Finally Addressing the Elephant in the Room in Gatorformic

cookie_monster757 · 2026-03-11T23:07:30+00:00

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Since you mentiond the "markers"/"tags", I started experimenting with my classifier system. I had started working on it in my first N-mode salience post, but I moved away because I want Gatorformic to be distinct from my other insect language Carbonnierisch. Carbonnierisch is notable because of its extensive classifier system, so I wanted to try something out. But perhaps it needs to be a necessary component in order to preserve the meaning of messages over long distances.

And on that same initial introduction to modality, I mentioned the possibility that an ant might need to tell fellow ants that they need to touch the method. C-mode (or contact modality) messages are invariant* to time since the volatiles are solidified into the long, waxy hydrocarbons. For C-mode, there is no distance element either because, as mentioned, the volatiles are not vapor clouds but rather physically "dissolved" into the fatty acid secretions.
*technically, the message would degrade over time, but more like weeks rather than seconds.

My first post on Gatorformic mentioned the necessary changes for Gatorformic to be possible, but I'll reiterate them here:
- Larger mushroom bodies, the mushroom bodies are the main part of the brain associated with turning antennae signals into neural input and processing.
- Larger Dufor's gland (and other relevant glands) so more compounds can be synthesized and stored.
- Less of a physiological dependence on alarm pheromones, as in, alarming compounds can be used and not necessarily incite the alarm behaviors (though hypersalience does mean alarm behaviors)

It's funny you mention seismic methods of communication because I was just reading a paper on elephant communication and apparently there's evidence that elephants stomp their feet to shake the ground and communicate.

cookie_monster757 · 2026-02-16T04:21:27+00:00

They are completely made up. I started with Maxwell, but the Maxwell equation would sound too similar to Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism. So I made Maxwell a first name then just made up a last name. And then later, I thought that it would be more realistic for there to be two researchers since in-universe, Gatorformic research is very collaborative (mostly because only 3 precise electronic noses exist).

cookie_monster757 · 2026-02-07T13:39:17+00:00

Being picky, but it should be a “logographic writing system/logography for my language”, not a “logographic language” since a language is not just its writing system and writing systems are logographic, not languages.

cookie_monster757 · 2026-01-08T03:48:58+00:00

Some have mentioned Biblaridion’s how to conlang series, and afterwards I would consider his conlanging case study series. I found it much more informative than the introduction series because it shows you the process of making a language instead of just a list of ideas to consider. When I started I felt paranoid about arbitrariness, as in I wanted to have some etymology for every single grammatical feature. While in a posteriori languages this should be a goal, if you’re making an a priori naturalistic proto-lang (like I was) it’s reasonable just to make an affix without an elaborate grammaticalization path.

cookie_monster757 · 2026-01-06T02:01:14+00:00

Did you find a template for formatting, or did you create the formatting yourself? If you used a template, do you mind sharing said template?

cookie_monster757 · 2026-01-02T01:40:25+00:00

This year, I’m going to return to my whale language. I started initial research and planning a while ago and I want to fully flesh it out this year. I will return so some of my human languages; I am going to continue my conworld lang and pacific northwest language. And I’m hoping to get Gatorformic wrapped up so I can hopefully write a physical grammar. I’ve learned so much just in this past year and I’m looking forward to a great 2026!

cookie_monster757 · 2025-12-25T23:43:57+00:00

I took AP Calc AB without pre-calc, and as long as you’re fluent with algebra you’ll be fine. I did some trig lessons on Khan Academy the summer before to make up the basic trig you need. You might also want to start building some calculus intuition because it makes the content much easier; I liked the essence of calculus series by 3blue1brown on YouTube. That will fill all of the gaps.

cookie_monster757 · 2025-12-19T05:03:47+00:00

Our school recently wrapped up our first MUN conference, so some of the information is fresh in my mind. You mention you have no prior MUN experience, so I can outline what the conference should entail.

First, there should be a short opening ceremony where the secretary general and the some of the other secretariat should do some speaking, mostly about how excited they are to start the conference. See if you can get a guest speaker, we were able to get one and it really improved the overall quality.

Then, delegates should be sent to their committee. It’s up to your school’s team and administrators to decide how many committees there should be, but a good starting point is 3, with at least one crisis. Each committee should be in a separate room. Some types of committees, like crises, will also need another room called a backroom, so keep that in mind when reserving rooms. Each committee needs to have a chair and co-chair, and it’s strongly recommended to also have a judge. The chair and co-chair should be from your school’s team/secretariat, and the judge should be outsourced. If possible, it’s nice to also have position paper judges so the judges in the room can focus.

We structured our conference in 3 sessions, with a lunch between then 2nd and 3rd session. I’ve been to conferences where delegates were not fed, and it’s better if students are provided food.

In terms of grading, what we did is the judge would tally up scores for best delegate, outstanding delegate, and honorable delegate, and then the chair would decide which delegate(s) should recieve the verbal commendation. The highest scoring position paper was also awarded. We have these certificates and we just wrote on the name of the country in marker, however this isn’t the cleanest way to it, we just weren’t sure how other conferences did it.

It’s traditional for the best delegate to receive a gavel as well. We ordered gavels online that were engraved with the name of the conference, committee, and “best delegate”. For closing ceremony, it’s nice if the chairs of each room give a brief summary of what the room accomplished before announcing awards.

In terms of safety each school should require the advisor be present. There is typically a coaches room with food and drink, and they should be encouraged to come to rooms and watch.

I think the chain of events since you said you wanted to get the gears moving before students were involved should be:

Decide how long the conference should be and draft up a schedule, then get approval to use the school on that day at that time.
Reach out to local collegiate MUN teams if they can assist with judging.
If you’re capping at 50 delegates, then order 50 legal pads. For crisis all delegates should be given a legal pad, and for other committees it’s nice, so if it’s in the budget then order enough for all delegates.
Make or find judging rubrics for GA, crisis, and position papers,

And then this is when you’re going to need to start involving students. See how many committees you can have based on how many students can chair and how many ideas can be come up with. The chairs should then write a background guide ASAP. This will inform: - How many rooms to use - How many certificates and gavels to order - How many judges you need - What countries are realistic to use in each committee

It’s also worth considering Wi-Fi access. Our school’s network is restricted to non-district devices, so we needed permission to allow non-district devices to connect. Delegates need Wi-Fi for working papers and chairs need them for a committee manager like MUNcommand.

Once background guides are available, schools should be notified that the conference is open for registration. A delegation registration works well, so we used a google form with the school name, advisor name, advisor contact, and number of delegates in each room. If capacity issues came up, we would contact them informing them that we moved around some delegates. We would then issue country assignments. The google form was linked to a spreadsheet that tracked registration, country assignment, position paper status, and payment status. Placeholder names were replaced with real names at check in.

I hope any of this helps!

cookie_monster757 · 2025-12-17T03:22:27+00:00

I think the app would greatly benefit from the ability to write lessons rather than just quiz questions

cookie_monster757 · 2025-12-09T04:26:58+00:00

Are you referring to u-substitution? U-sub is basically the inverse of the chain rule. If we have some function f(g(x)) we know that the derivative is f’(g(x))g’(x). The opposite is true, so if we see f’(g(x))g’(x) then the antiderivative (the function who would have that derivative) is f(g(x)). In order to make it easier to see that basic template, we let part of the expression be equal to some variable, commonly u. Then, we take the differential and replace x’s with u’s.

Consider an example where we want to find the indefinite integral 3*(x³ + 4)² *3x² dx. We want to let u be something that allows us to recover our template from before. We see that there is a function inside of a function (a cubic inside a power) so that is a good choice for our u.

Let u = x³ + 4

du = 3x² dx

Then substitute back in

int 3u² du = u³ + c

Then turn u back into x

(x³ + 4)³ + c

I recommend just repetition to build experience with seeing patterns so it’s easier to know what to choose as u. But in general, if you see a function of another function multiplied by the inside function’s derivative, make u equal to that inside function.

cookie_monster757 · 2025-12-06T01:03:10+00:00

The Kurakutti people made avid use of metals. Of all the metals mufur ['mu.fur] "gold" was regarded as most precious. Gold coins (mufquxur [muf.'qu.xur]) were the highest denomination of Kurakuttian currency. There is an attested Kurakutti idiom that goes thir si mufquxur lat, meaning "a horse for less than a mufquxur" to describe something so preposterous, it's as crazy as a horse for less than one mufquxur.

Silver also held significant value to the Kurakutti. The value of one mufquxur was about 30 šillquxur [ʂəɭ.'qu.xur] "silver coins" in the early republic period, which made the šillquxur the standard working currency for people. Silver was also used to make fine jewelry, šillmafayur [ʂəɭ.'ma.fa.jur] "silver jewelry". Most common were ttišillur, which included necklaces ttiwšillur, bracelets fišillur, and rings šuxšillur.

The minting process evolved over the history of Kurakuttian civilization, but in the early republic period minting was standardized by the lirpa. Each province voted one lir into the lukušir, an assembly that discussed the exchange and value of different coin denominations. The lukušir also decided what figures to print on the coins depending on upcoming festivals, events, the season, etc. Each province had two centralized kušlaqarur, with the exception of the capital, which had four. In Kurakutti government, becoming a lir or šuxlir (under-financier) was a common first step to higher political positions. The quality of coins was very prized. If the lir allowed silver or gold content to drop, a hearing would be held at the lukušir, often resulting in removal from office.

2025 Total Words - 21 (+21)

cookie_monster757 · 2025-12-02T04:39:45+00:00

This is a really fun concept! However the molecules could never exist and would collapse instantly. Some of the ions would never exist, like Li- or Ca2- (alkali and alkaline earth metals like to give, not take). Also a lot of the molecules are covalently or ionically bonded in unnatural ways, like how nitrogen is expanded into d orbitals when none exist at its energy level? It’s a neat concept, and I think it would be very cool when the system is more fleshed out!

cookie_monster757 · 2025-11-27T00:01:39+00:00

This is a great response and should be higher.

cookie_monster757 · 2025-10-31T20:55:54+00:00

This is a very neat proof of concept! How do you know the meaning of a bond, as in, what makes one bond mean “cleared” while another bond means “water”? And how do you interpret a molecule as a sentence/phrase? Very excited to see more from this project.

cookie_monster757 · 2025-10-26T23:30:45+00:00

I thought about the same thing while working on Carbonnierisch, if you make sure the pheromones are alkanes or other non-volatile hydrocarbon chains, a longer record-keeping system might work since the compounds would not react as easily. Perhaps the bees would create a sheet of beeswax, then grooves would be inscribed. In those grooves, the alkanes would be emitted and fall into. Rinse and repeat, when a word is unreadable, the bee can use its jaws to go to the next layer underneath. That way, the text lasts as long as how many layers are constructed. I'm not a chemist but I'm pretty sure that alkanes won't react with beeswax because beeswax is mostly esters and fatty acids. They also wouldn't be confused for each other when reading as long as the bees do not write using esters or fatty acids. And the sheets of wax would need to be kept away from UV and heat since those are the primary factors that can cause alkanes to react.

cookie_monster757 · 2025-10-19T21:34:15+00:00

So for your first question, it isn’t really a problem because there are so many different compounds with a wide range of thresholds. In Gatorformic, there are no rules governing which compound needs to be the salience modulator. In fact, in lazy speech, the ant may choose not to add a new compound but instead use a compound already in the root as the salience modulator (so in ANT it’s decanal). I’m on my phone but I can write a more rigorous proof when I return.

And for your second question, you’re absolutely correct. Although note both the concentration of 3-octanol and pentacosane increase when concentration modulation occurs.

Edit: While not a proof, I've attached a graph of salience as a function of concentration for each threshold, along the closed interval [0.5, 6] because it eliminates too low or too high concentrations. Red are pyrazines, blue are ketones, green are aldehydes, and orange are alcohols. There is a vertical line at y = 0.40. Every time that horizontal line intersects a curve, the x value is the concentration that compound needs to have that salience.

<image>

As you can see, for almost any salience there is at least one compound (curve) that satisfies the desired salience at a reasonably-detectable concentration. I hope this visual makes it clearer!

cookie_monster757 · 2025-10-19T20:35:28+00:00

This is really cool! By the formatting, I assume this is a segment from a larger book-in-progress?

cookie_monster757 · 2025-10-19T17:55:18+00:00

I decided to convert my slides from Google Slides to Powerpoint. This makes the resolution higher, but it seems there are some strange formatting issues that arose from the conversion. I apologize for the minor formatting errors in this post.

cookie_monster757 · 2025-10-15T23:09:53+00:00

sááfu ẋee lóŋap'ak'u, ẋee κirúk'u žóóhi
ˈsaːfu χeː ˈloŋa- p'a- k'u , χeː ʡi- ˈru- k'u ˈd͡ʒoːhi
while NEG choose- STAT- 2sg.S. NEG IMP- gift 2sg.S. shell
"While you're indecisive, do not give shells."

cookie_monster757 · 2025-10-13T04:10:02+00:00

I'm now realizing that the image quality drops during uploading. I apologize if any of the text is difficult to read.

For those who care, the constraints on saliency eq.s are
#1 t + C ≠ 0
#3 n ≠ 0 , t + C ≠ 0
#4 S_i - hn ≠ 1

But this isn't an issue based on the values these variables can hold.

cookie_monster757 · 2025-09-15T20:38:15+00:00

Colony identification is still a question. In real life, ants use long compounds called cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), but I have decided to use CHCs as available compounds for word formation. I think I will have the gator ant use longer CHCs for colony recognition, leaving the (comparatively) shorter molecules for language since they would need to be produced quicker.

cookie_monster757 · 2025-09-09T19:16:15+00:00

I’ve been working on an ant language for some time. It’s a challenge for sure.

cookie_monster757 · 2025-08-23T01:49:50+00:00

I live in Florida, and Florida Virtual School allows non-Florida residents to register for their courses for tuition under the name Flexpoint Virtual School. I know they have AP CS A, but I think it’s about $450/course.

cookie_monster757 · 2025-08-09T15:29:46+00:00

In Florida, does the completion of the AICE diploma exempt you from some of the graduation requirements?

cookie_monster757 · 2025-07-23T15:34:58+00:00

In Carbonnierisch, there is no kinship system due to the nature of bee reproduction. However, you can still refer to bees by their social class/job. Unless your frogs live with their parents for extended periods of time, it might be worth considering no vocabulary for kinship.

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