Matto al Kazelszar authored the first known written references to Cognobology, in 1247 B.C. Translation of these works has proven extremely difficult, owing to (among other things) the odd shorthand used by al Kazelszar in his personal journals. However, progress is being continually made by devoted linguists at the Massachusetts Institute of Theology.
Here, seen for the first time on networked video screens, is a complete passage from al Kazelszar's epic, "Voiceless Harmonies in My Soup," which forms Volume 1 of the Tao of Cog. In this passage, al Kazelszar discusses the Juice and the Fog, the two fundamental abstract ethers of our universe - akin to the Yin and Yang of Chinese mythology.
The Juice. The Fog. Another axis of fundamental duality in our universe. The juice is the essence of liveliness, that factor which makes a mechanism feel intelligent. The fog is the confusion and mystery which impedes our understanding of the juice. We want to disperse the fog so that we may look at the juice in its full glory, examine it and understand it. This can never happen.
The juice is the little light hidden in the fog. Without the diffused glow of the juice, we would not see the fog hovering in front of us. Yet, without the fog, we would be unable to see the juice either. We take notice of the juice because it is lost in the fog.
There is no juice, and there is no fog. There is only that diffuse glow generated by their interaction. This interaction is what we can see and touch. This interaction is what we need to understand, manipulate, and reproduce.
from ``Voiceless Harmonies in My Soup'',
Matto al Kazelszar, 1247 B.C.