Table Of ContentAndrás Gulyás
Zalán Heszberger
József Biró
Paths
Why is life fi lled with so many
detours?
YYOOUURRSS
SSHHOORRTTEESSTT
Paths
András Gulyás (cid:129) Zalán Heszberger (cid:129) József Biró
Paths
Why is life filled with so many detours?
AndrásGulyás ZalánHeszberger
BudapestUniversityofTechnology BudapestUniversityofTechnology
andEconomics andEconomics
Budapest,Hungary Budapest,Hungary
JózsefBiró
BudapestUniversityofTechnology
andEconomics
Budapest,Hungary
ISBN978-3-030-47544-4 ISBN978-3-030-47545-1 (eBook)
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Thepathisthegoal...—MahatmaGandhi
To ourlovingwives and children:
Nusi, Bandika,Gabi
Andris,Dóri,Tündi
Lili andZsófi
Foreword: Paths We Live By
Duringthelastgenerationandwiththeadventoftheinterconnectednessofpeople,
institutions, and ideas through computer webs, network-based metatheories of all
aspects of sciences started to flourish from metabolic mechanisms, to authors co-
citations. Now, network science of different levels of abstraction flourishes in
mathematics, physical, and biological models, as well as in sociological theories.
TherearemanyshiningstarsofHungarianscienceonthispath,fromLászlóLovász,
László Barabási Albert, János Kertész to Péter Csermely and György Buzsáki.
ThislittlebookofanotherHungariantrio—AndrásGulyás,ZalánHeszberger,and
JózsefBíró—takesanotherlookatthesedevelopments.Theirperspectiveisnotthe
network itself but the routes taken by neural firing patterns, handshakes, or word
activationstoarrivefromonenodeinanetworktoanother.
Pathshavebeenthecentralideaofmanysocialsciencesformorethanahundred
years. One of the most fundamental methods of the comparative psychology of
animal cognition has been and continues to be the maze learning introduced in
1901to psychology.For a longtime, we treatedit as a way to study the universal
mechanism of learning. Today, we realize that it is the key to understand how
mammals are able to internalize a map of different possible paths in their world
fulloforientationalcuesandobjectvalences.Pathsareusedbyanimalstoarrange
theknowledgeabouttheiractivitieslikewheretogoandwhattodo.
Theseresearchpathsledtothesearchforneuralpathsinthebrainbyassuming
specializedbrainstructuresresponsibleforthelongtimeassumedcognitivemaps.
Thisbookpresentsthepathsconnectingthewordsinthelexiconsandinthemind,
the paths leading from corona to death during the pandemic. Several researchers,
includingGyörgyBuzsákiatNewYorkUniversity,hopethattheselatercognitive,
meaning-basedpathsaretiedtothesamebrainnetworksastheforestpathsofthe
animals.
Thisbookalsopresentsthethirdimportantpathsysteminhumans,theonethat
takesonethroughthecommonpast:instrumentalandemotionalcontactstoanother
person.
ix
x Foreword:PathsWeLiveBy
This readable and easily accessible little book fills the reader with hopes and
promisestowardsthefutureofnetworkresearchwherepathsshallbefoundtorelate
thepersonal,conceptual,andneuralnetworks.
May3,2020,atBudakeszi,Hungary.Inthemiddleofthecoronaviruslockdown
PsychologistandLinguistMemberofthe CsabaPléh
HungarianAcademyofSciencesandAcademiaEuropaea
Budakeszi,Hungary
Foreword: The Longest Journey
“Tell me, Master, is there a single word that one can follow throughout one’s
life?”—turned once one of his disciples to Confucius. The master replied, “Isn’t
mutualitysuchaword?”Thedisciplebowedsilentlyandleftcontentedly.
The greatand solemn word of mutuality is also knownin our Western culture;
most often, it denotes some bilateral relationship. This relationship is mostly
consideredvalidbythepartnersforthedurationofaspecificongoingaction.With
itsannouncedapplication,theydemonstratethattheytakeeachother’saspectsinto
accounttothemaximum.Mutualityismainlyusedinconnectionsbetweenyouand
me,ormeandtheothers.(Accordingtomany,thisleanbilateralismisrooteddeep
in the idea of monotheism.) After the action (discourse or act) between the two
partiestakesplace,theconceptbecomesinvalidandpracticallyceasesuntilthenext
situation.
In the interpretationof Confuciusand his followers, mutuality is a much more
meaningfulword. In Chinese antiquity, this term referred to an entire network of
mutual relationships, a combination of paths and detours, decisions, and choices,
along with the consequences and repercussions that follow them. In contrast to
theWestern-styleaction-like,casual-useinterpretation,Confuciusandhisfollowers
nevertreatedmutualityasarestrictedbilateralrelationship.Forthem,mutualitywas
adeepprincipleunderlyingtheUniverse,a Weltanschauung.
This ancient Asian approach has another defining feature: The correlative
approach with modal logical judgment. Such thinking focuses on the correlated
relationshipofadjacentthingsandallowsformultiplevalidjudgments(statements)
at the same time. This is in high contrastto the Western binary logic, where only
oneofthetwostatementscanbecorrect,rejectingtheotherasincorrect.Anythird
statement (if raised at all) is ruled out. This is the principle of the excluded third
by Aristotle. In any decision-making situation, the ancient Asian logic, however,
alwaysrecommendstheapplicationoftheintermediatethird’slaw.Thislawmeans
that three or even morestatements can be valid simultaneously.Such prudenceof
mindingallchancescomesfromthewayofseeingthingstobeinterdependent(or
incorrelationtoeachother).
xi
xii Foreword:TheLongestJourney
Well, this is precisely the principle that has been missing from European
thinking since time immemorial! It takes into account the intermediate third and
fourth statements: the permissive idea of the concurrent validity of more than
one statement. In our decision-making situations, since Aristotle, we consider a
statementtobevalid(correct)ornotwithnofurtheroption.
I wonder why? Because we need the most effective solution in all cases.
Decisionsthatdonotprovidethemosteffectiveandquickestsolutionareconsidered
to be detours or misguided paths in the eyes of the progress-hungry, impatient
Westernhero.
Thiswayofthinkingtookustowherewe are.We haveprogressed,progressed
undoubtedly,butmaybetoofast, so fastthatwe have probablyrun overthe finish
linealready.Andthereisnowayback;itisimpossibletocorrect.Ouronlyoptionis
toslowdown,thatis,ifwehaveadropofwit,atleastwedonotrushintoanotatall
promisingfuturerobbedbyincreasedefficiency,effectiveness,growth,andalmost
completelydeprivedofourphysicalandmentallivingconditions.
We do it smarter if we slow down our progress, if we choose a detour to our
goals. This slowdown gives us a chance to keep a common sense of the concept
of mutualityin the broadestsense, an opportunityto be attentive,smart, and even
tospareourselvesandeachother(notjustaction-like).Duringthedelicate,careful
trying, and enjoyable tasting of the paths and detours, we may even get to know
humannaturebetter.Sofar,wedidnothavetimetofigureoutwhethersuchathing
exists at all. “Human science would finally be needed,” sighed Ortega y Gasset
bitterlyafterthesecondgreatsuicideattemptofthegenushumanuminthetwentieth
century.
Andifweunderstandthepoet’swordbetter,letuslistentoConstantineCavafy,
whoadvisesthat“Whenyouset outon yourjourneyto Ithaca,praythatthe road
is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge.” The longest journey gives you the
greatestgiftofthecity.
This book is the wisest guide to paths: an easy-to-understand book of intact,
unharmedpresence,orientation,andamicablearrangementin the riskyworldofa
million choices. It provides exactly the prudent and relational-centered approach
thatWesternthinkingneedsthemosttoday.
Orientalist,Writer,HungarianMediaPerson LászlóSári(a.k.a.Su-la-ce)
Budapest,Hungary
April10,2020
