As stated by Tech Crunch, Phydre is an absolute gibberish word taken from the phonetic representation of the word “fudge” in Greek letters, which is featured prominently in the TEDx talk for unclear reasons.
And it represents itself, in a very unique way.
Let’s dive into it:
“phydre” is a phonetic transliteration of the English word “fudge” into Greek. But when translating the word “fudge” into Greek, directly, I derived the Latin root from “mo̱rologó̱” and got the word rigmarole/rigamarole.
Translating the English word, “fudge” into Greek yields the word “μωρολογία”, pronounced “mo̱rologó̱” and the Greek for the English word “rigmarole” or “rigamarole”.
From here I define what rigmarole means… Rigmarole has multiple definitions:
As a noun, rigmarole can mean A long and complicated procedure that seems unnecessary or tiresome. A set of incoherent or pointless statements Garbled nonsense, can also mean, “A message that seems to convey no meaning”, and can even mean “A long and complicated story”.
How very poetic, and also how very, very Meta.
What I get from this is that the word phydre represents the confusion surrounding itself, and stems from the way it is written, and that the structure of the confusion suggests that it gives off, because of the way that language works.
An inward look at the self of this very word that is spoken in the ‘Un-Talk’, gives a ‘way’ for someone to derive this in an outward manner.
Such as speaking it.
Doing this forms a coherent thought about what ‘it is’, by which I’m talking about the word phydre, which in turn resembles anything considered a rational and coherent thought, the ‘coherence’ of which I can only derive from this complete gibberish.
It’s like trying to make sense of something that feels impossible to decipher.
Due to complex forms of symbolism, it turns out that this ‘layered’ approach to solving what is not clear in terms of understanding, forms all kinds of double-meanings for left and right-brain people, and even Rony Abovitz, the creator of this enigma, who is equally wired on the left and right hemispheres to his brain.
Again, how very meta and layered.
But only after deriving a more rational, coherent meaning.
Of course, I am talking about the word morologó, which in Greek, of course, seems and feels like an anagram of rigmarole, because that is, in fact, the English word for morologó…
Rigmarole is a noun that means something is long, complicated, and tedious.
All of the definitions of rigmarole feel like how I feel while trying to solve a message that is devoid of clear intention, and purpose.
So… Why does it feel like I’m on track?
Well, perhaps it is because “Never finding it is as important as finding it.”
But, as I said above, this is exactly what I feel like I am going through, by attempting to solve the message, Rony Abovitz is adamant exists and is embedded within his dada-inflected ‘Un-Talk’, which he calls “The Synthesis of Imagination and Sensory Machines.”
“He’s sitting behind the desk in his office, which is just down the road from the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood Airport. The shelves are lined with toys and View-Masters — the plastic gadgets that let you look at pictures in 3-D. Abovitz, 44, is a bear of a guy with a kind smile, and when I meet him he’s dressed in black Nikes, a long-sleeved shirt, and slacks, his graying curly hair topped with a yarmulke. He’s thoughtful and composed, which I find somewhat surprising given that the only time I had seen him before was in a video of his talk at a TEDx event in 2012 in Sarasota, Florida. It featured two people dressed as furry creatures called “Shaggles,” Abovitz walking on stage dressed as an astronaut, and unintelligible rock music. Though the talk, called “The Synthesis of Imagination,” came off as performance art (perhaps even a mockery of a TED talk), he swears there is a coherent message embedded in it; figure it out, he says, and he’ll give you a yo-yo.”
Later reported on at MIT Technology Review, by Rachel Metz that:
“In December 2012, he and two members of the Magic Leap team gave a TED Talk in Sarasota titled “The Synthesis of Imagination.” For the first minute and a half, a screen showed images of Earth from space, the sun rising, and clouds forming over a generic inspirational string soundtrack. Afterward, Abovitz’s co-workers, dressed in full-body pink and green furry costumes, jumped around a giant candy bar to the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Three minutes into the presentation, Abovitz walked onstage in an astronaut suit and took a few dramatic, halting, low-gravity steps toward the microphone.
“A few awkward steps for me,” Abovitz deadpanned. “A magic leap for mankind.” Then a live band began playing punk rock while Abovitz gazed over the crowd and his furry friends danced wildly. In an interview with the MIT Technology Review last year, Abovitz swore there was a hidden message in his performance. If you figure it out, the magazine reported, he’ll give you a yo-yo.”
He also claims that a description of said talk is what follows:
“INNER SPACE TRAVELS WITH THE CREATIVE ROBOT: OUR FUTURE SYNTHESIS OF IMAGINATION & SENSORY MACHINES | INTEGRATING ELEMENTS OF NEODADAISM AND TECHNOLOGICAL SURREALISM, THE UN-TALK WILL TAKE VIEWERS THROUGH AN AUDIO-VISUAL SENSORY BLITZ, OF OUR PRIMORDIAL HISTORY, HUMANITIES ASCENSION TO THE HEIGHTS OF TECHNICAL PROWESS, AND THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING”
As seen below:
From this ‘symbolic’ and ‘relative’ word, which seemingly relates everything, to do with the ‘Un-Talk’, in short, the word phydre is obfuscated in the same way that the Binary/ASCII Mu puzzle was that translates to ‘Douglas Englebart’, in the ‘binary’ placed behind Rony Abovitz, as he enters the stage.
It also has to do with being about the message you want to give off.
Which is extremely Meta on its own, as well.
I think there may be more than these two hidden easter eggs embedded within ‘The Synthesis of Imagination’.
By which, I am of course referring to the ‘binary’ and the word, ‘phydre’ featured prominently in the TEDx Performance art piece, for still unclear reasons.
it isn’t Greek. But it isn’t English either. It’s gibberish — And because it’s gibberish, we can derive our own meaning from it, In much the same way as we can with art.
Is something new. Maybe the beginning of a new language. I feel like this is the only reason for the surreal imagery found in the Codex Seraphinianus that is prevalent in the Un-Talk.
Maybe @rabovitz has deciphered the supposedly imaginary language within it the Codex Seriphinianus, which is also featured in the TEDx ‘Un-Talk for reasons that remain a mystery.
Or perhaps Rony has created his own language and this is the beginning of finding it out.
I had often dreamt/believed, as a super fan of the mystery, that maybe he had crafted a language in this way.
And the Latinisation of the seemingly gibberish phonetic transliteration of the word fudge into the word, phydre, is a new way of crafting such a language, and the method at which it is done works in such a way that you don’t get a clear definition of the word phydre.
Instead, you ascribe your own, once again like with art.
A word that perfectly encapsulates the very nature and aspect, of the word phydre because of its very definition.
So by stating, “Before I give my talk today, I’d like to present today’s ancient and magical keyword: Phydre”.
Phydre was the perfect use of this obfuscation technique because it represents the Latin for the word ‘rigmarole’. In English, there are definitions of this word that once again are encapsulated by ‘phydre’, in every aspect.
Rigmarole is a noun that means something is long, complicated, and tedious. For example, you might describe a procedure or explanation as a rigmarole. Here are some examples of rigmarole in a sentence:
“We had to go through the rigmarole of installing, registering, and activating the software before we found out it wouldn’t work”.
“Getting a driver’s license can be a rigmarole”.
“To go through the rigmarole of a formal dinner”.
“I couldn’t face the whole rigmarole of getting a work permit again”.
“She turned up an hour late with some rigmarole about catching the wrong train”.
Rigmarole can also mean confused or meaningless talk. For example, “That wrangling becomes necessary if a classroom tests positive, of course, but surveilling air filters instead of students could help schools get a course look at transmission without the rigmarole of testing lots of students”
But the most amazing thing is what follows:
I found a bible verse that uses a phrase that the word μωρολογία has to do with, which is in Ephesians 5:4.
“Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.”
Which means all the difference:
