| I once wrote a Fortran program to generate I Ching readings.
It read in a sentence (related to the question asked) then used
the ascii code of the letters in the sentence for a "seed" number
for random number generation. It was quite a hassle typing in
the hexagrams, and I don't believe I ever finished that. Usually
I just looked up the hexagram generated in the book (Wilhelm-Baynes
translation).
I was not really very satisfied with the results of this
method. I usually use the three coins method to select the
hexagram, and I still like that better.
The computer access was so easy, that it became too easy
to ask trivial or ill-formulated questions. Also the method
I used to generate the seed, depended on the consciously
generated phrase typed in, whereas the coins or yarrow stalks,
it seems to me, allow the unconscious (tao?) more access to
the outcome.
So, in my experience, computerizing oracles buys you nothing
but maybe a new sort of video game. It seemed to trivialize
what might otherwise be a rather profound mystical process.
Alan.
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| I've seen several versions of the I Ching on computers, usually
seeding the random number generator from the system clock. Many
people seem to find it as meaningful as the "real" one. Its clear
that trivialization is a problem, but it is anyway. I suspect that
when the coins were first introduced the traditionalists (who used
yarrow stalks) made the same complaint. It may be that when the
I Ching was codified and actually written down, and the yarrow stalks
started to be used with it (whether at the same time, before or
after is, I believe, unknown) the traditionalists (who would crack
tortoise shells with a hot "poker" and read on the basis of a memorized
oral tradition) made the same complaint also.
Convenience should not be avoided simply to make life difficult.
As long as you avoid trivializing its use, why not keep things simple?
Neither the coins nor the yarrow stalks produce a "uniform"
distribution (i.e., all four types of line equally likely) and so,
if you are writing a program for the I Ching you shouldn't simply
generate pseudo-random numbers, but should try to simulate one of
these two random processes. (I'm sure that the coins are not uniform,
since I remember the details of using them; I'm less sure about
the yarrow stalks, but as I remember it, its not uniform either).
One of the programs I've seen is available under TOPS-20, the other
is one of the common games available for UNIX.
Topher
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