmed the game on our school's only computer -- a very large terminal with used punched tape for input and spools of paper for output. At that time, I was the only person in the school who knew how to use the computer. The previous link will explain the game and allow you to use a simple Java applet to explore the game much more easily than I could in 1970.
Cellular Automatons & Digital Physics: "The Game of Life" belongs to a class of mathematical entities called cellular automatons which are explored in combinatorial game theory and Discrete Mathematics. Though cellular automatons are deterministic, many are not predictable. It is this unpredictable nature which often fills us with awe. Stephen Wolfram's book, "A New Kind of Science" tells more about cellular automatons and their implications in all of reality. Wolfram and others offer a TOE ("Theory of Everything) based on Digital Physics. They show how very simple rules can unfold into the whole universe -- with people being only one of those unfoldings.
Beauty & Awe: WeiQi is likewise a rule-bound cellular automaton of sorts but with human interactions. Part of learning WeiQi is learning the various patterns and principles which are natural out-workings of the simple rules of the game. WeiQi illustrates how beauty and meaning can evolve from very simple rule sets. If the rules were even a little different, the patterns and principles would be very different. WeiQi is the sort of modified cellular automaton which imitates reality. It is the intentional focus of attention that creates a new mind. Some say comparing life to a game is silly. They feel it undervalues life. Instead, I say they undervalue the game -- Weiqi !
Smile -- Shay
( AKA: Zhan Xiang, Jamuzu-san, Jimu-ji, "J", Shayman, James David Jones, Shaytan, Jim Jones, Sabio and more. Just don't call me late for Go ! )
Shay's Dynamic Web Developing
Below are some PhP-MySQL begining test files: