Quipu

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>  <XholonWorkbook> <Notes><![CDATA[ Xholon ------ Title: Quipu Description: Url: http://www.primordion.com/Xholon/wb/xholon InternalName: YoutubeId: Keywords: My Notes -------- In her book "The Shape of Inca History: Narrative and Architecture in an Andean Empire", Susan Niles writes about the life and times of Huayna Capac, the Inca ruler from about 1493 to 1525. She includes some interesting ideas about the quipu. :: "Some Inca historical information was recorded on and recalled from the quipu, a system of mnemonic reckoning based on patterned knotted cords. In contrast to a written record, wherein information can be recorded in any degree of detail and in any order, the quipu, while lending itself to a number of applications, is bound by its structure: Information must be stored and remembered in relational categories. The structure is premised on nested hierarchies and permits comparison both within a category and across categories. To choose an analogy to a system of writing, recording information on a quipu would be like having to write only an outline structure. To "write" this way, information would have to be remembered in a particular way; it would still be possible to say almost anything, but the information would have to be organized carefully, and much of the detail in any given recitation would have to be created anew or added from memory". ... We assume the quipus were organized mnemonically, in a system where the size, style, and grouping of knots were meaningful, as were the colors and relationship of cords to one another. Presumably these patternings jogged the memory of an expert who kept the quipu and recited the information it contained upon request. (p.5) easy "to store, retrieve, sum, and modify numverical information, such as would be useful for orgainizing tribute and census information" challenging to record "narrative information, such as we associate with histories" (p.5) In this workbook I want to explore the quipu, and how it may be similar to a Xholon app, which also has a hierarchical and relational structure that can be used as a mnemonic. In some of my workbooks that are derived from science news items or journal articles, most of my effort has gone into creating an inheritance hierarchy (IH), a composite structure hierarchy (CSH), and possibly additional relationships captured as port specifications in a class details structure. This is a form of note taking, a way of organizing the information, similar to mind mapping. I should be able to go back to these structures later and remember key points from the article, and describe it to someone else. Without the help of these organized structures, I would not remember very much of what I had read. Example workbooks include :: 2 Studies Point to Common Pesticide as a Culprit in Declining Bee Colonies http://www.primordion.com/Xholon/wb/openwb.php?q=2276312&f=gist.github.com/raw/ Are Denmark's renewable energy goals wishful thinking? http://www.primordion.com/Xholon/wb/openwb.php?q=2340718&f=gist.github.com/raw/ Fossil Free: Microbe Helps Convert Solar Power to Liquid Fuel http://www.primordion.com/Xholon/wb/openwb.php?q=2256788&f=gist.github.com/raw/ The third workbook includes an SVG image that organizes the major components spacially and by color. Tooltips pop-up the name of each component as a reminder. Now I can make sense of the overall process and could explain it at a high level to someone else. ]]></Notes> <script implName="lang:python:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></script> <script implName="lang:javascript:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></script> <_-.XholonClass>  <PhysicalSystem/> <Quipu/> </_-.XholonClass> <xholonClassDetails> </xholonClassDetails> <PhysicalSystem> <Quipu> </Quipu> </PhysicalSystem> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:python:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:javascript:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:webEditionjs:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:bsh:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:jruby:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:groovy:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <SvgClient><Attribute_String roleName="svgUri"><![CDATA[data:image/svg+xml, <svg width="100" height="50" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <g> <title>Quipu</title> <rect id="PhysicalSystem/Quipu" fill="#98FB98" height="50" width="50" x="25" y="0"/> </g> </svg> ]]></Attribute_String><Attribute_String roleName="setup">${MODELNAME_DEFAULT},${SVGURI_DEFAULT}</Attribute_String></SvgClient> </XholonWorkbook>