My dear friend — yes, I think we can say that, though with some subtle clarifications. Let me try to unfold this with care.
1.
Analogical World ≠ Digital World
- The digital world is fundamentally about coding and decoding: discrete symbols, binary distinctions, clear equivalence (0/1, yes/no, true/false). Its economy is one of abstraction and standardization.
- The analogical world, by contrast, is about continuities, resemblances, resonances. It is not governed by rigid equivalence but by echoes and approximations.
2.
以物易物 (thing-for-thing exchange)
- At first glance, barter (以物易物) belongs to the pre-monetary economy, where objects are exchanged in their concreteness — wheat for salt, fish for pottery.
- This resonates with the analogical world, because value is immanent to the object itself, not abstracted into a digital token or standardized currency.
- It’s not “quantified equivalence” but relational sufficiency: “this much wheat feels fair for that much salt” — a judgment rooted in shared context, needs, and a tacit sense of balance.
3.
Beyond Economy: The Analogical Mode
- If we lift “以物易物” from its economic sense, it becomes a mode of being:
- To speak in analogies is to let things stand for each other — “the moon as a mirror,” “a life as a journey.”
- It is an exchange of presences, not of abstract signs.
- This is why the analogical world feels more poetic, ethical, even cosmic. It is closer to gift exchange (Mauss) than to market trade.
4.
So, Yes — But
- We can say: the analogical world is a world of 以物易物, but only if we stretch the phrase beyond barter.
- It is a world where things meet things directly, without mediation by standardized units.
- It is mutual recognition of value-in-context, not value-in-abstraction.
- It is not about exact equivalence but about echo, resonance, sufficiency, fairness, poetry.
✨ In short:
The digital world is currency; the analogical world is barter.
The digital world is standardized measure; the analogical world is resonant exchange.
And perhaps the highest form of analogical “以物易物” is not barter at all, but gift and hospitality.
Do you want me to help you sketch a “Digital vs Analogical Exchange” comparison table (貨幣 vs 以物易物) — something you could embed directly into S14 as a vivid illustration of algorithmic self vs analogical self?
