TALAMANA · THE AI LITERACY MAP FOR ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN · Generative Mechanics · AGE 11—15 · FACTUAL · DURABLE

Points, grids, and distance

Two numbers name one exact point, and close numbers mean close places.

The idea

Draw a grid on squared paper. Two numbers — across, then up — name one exact point, where two lines cross. Not a square. Change the numbers a little and the point moves a little. Two points with nearby numbers sit nearby on the paper. You can slide a shape across the grid, flip it or turn it, and it is still the same shape. Only its numbers changed. That is the whole idea. A place can be written as numbers, and once you agree how to measure, the distance between the numbers is the distance between the places.

Why it matters

Later on this map, machines put words and pictures on a grid like this, with many more than two numbers. If you can read two, you can understand the idea.

See it in the studio

A site plan has letters along one edge and numbers along the other. "Grid C-4" tells the contractor which square to dig in. Two marks, one place. Swap the letter for a second number and you can name an exact point, not only a square.

Watch for this

Mixing up the order. (3, 5) and (5, 3) are two different points. The order is part of the address.

Try it

On squared paper, plot the rooms of your house as points: kitchen, your bed, the front door. Which two points are closest? Walk it. Is that true in the real house?

Prove it

Plot a point from two numbers, then explain to a friend why a point with nearby numbers sits nearby on the page.

How it works

Mathematicians call the two numbers coordinates, and your Class 9 maths will name the grid the Cartesian plane. Machines use the same idea with hundreds of numbers instead of two. On paper you run out of directions to draw in, but the rule stays the same: close numbers mean close meaning. The embeddings card on this strand is this same idea with many more numbers.

What this idea builds on

What this idea opens up

Sources

Open this idea on the map · The complete map · Logika · RBDS AI Lab, India · revised every edition.

Age grows from 11 at the centre to 22 at the edge, and six sectors show the learning strands. Tab into the map and the arrow keys step from idea to idea, following the links where there is one. Enter opens the idea under the cursor, and E reads out its links and the reason recorded on each. Press slash for Search, question mark for the full key list, and Escape to leave. Open Ideas for the complete readable list, including what each idea builds on and what it opens up.

LOGIKA · RBDS AI LAB INDIA
ON-RAMP · AGE 11 · FIRST ENCOUNTERS, NOT GATES — IDEAS · — DEPENDENCIES
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SOLID — STANDS ON