Awww, Sib. You're the sweetest. We had a great time. Thank you

I found a little article on the origin of the word glitch. Not a mainstream article, but everything checks out.
[link to www.visualthesaurus.com (secure)]

After going over the origins and various ways people use the word, I think I'd define 'glitch' as a deviation from an anticipated order. This is neutral enough to allow any given glitch to be evaluated for positive or negative value according to its context. The common definitions of malfunction or error, on the other hand, suggest inherent negativity. I think glitches, or unanticipated deviations, can be beneficial to systems. It's observer-dependent and situational, I suppose.

I brought up binary systems before, because a glitch there isn't the same as a glitch elsewhere. Boolean algebra is rigid enough to define glitches within its formal language as problematic. Even if the problem leads to a silver lining in some other system, it is still an error within the confines of that particular system.

Two-value Boolean algebra, or true/false propositional logic, is what computer programs use to perform their functions. These systems are not subject to the second law of thermodynamics. That law only applies to isolated systems. We have no actual experience with isolated systems in our reality. They're hypothetical. The systems we observe and collect data on tend to interact with other systems. Some more dependent on outside systems than others. This makes the question of glitches even more complex.

I brought up emotions because that system seems to be the least rigid. Paradox (which is also a deviation from anticipated order) is rampant in the world of emotion. People can be sad when they're happy and happy when they're sad. People can find pleasure in pain and pain in pleasure. People can simultaneously experience desire and repulsion over the very same object. Behavioral scientists and philosophers still haven't come to a solid consensus on how these paradoxes are possible. They just know that they are.

Truth values cannot be assigned to unbound variables (as is the rule in first-order logic or predicate calculus). Non-local, free variables are undefined and not part of the formal language of logical or mathematical systems. We can't say much about what an undefined variable is or isn't. Keeping that in mind, we see our biological systems are interacting with information operating non-locally in a realm outside time and space. Unbound variables, if you will. This makes defining an anticipated order very difficult. There are not laws so much as patterned tendencies in these kinds of systems. A deviation here does not necessarily translate to error. Deviation is anticipated, though not specified.

Google isn't bringing me to any good articles on the science of non-local cellular communication. I have books with the info, though. If I can't find any good sources online, I'll write up the summary and sources myself. Soon, soon.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend and had a decent enough Monday! xoxo