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Fig. 4.1 Feeding the beasts in Gua-Le-Ni does not only temporarily stop their relentless stamped-
ing but can also modify the beasts' composition, quell their acceleration or increase their value in
terms of points awarded upon their correct cataloguing
via the manipulation of the toy-cube interface) and a simple, univocal goal: correctly
categorizing the animals under a growing time pressure. As such, Gua-Le-Ni can be
considered to be simple enough in its structure and constraining enough in its inter-
active affordances to be suitable for the unambiguous expression of philosophical
notions and perspectives.
In the specifi c terms of its philosophical contents, Gua-Le-Ni was inspired by
David Hume's philosophical understanding of what a 'complex idea' is as presented
in his 1738 topic A Treatise of Human Nature (topic I, part IV, section VI: On
Personal Identity ). In extreme synthesis, according to Hume, most people can be
said to possess the mental concept of a Pegasus (Hume 1738 ). For the Scottish phi-
losopher, this is patently due to the fact that it is common for human beings to be
exposed to Greek mythology in some form. This is also ostensibly the case in the
present century, where the Pegasus can still be encountered in topics as well as in
modern remediations of its folklore. In general, it is presented as a divine horse that
could fl y using its legendary eagle wings. In Hume's work, the Pegasus is intro-
duced an example of an idea that is not caused by direct, worldly experience but is
nevertheless one with which we all have familiarity with. Nobody can, I believe,
truthfully claim to have encountered a Pegasus in his or her everyday life, to have
ridden, smelled or touched it, and yet the Pegasus is an idea that humans can
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