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Quote by Mark Doty

Work

Heaven's Coast: A Memoir

This memoir delves into the author's life and memories, focusing on the unique perspective of living by the sea and the profound impact it has on one's existence. more

Author

Mark Doty
Mark Doty

Mark Doty, born on August 10, 1953, is a renowned American poet. His works are known for their profound emotions and unique perspectives, exploring themes such as human emotions, nature, and urban life. more

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“— Well, while I was trying to break away from Laura, the image of an amoeba that splits in two suddenly came to mind – something I hadn't thought about since my biology class in high school. I was like the two halves of the amoeba that separate piece by piece, until there is only a thin trickle left to bind us. And then a noise – a painful crackling – and we separated. I got out of bed, got dressed, looked at the clock, and thought, "Just fourteen hours until I'm going to be in bed with Laura again, holding us in my arms." And then I came here.”

Metaphor
Book:Lying on the Couch
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“Why didn't I feel like this when we were actually together?" "Maybe... maybe your mango wasn't ripe." I squinted at Cat. "I'm not following. You're going to have to take me there." "There's a part in You've Got Mail when Kathleen and Joe have been hanging out together. Joe knows their online identities, but she doesn't. And they go to the farmers' market, and before parting ways she says, 'I hope your mango's ripe,' and he gives her this considering look and tells her that he thinks it is." "That is a very obscure reference." "The point is, the mango was a metaphor for their relationship. He'd waited until she'd grown and softened under the sunlight, and once she'd gotten there, he made his move---both before and after revealing his identity.”

RelationshipsMetaphorRipeMangoYou Ve Got Mail
Book:Together at the Table
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“The code is a metaphor that works well for the genetic code or the rules of a cellular automaton. The code is bad metaphor for the continuously changing states of neurons as they run through their algorithmic programs. Imagine looking for a code in space and time for rule 110, iteration 1,234, position 820-870. To study the mechanism that led to that state, we look at the point before, the relation of how it happened, in all available detail. Is that useful? In the case of the rule 110 automaton, the same rule applies everywhere, so the instance reveals something general about the whole. This is the hope of the biological experiment as well. But what happens if the rule changes with every iteration, as discussed for transcription factor cascades? To describe changing rules of algorithmic growth for every instance in time and space and in different systems is not only a rather large endeavor, it also suffers from the same danger of undefined depth. It is a description of the system, a series of bits of endpoint information, not a description of a code sufficient to create the system. The code is the 'extremely small amount of information to be specified genetically,' as Willshaw and von der Malsburg put it, that is sufficient to encode the unfolding of information under the influence of time and energy. The self-assembling brain.”

BrainMetaphorCode
Book:The Self-Assembling Brain: How Neural Networks Grow Smarter
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