effortless devotion
nurtured by an
overly fanatical
saliency of desire
perfect soldier
attending to your
unconditioned momentum -
maelstrom of thought
spins ecstatically
like a five year old
playing
ring-a-ring-o-roses
the designation
of lambda is
a whole
just before
we all fall down
under the gaze
of a puff of smoke
Author notes
ΔVAX = αA β(λ - VAX)
A very basic explanation of the equation: the change in the amount of learning associated with stimulus A is equal to the saliency of stimulus A multiplied by the attention paid, further multiplied by the amount that it is possible to learn minus the amount already learnt.
Lambda represents how much it is possible to learn, the highest it can possibly be is 1 (which is 100%; also a whole number).
Gasp! I am a precious gem 
thank you so much honey, but I don't know whether I deserve it 
In a list
A contest entry
- already by piggyback.
550 points, ended September 10, 2008, 4 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Everyone's a Critic by dewfall.
800 points, ended October 18, 2008, 14 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Constructive criticism is always welcome!
Comments
1 - 9 of 9
-
Dear god, the fact that you can break that equation down and write it out is crazy!
This is a great piece, I love the way that the words string together smoothly!
Well deserved trophy!
Shari
-
Hoodwinked
Your author notes confused me. I am not that math savvy. Congratulations on the gold trophy. Bst of luck in your future writing endeavours. -
Hoodwinked!
This is my favorite of the ones that I have seen. In your poetic play here you have much fun. All who read get to share the game. A child in play is always a delight to watch; to speak in that vernacular a challenge.
-
Ooh. I like the words, but have no concept. ANY math reference is lost on me I'm afraid. ~ Joyce
-
I kind of get what you are saying but not fully. I thought the move from the 3rd stanza to the 4th was good and helpful. I'm glad makes sense to you. Cheers
-
Hmm. One thing is... I think you should perhaps say a few words in your author notes too, so those who know nothing at all about that equation get some better idea about your poem.
To me it sounds as if you were speaking about learning how to learn, which would be a brilliant idea
I think this would be more powerful if not so full of adjectives, but the metaphors you use are extraordinary. Such ideas and such imagery... I love the theme, the references, the way you use words from the theory to describe both the equation/curve and a meta example (if you know what I mean). The perfect soldier and the playing five-year-old are astounding personifications saliency and learning. I also loved the ecstatic feel to this, especially "overly fanatical
saliency of desire" - that is just so... how do I even say it... so fulfilling, in an artistic way. It's like there's nothing left by the desire, it explains and motivates everything. The lambda stanza is absolutely brilliant. Heck, you're probably tired of my comment already, but this is really impressive work. In the last stanza, I think "watchful" could be left out as it is incorporated in "gaze", but that is one hell of an image and I love how that, together with the first few stanzas, truly shows the curve of learning, and it's like the saliency of desire is decreasing too. I love this more than I can say, thanks for writing it!
Not sure I understood it correctly, actually I'm curious if I did. But this is great. I'm thinking you could actually do a lot more with it than just participate in an AP contest.
-
Aaaaahhh I know this is just a draft, but explain please?
I have a very unnerving impression that I should know what this means and I don't.
-
-
This is the Rescorla-Wagner equation it's one of the models of learning.
Basically what it says in words is: the change in the amount of learning associated with stimulus A is equal to the saliency of stimulus A multiplied by the attention paid, further multiplied by the amount that it is possible to learn minus the amount already learnt
Of course, depending on the effect you were attempting to model, a simultaneous equation should be run for αX but that gets a little confusing and I can message you about it later if you want
Isn't the pursuit of knowledge everybodies dream? Or is it just mine?
-
-
It's not just yours, but not everyone's either. But you know that
Sounds very interesting, but... math. Equations
Hehe maybe I'll get it later
-
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 9 of 9
