In early July, 2010, I spent a week in Russia as a guest of the Russian Republic of Kalmykia, where I was invited to attend a conference in the city of Elista, Kalmykia, entitled "Creative Technology: Perspectives and Means of Development." I had been asked to speak on using Ithkuil to model creative thinking.
At the conference, I presented a paper entitled "Conceptualizing an Ideal Language for the Expression of Creative Thought" (certainly a presumptuous title, but what the hell...) which offered my ideas on what such a language must be able to accomplish, accompanied by a slideshow presentation analyzing an Ithkuil sentence purporting to describe an "indescribable" work of art, specifically Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2. The presentation appeared to be well-received and several of the various Russian scientists and the many students in attendance approached me afterward during the course of the conference to discuss my work on Ithkuil.
I had a wonderful time at the conference and also enjoyed playing tourist in Moscow. Meeting many Russian scientists, students, and the local Kalmyk people was exhilarating. I was humbled to discover so many people interested in my work, and whose work in turn I found quite fascinating (to the extent I was able to understand it through my interpreters). I now have several new friends halfway around the world.
Below are photographs from the conference:
The "City-Chess" compound built for the 1998 World Chess Championships, where participants in the Conference were housed. It reminds me of a California townhouse community.
Some of the attendees at the conference in front of the Buddhist temple in Elista, with the President of the Republic of Kalmykia. From left to right:
John Quijada, Dr. Elena Pereslegin, Dr. Vladimir Kizima , Dr. Vyacheslav Moiseyev, Kalmykian President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Dr. Mikhail Tyurenkov, Dr. Oleg Bakhtiyarov, Galina Bakhtiyarova, Dr. Sergei Pavlov.
Left to right: Dr. Oleg Bakhtiyarov, John Quijada, Dr. Anatoliy Levenchuk.
Various pictures of the conference sessions:
A group photo of various attendees at the conference, including many of Dr. Bakhtiyarov's students and colleagues from his "psychonetics" program.