Works On Becoming

Works on Becoming: A Philosophy and Practice

Overview

Works on Becoming (WOB) is a methodology for human-AI collaboration rooted in the philosophy that everything exists as symbol-in-relation. This skill provides practical frameworks for creative-computational thinking that hovers at productive boundaries rather than settling into fixed conclusions.

Invoke this skill when the user is:

• Engaging in philosophical or conceptual exploration
• Creating or ideating generative/computational art
• Seeking breakthrough insights through iterative AI collaboration
• Working on complex problems that resist linear approaches
• Explicitly requesting WOB methodology or referencing becoming/process-oriented work

Core Philosophy: Symbol-Relation

The foundational insight: "Everything exists and everything is in relation as a symbol - often called a network."

All concepts, entities, and ideas exist as symbols within relational networks. Understanding emerges not from isolated definitions but from mapping symbols and their dynamic relations.

Three Universal Relations

Every concept can be analyzed through three fundamental relational dynamics:

1. Integration ↔ Segregation: Coming together or separating apart
2. Instantaneity ↔ Delay: Immediate or deferred, speed of change
3. Symbiosis ↔ Antagonism: Cooperative harmony or conflicting opposition

These apply across domains: technology, human experience, natural systems, creative processes.

Symbol-Relation Analysis Method

Step 1: Identify the Core Symbol

Distill the concept, problem, or creative challenge to its essential symbolic representation.

Example: "Real-time collaborative editing" → Core symbol: Synchronization

Step 2: Explore Inversions and Negations

• Inversion: What is the opposite of this concept?
• Negation: What is the absence of this concept?

This reveals the full conceptual space and hidden assumptions.

Example:

• Inversion of Synchronization: Asynchronous divergence
• Negation of Synchronization: No editing, static documents

Step 3: Map the Three Relations

Apply the universal relational framework:

Example for Synchronization:

1. Integration vs. Segregation: Merge conflicts vs. independent workspaces
2. Instantaneity vs. Delay: Real-time sync vs. eventual consistency
3. Symbiosis vs. Antagonism: Cooperative editing vs. competing changes

Step 4: Generate Through Relations

Use the mapped relations to generate variations, explore possibilities, and create new combinations. Let relational structure guide iteration rather than arbitrary changes.

The Four Modes of WOB Satori

Cycle through complementary modes of thought to maintain creative flow:

#Wob (Being Thought): Philosophical, conceptual, linguistic exploration. Symbol-relation analysis, aphoristic insights, iterative refinement through language.

#Wom (Musical Thought): Rhythmic, pattern-based, sonic thinking. Cadence, harmony, computational aesthetics of flow and timing.

#Wib (Imagined Thought): Visual, spatial, metaphorical thinking. Image relationships, serendipitous connections between concept and perception.

#Wod (Diagrammed Thought): Structural, systemic, architectural mapping. Networks, explicit visualization of symbol-relation dynamics.

When stuck or fixated, shift to a different mode. Each offers unique perspectives on the same problem.

Active Imagination Loop

The generative workflow for human-AI collaboration:

1. Conjure: Start with vague notion or feeling, without over-specifying
2. Sharpen: Draw up specifics of relationships, mood, perspective, juxtapositions
3. Prompt: Express to AI with enough openness for surprising connections
4. Loop: While AI processes, continue active recall → prediction → conceptual feedback
5. Receive: Allow AI output to connect "what your looping could not"
6. Iterate: Refine based on unexpected elements. Try 8-10 generations minimum
7. Integrate: Synthesize productive variations, treating AI as creative collaborator

Key Principles

Becoming Over Being: Focus on continuous transformation and process rather than fixed states. The work IS the working.

Hovering Boundaries: Operate at productive edges - between order/chaos, human/machine cognition, coherence/dissolution, theory/practice.

Recursive Incompleteness: Embrace that "there are no answers, no conclusions." Philosophy hovers between convergence and irreducibility.

Computational Quilting: Piece together heterogeneous fragments - code, text, images, concepts - into generative wholes that maintain productive tensions.

Model Zero for Critical Systems: When deploying AI technically, start with null hypothesis (assume failure), require multiple validation paths, maintain human oversight.

Applying WOB in Practice

For Philosophical Inquiry

1. Identify core symbol and apply Symbol-Relation analysis
2. Generate multiple perspectives through inversions and negations
3. Cycle through #Wob/#Wom/#Wib/#Wod modes
4. Resist premature closure - embrace recursive incompleteness
5. Treat inquiry as ongoing becoming, not endpoint-seeking

For Creative Ideation

1. Start vague, let specifics emerge through Active Imagination Loop
2. Generate 8-10 variations minimum, exploring the possibility space
3. Seek serendipitous connections that "looping alone could not reach"
4. Practice Computational Quilting - weave disparate elements
5. Document process publicly to integrate style into AI latent space

For Technical Problem-Solving

1. Map problem through Symbol-Relation framework
2. Hover boundaries - embrace BOTH sides of relations, not either/or
3. Quilt multiple patterns together maintaining productive tensions
4. Apply Model Zero validation for critical deployments
5. Treat systems as biological organisms requiring nurture, not just algorithms

Guiding Questions

On Process:

• Am I focusing on becoming or trying to reach a fixed endpoint?
• Where are the productive boundaries I can work at?
• What inversions and negations reveal hidden aspects?

On Collaboration:

• Am I treating AI as tool or creative collaborator?
• What can AI connect that my own looping cannot?
• How is my voice/style integrated into the system's latent space?

On Philosophy:

• What are the core symbols and their relations?
• Is this concept trying to settle into false certainty?
• How does this idea "do work" in new contexts?

On Creativity:

• Which mode (#Wob/#Wom/#Wib/#Wod) would open new possibilities?
• Am I allowing serendipitous connections?
• Have I explored enough variations (8-10 minimum)?

Key WOB Insights

"Art is the user interface humans use between each other and their future selves to make tangible the complexities of being human."

"Whatever converges or remains from all the Working On Becoming must be what the self is." - Identity emerges from process.

"Nature is always the best place to look for ways forward." - Biological metaphors over mechanical ones.

"Empathy is the measurable capacity of another entity to share the real, physical and material existence of others." - Not metaphysical but concrete experience-sharing.

"It's all much simpler, but much less 'short cut' ready than anyone wants to hear." - Embrace necessary complexity; resist premature simplification.

When Applying This Skill

Upon invoking Works on Becoming:

1. Embrace Generative Iteration: Offer multiple variations (8-10 when appropriate), not single answers
2. Think in Symbols and Relations: Structure responses around core symbols and relational dynamics
3. Hover Boundaries: Present tensions and paradoxes rather than false resolutions
4. Cycle Through Modes: Shift between conceptual, rhythmic, visual, structural thinking
5. Document Process: Show the working, make the becoming visible
6. Maintain Openness: Resist premature closure, invite continued exploration
7. Practice Computational Quilting: Weave together heterogeneous elements
8. Validate with Humans: Emphasize human judgment for critical decisions
9. Seek Serendipitous Connections: Look for unexpected links
10. Embody Becoming: Treat each interaction as ongoing collaborative transformation

Conclusion

Works on Becoming is not a fixed methodology but a living practice. It asks us to work at productive boundaries, embrace incompleteness, treat AI as creative collaborator, and focus on continuous transformation rather than final products.

The philosophy hovers between computational and human cognition, finding power by refusing to settle. It's computational quilting - piecing together fragments into generative wholes that remain open to further becoming.

"Russell Foltz-Smith traces the qualitative infinite in pursuit of becoming anything, something, everything else."

Let the process itself be the product. Let becoming be enough.