Idea-dicing¶
ideenwuerfeln · procedural · validated
Draw several excerpts from distant fields, filed under one headword, and set them side by side so that a likeness has to be found between them. The checker verifies that the excerpts come from the corpus, that they are filed under the headword asked for, and that they come from different fields when that is required. Whether the collision produced anything is not a question code answers.
Provenance¶
- Source: Jean Paul, notebook titled Ideenwürfeln, February 1795 (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Nachl. Jean Paul, Fasz. IX, Konv. 7); the practice reconstructed from the excerpt books, and the Witz it serves described in the Vorschule der Ästhetik (1804)
- Attribution:
primary— a named author, work and year this catalogue stands behind - Checkability:
source— decidable against the source text it was made from - Attested:
reconstruction— the rule is inferred from practice, not stated by anyone
Details¶
- Kind: both
- Languages: en, de
- Requires:
tokens - Deterministic: no
- Also known as: idea dice
- In other languages: Ideenwürfeln (de), Dés à idées (fr)
Notes¶
Jean Paul named the notebook but never wrote the rule down: unlike Harsdörffer, Llull and Kircher, who set out their own procedures, everything here is inferred from the object, and the entry carries reconstruction for that reason. The notebook's numbered sections give way to an alphabetical run of headwords, under which sit remote materials — Roman antiquity, anatomy, entomology, bare aphorisms — with fractional numbers pointing back into the excerpt books, and an occasional mark against what deserved working up. No corpus travels with this package: the manuscripts are public domain, but the transcriptions that make them usable are scholarly editions with their own rights.
Prompt hint¶
Put three excerpts from unrelated fields under one word and find what they share.
Parameters¶
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
distinct_domains |
boolean | False |
Every excerpt must come from a different field. |
headword |
— | None |
Draw only from entries filed under this word. |
slots |
integer | 3 |
Excerpts per throw. |
source |
string | — |
The text this one was made from. |
Examples¶
three-fields-under-one-word¶
en — this text satisfies the procedure.
The Roman legions carried a portable sundial.
The heart's left ventricle is the thickest chamber.
A mayfly lives one day as an adult.
Parameters: source='{"entries": [{"text": "The Roman legions carried a portable sundial.", "domain": "antiquity", "headwords": ["Zeit"]}, {"text": "The heart\'s left ventricle is the thickest chamber.", "domain": "anatomy", "headwords": ["Herz", "Zeit"]}, {"text": "A mayfly lives one day as an adult.", "domain": "entomology", "headwords": ["Zeit"]}]}', distinct_domains=True
Source: constructed example with a synthetic corpus; the procedure is reconstructed from Jean Paul's notebook of February 1795, and no transcribed excerpt travels with this package
an-excerpt-nobody-wrote-down¶
en — this text does not satisfy the procedure.
The Roman legions carried a portable sundial.
The heart's left ventricle is the thickest chamber.
Something nobody excerpted.
Parameters: source='{"entries": [{"text": "The Roman legions carried a portable sundial.", "domain": "antiquity", "headwords": ["Zeit"]}, {"text": "The heart\'s left ventricle is the thickest chamber.", "domain": "anatomy", "headwords": ["Herz", "Zeit"]}, {"text": "A mayfly lives one day as an adult.", "domain": "entomology", "headwords": ["Zeit"]}]}'
Source: constructed counterexample
drei-faecher-unter-einem-stichwort¶
de — this text satisfies the procedure.
Die römischen Legionen führten eine tragbare Sonnenuhr mit.
Die linke Herzkammer ist die dickste.
Die Eintagsfliege lebt als erwachsenes Tier einen Tag.
Parameters: source='{"entries": [{"text": "Die römischen Legionen führten eine tragbare Sonnenuhr mit.", "domain": "Altertum", "headwords": ["Zeit"]}, {"text": "Die linke Herzkammer ist die dickste.", "domain": "Anatomie", "headwords": ["Herz", "Zeit"]}, {"text": "Die Eintagsfliege lebt als erwachsenes Tier einen Tag.", "domain": "Insektenkunde", "headwords": ["Zeit"]}]}', distinct_domains=True, headword='Zeit'
Source: konstruiertes Beispiel mit synthetischem Korpus; kein transkribiertes Exzerpt reist mit diesem Paket