heart havok
17-04-2001, 07:54 AM
i personally found the site "thought experiments lain" definitely full of the most well researched theories of Serial Experiments Lain so i decided to create threads discussing Lawrence Eng's wonderfull descriptions on different topics. i would add my opinions, but there's not much for me to add seeing as he himself has pin-pointed my own personal theories on the series to almost perfection. where i disagree i will make note, and i will add additional opinions as time goes on.
Originally written by Lawrence Eng (http://www.cjas.org/~leng/lain.htm)
Knights
A powerful secret society on the Wired. aka Knights of Eastern Calculus
Interpretation:
Consists mostly of computer otaku and some people who like being in secret organizations. The Knights are hackers/manipulators/crackers. "Knights of Eastern Calculus" evokes the image of the Pythagorean mystics/mathematicians. The Knights possibly originated from the Knights Templar (or the Knights of Malta even?) who were hermeticists/alchemists. The Knights' goal might be to unite human consciousness with the "divine" "true" consciousness.
Knights of Eastern Calculus also seems synonymous with Knights of Lambda Calculus.
Knights of the Lambda Calculus n.
A semi-mythical organization of wizardly LISP and Scheme hackers. The name refers to a mathematical formalism invented by Alonzo Church, with which LISP is intimately connected. There is no enrollment list and the criteria for induction are unclear, but one well-known LISPer has been known to give out buttons and, in general, the members know who they are.... --from The Jargon File
"(Woman's mouth) Knights doesn't exist. It's just a joke by an American student."--(quoted from Shindo's translated script, layer:08 "RUMORS").
Alonzo Church, in 1930, introduced lambda calculus as a model of computation. In The Jargon File entry for "canonical,"
The jargon meaning [of canonical], a relaxation of the technical meaning, acquired its present loading in computer-science culture largely through its prominence in Alonzo Church's work in computation theory and mathematical logic (see Knights of the Lambda Calculus).--from The Jargon File
It seems that the Knights of Lambda Calculus, if they really exist, are interested in "truth" and "canon," which sounds similar to Taro's description of the Knights of Eastern Calculus. "Knights fights in order to make only one truth real...Truth is strong because it is true...Truth is justice because it is true...Don't you think it is very persuasive?"--(quoted from Shindo's translated script, layer:09 "PROTOCOL").
In serial experiments lain, the Knights were used by Eiri Masami, who needed them to believe in him so he would be perceived as a "God." Therefore: Religion, like Real World and the Wired, is a consensual hallucination. The flaw of the Knights is that they thought they knew what was really going on, but Eiri manipulated them so they'd believe he was a God.
Originally written by Lawrence Eng (http://www.cjas.org/~leng/lain.htm)
Knights
A powerful secret society on the Wired. aka Knights of Eastern Calculus
Interpretation:
Consists mostly of computer otaku and some people who like being in secret organizations. The Knights are hackers/manipulators/crackers. "Knights of Eastern Calculus" evokes the image of the Pythagorean mystics/mathematicians. The Knights possibly originated from the Knights Templar (or the Knights of Malta even?) who were hermeticists/alchemists. The Knights' goal might be to unite human consciousness with the "divine" "true" consciousness.
Knights of Eastern Calculus also seems synonymous with Knights of Lambda Calculus.
Knights of the Lambda Calculus n.
A semi-mythical organization of wizardly LISP and Scheme hackers. The name refers to a mathematical formalism invented by Alonzo Church, with which LISP is intimately connected. There is no enrollment list and the criteria for induction are unclear, but one well-known LISPer has been known to give out buttons and, in general, the members know who they are.... --from The Jargon File
"(Woman's mouth) Knights doesn't exist. It's just a joke by an American student."--(quoted from Shindo's translated script, layer:08 "RUMORS").
Alonzo Church, in 1930, introduced lambda calculus as a model of computation. In The Jargon File entry for "canonical,"
The jargon meaning [of canonical], a relaxation of the technical meaning, acquired its present loading in computer-science culture largely through its prominence in Alonzo Church's work in computation theory and mathematical logic (see Knights of the Lambda Calculus).--from The Jargon File
It seems that the Knights of Lambda Calculus, if they really exist, are interested in "truth" and "canon," which sounds similar to Taro's description of the Knights of Eastern Calculus. "Knights fights in order to make only one truth real...Truth is strong because it is true...Truth is justice because it is true...Don't you think it is very persuasive?"--(quoted from Shindo's translated script, layer:09 "PROTOCOL").
In serial experiments lain, the Knights were used by Eiri Masami, who needed them to believe in him so he would be perceived as a "God." Therefore: Religion, like Real World and the Wired, is a consensual hallucination. The flaw of the Knights is that they thought they knew what was really going on, but Eiri manipulated them so they'd believe he was a God.