11 December 2011 | Draft
Interweaving Contrasting Styles of Remaindering
Reintegration of a Remaindered World
-- / --
Introduction
Ordering of clues to contrasting styles of "remaindering"
-- Figure 1a: abridged version
-- Figure 1b: expanded version of Figure 1a
Axes of bias
-- Figure 2: Possible attribution of 7 axes of preferential bias to correspond to Figure 1, highlighting extremes typically "remaindered" (tentative)
Degrees of coordination of cognitive modalities
-- Figure 3: Indication of degrees of coordination of cognitive modalities identified in Figures 1 and 2
Sustainable discourse
Annex 2 of Reintegration of a Remaindered World:
Cognitive recycling of objects of systemic neglect
(which contains Conclusion and References)
Prepared as an aid to reflection on a world of "remaindered people"
currently of concern to the "Indignant" and to the Occupy movement
Introduction
Weaving: The necessarily disparate nature of the threads evoked in the main paper raises the question of how they may best be interwoven to offer a "seductive" pattern of elegant coherence, following arguments presented separately (Interweaving Thematic Threads and Learning Pathways, 2010). A vital.key to fruitful comprehension can arguably be associated with an aesthetic quality, as stressed in the main paper and separately (Enacting Transformative Integral Thinking through Playful Elegance, 2010).
The challenge may even be seen in terms of a play on use of the weaving metaphor in response to the poetic accusation by John Keats. That metaphor has recently been exploited as a key to greater aesthetic appreciation through science by Richard Dawkins (Unweaving the Rainbow: science, delusion and the appetite for wonder, 1998).
Interdisciplinarity? Science has however yet to respond adequately to the remaindering of the world and of other modes of knowing -- to which it has contributed so much to facilitating. Currently "interdisciplinarity" might even be upheld as a sterile play on words. The concept of "responsibility" lacks any meaning in scientific methodology -- especially with respect to the social implications of science itself.
Tentative intimation: Borrowing from the case made by May (main paper), valuable aesthetic qualities for the requisite articulation can be derived from the sfumato painting technique developed by Leonardo da Vinci and from the non finito sculptural technique developed by Donatello during the Renaissance and used by Michelangelo. This "borrowing" can be framed as an aesthetic form of technomimicry.
The approach is hypothesized on requisite aesthetic criteria for the strategic engagement with the unexpected "other", as variously argued (Engaging with the Inexplicable, the Incomprehensible and the Unexpected, 2010; Relevance of Mythopoeic Insights to Global Challenges, 2009; Strategic Jousting through Poetic Wrestling, 2009; Us and Them: Relating to Challenging Others, 2009). It is striking that an "aesthetics of otherness" should even have been envisaged in relation to jurisprudence (Robin West, Jurisprudence as Narrative: an aesthetic analysis of modern legal theory, New York University Law Review, 1985; Sarah S. Willen, Toward a Critical Phenomenology of 'Illegality', International Migration, 2007).
Requisite complexity: The method employed in the iterative articulation in the following presentation derives from that variously explored previously (Eliciting a 12-fold Pattern of Generic Operational Insights, 2011; In-forming the Chalice as an Integrative Cognitive Dynamic: sustaining the Holy Grail of global governance, 2011).
The use of a 12-fold articulation is therefore continued as a means of interrelating the themes regarding remainder, as evoked in the main paper. This can be understood as indicating 12 "blindspots", 12 "modes of seeing", 12 "modes of denial", or 12 "narratives". The result is necessarily fuzzy ("sfumato") and incomplete ("non finito"). This also applies to the choice of columns and rows in the tables below.
Ordering of clues to contrasting styles of "remaindering"
| Figure 1a: Tentative ordering of clues to contrasting styles of "remaindering",
raising questions regarding the nature of what then "remains" (abridged version -- presented in expanded form in Figure 1b below) |
|||
| "Fundamental
principle" ("cardinal") |
"Underlying
understanding" ("structural") |
"Experiential
practice'' ("temporary") |
|
| Remaindering of the unproven, the practical and the concrete |
Remaindering of the unrecognized, the unconfirmed and the inadequate |
Remaindering of
any unrecognized fundamental principle, including systemic neglect of risk |
|
| 1. Formal "sense" Remaindering of the "subjective" and unforeseen in favour of the "objective" |
1.1 Mathematics / Logic |
1.2 Physics (models) |
1.3 Information / Knowledge / Ignorance |
| 2. Physical "sense" Remaindering "unprofitable" intangibles (people, resources, land) |
2.1 Environmental (dis)engagement |
2.2 Aesthetic attractionr |
2.3 Experiential (un)grounding |
3. Psycho-social "sense" |
3.1 Historical disconnections |
3.2 Implicit exclusion |
3.3 Explicit exclusion |
4. Cognitively existential "sense" |
4.1 Existential meaninglessness |
4.2 Cognitive stripping |
4.3 Disillusionment |
Comments on table (Figure 1a, and detailed version Figure 1b, below):
- Uncertainty and Risk: In various parts of the table these are either a matter of challenging concern or are variously discounted. This calls for careful ref;lection on how they might be considered a remainder. A significant example is offered by the risks neglected in relation to disasters such as those of Fukushima and recent catastrophic flooding (Anticipating Future Strategic Triple Whammies: In the light of earthquake-tsunami-nuclear misconceptions, 2011; Disastrous Floods as Indicators of Systemic Risk Neglect, 2011).
- Conceptual boundaries and distinctions: Each cells in the table might be understood as representing a particular manner in which boundaries are constructed, and distinctions made, to exclude (effectively to "remainder") what cannot be otherwise encompassed. This notably includes what may time and the future may bring as unforeseen "surprises" and "revelations".
- Row 1 / Row 4: The contrasting priority accorded to objectivity and subjectivity suggests a form of (wrap-around) junction between the first and last rows of the table in the light of arguments developed separately (¡¿ Defining the objective ∞ Refining the subjective ?! Explaining reality ∞ Embodying realization, 2011).
- Column 1 / Column 3: As with any "wrapping" of Row 1 and Row 4, these columns may also be considered as "wrapping".
- Toroidal form: The "table" as a whole is then more appropriately understood as takng the form of a torus, as discussed separately (Implication of Toroidal Transformation of the Crown of Thorns: design challenge to enable integrative comprehension of global dynamics, 2011).
- Mnemonic zero and existential remainder: Potentially relevant to the general argument here is the isomorphism between the toroidal form of the table and the conventional symbol for zero. This is especially relevant in considering the nature of the shadowy "remainder" implied by construction of the table itself as a formal articulation. This "remainder" is then appropriately associated, for mnemonic purposes, with the cognitive "emptiness" offered by the centre of the toroidal form -- with its possibility for further exploration. (*** circlets)
- Potential 7-fold implications: The 4 "rows" and 3 "columns" suggest further reflection and refinement, as discussed separately (Eliciting a 12-fold Pattern of Generic Operational Insights, 2011; Future methodological possibilities, 2011). Especially interesting is the manner in which terms in the table might be shifted between columns and rows according to their various interpretations -- suggesting a semantic analogue to manipulation of a Rubik Cube.
| Figure 1b: Tentative ordering of clues to contrasting styles of "remaindering", raising questions regarding the nature of what then "remains" (exapanded version of Figure 1a) |
|
| 1: Formal sense of remaindering: Typically privileging the "objective" with the "subjective" as a significant remainder, as notably becomes evident in fundamental physics. There is a sense in which remaindering is associated with the (arrogant) discounting of future insights potentially leading to radical reformulation of what currently appears obvious, coherent and well-formed. | |
| 1.1: Mathematics / Logic | |
| -- remainder (as discussed above) -- nothing (as discussed above) -- zero (as discussed above) -- closure / non-closure -- boundaries / distinctions |
-- incompleteness theorems -- paradox, not related to inclusion/exclusion (as in discussion of then Klein bottle) -- dilemma -- Occam's Razor |
| 1.2: Physics | |
| -- vacuum / ether (as discussed above) -- avoidance / denial -- >> prior to consideration of phenomena and acceptance of evidence (flat earth, geocentric theories) -- >> focus on 2D or 3D reality -- >> focus on lateral / superficial physics options (From Lateral Thinking to Voluminous Thinking, 2007) -- constrained (collective) attention span |
-- radiation left over from an early stage in the development of the universe (cosmic background radiation, CMB) -- radiotelescopes -- circle / ourobouros -- n-p transistor -- absolute zero / superconductor |
| 1.3: Information / Knowledge / Ignorance | |
| -- selectivity -- information overload -- error / wrong (as discussed above) -- missing sources -- not even wrong -- necessarily wrong -- unknowns |
-- risk -- Gaussian Copula -- beautiful -- don't want to hear / know -- blindspot -- missing / lipo / population -- birth / death -- unsavoury -- no questions aked |
| 2: Physical sense of remaindering | |
| 2.1: Environmental (dis)engagement | |
| -- engagement with the land -- nothing / emptiness -- spirit of the land -- empty quarter |
-- wasteland reserved for spiritual inspiration (Tacey) -- wilderness / nature -- discounted collective memory of "lost" styles of engagement with the environment |
| 2.2: Aesthetic attraction | |
| -- missing / shibumi / elegance / elegant absence -- attractor -- Freudian male female -- fuzzy attraction |
-- remainder -- understatement |
| 2.3: Experiential (un)grounding (body stuff) | |
| -- grounding / grounded
-- ungrounded
-- in experience -- ground zero -- hara / Durkheim |
-- gut feeling / belly / womb / bones -- emptiness of life / despair -- loss of everything material |
| 3: Psycho-social sense of remaindering | |
| 3.1: Historical disconnection / time ? As with the loss of collective memory, separately discussed (Engaging Macrohistory through the Present Moment, 2004; Societal Learning and the Erosion of Collective Memory, 1980) | |
| -- remainder of death -- cultural remainder -- emptiness at the centre |
-- centre cannot hold -- memory -- legacy land / what remains |
| 3.2: Implicit exclusion: Strategically this is noteworty with respect to issues omitted or neglected, as separately discussed (Lipoproblems: Developing a Strategy Omitting a Key Problem, 2010). Such omissions have been termed "holes" as in the commentary by The Economist on the euro rescue plan in 2011: The holes in the latest rescue plan... will become more obvious in 2012... Just enough will be done to fend off financial catastrophe:; not enough to solve the underlying problems (The World in 2012). | |
| -- psychosocial remainder -- political -- alienation -- loss of status / face |
-- obesity growth feeding compensation -- filling the emptiness -- obesity / growth ? -- loss of affection |
| 3.3: Explicit exclusion | |
-- outcast / low-life |
-- loss of all relationships -- disadvantages -- criminal |
| 4: Cognitively existential "sense" of remaindering: Typically privileging the "subjective" with the "objective" as a significant remainder -- made evident by any encounter with "reality". Here a distinction is made between loss of illusion in its simplest sense (4.3), disciplined elimination of illusion and cognitive superfluity (4.2), and various experiences of existential emptiness (4.3). The latter includes a sense of being "forsaken by god" (as in the biblical Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?). The significance of "theology" is extended to fundamental belief in general, as separately argued (Mathematical Theology: Future Science of Confidence in Belief, 2011). Any reflection on the experience of emptiness is clustered under 4.2, with that experience itself being clustered at 4.1. The latter would therefore include the experience of being "cast out" from any "heavenly domain" (or that of a "dark night of the soul"), whilst theological consideration of its implications would be clustered under 4.2 | |
| 4.1: Existential meaninglessness | |
| -- forsaken by all belief -- forsaken by God (Christopher Wynter, Psychosis: Forsaken by God, Transpersonal Notebooks, 2011) -- emptiness of form |
-- nothingness / religions -- unconscious remainder -- existential despair |
| 4.2: Cognitive stripping | |
| -- epistemological remainder -- philosophical -- meditative -- loss of belief |
-- unbelief -- nihilism -- theological remainder (as discussed in the Annex) -- transcendental quality (as discussed in the Annex) |
| 4.3: Disillusionment | |
| -- shedding illusions ("scales falling from eyes") -- cognitive radicalization |
-- emptiness of discourse |
Axes of bias
Especially interesting is their consideration in terms of the seven axes of cognitive "bias" (or preference) as identified with respect to academic discourse by W. T. Jones (The Romantic Syndrome; toward a new methodology in cultural anthropology and the history of ideas, 1961) and summarized separately (Axes of Bias in Inter-Cultural Dialogue, 1993). The title derives from analysis of disagreement in debate defining the "romantic period". This could imply that each of the 12 cells of the table exemplifies the intersection of the cognitive extremes of one axis (one of three) and another (one of four).
| Figure 2: Possible attribution of 7 axes of preferential bias to correspond to Figure 1 highlighting extremes typically "remaindered" (tentative) |
||||
| Sharply defined | Comprehensible | Due process | ||
| Remainder | Implicitly defined | Incomprehensible | Spontaneous process | |
| Order | Disorder | 1.1 Mathematics / Logic | 1.2 Physics (models) | 1.3 Information / Knowledge |
| External | Identification | 2.1 Environmental engagement | 2.2 Aesthetic attraction | 2.3 Experiential grounding |
| Static | Dynamic | 3.1 Historical disconnection | 3.2 Implicit exclusion | 3.3 Explicit exclusion |
| Discrete | Continuous | 4.1 Existential meaninglessness | 4.2 Cognitive stripping | 4.3 Disillusionment |
Alternation: Of further interest is a degree of alternation between a cognitive focus on one or another of the extremes on a given axis of preferential bias. For example, in the case of alternation between a preference for order or disorder, or between a preference for comprehensible or incomprehensible, the cognitive challenges of cell 1.2 would tend to shift between the following four conditions, with consequent implications for what is "remaindered":
- comprehensible order
- comprehensible disorder
- incomprehensible order
- incomprehensible disorder
Nth-order cybernetics? Many efforts have been made to distinguish degrees and orders of systemic integration, with various degrees of clarity, as previously discussed (Consciously Self-reflexive Global Initiatives: Renaissance zones, complex adaptive systems, and third order organizations, 2007). One of these is in terms of 1st, 2nd and 3rd order cybernetics. The most recent commentary on this particular approach is by Stane Bozicnik and Matjaz Mulej (A New - 4th order cybernetics and sustainable future, Kybernetes, 2011).
Degrees of coordination of cognitive modalities
Rather than engage with current confusion of terminology and insight, there is a case for exploring a framework for clarifying how such confusion arises -- an exercise in "talking about" discourse on orders of discourse, in the spirit of the reflexivity which contributes to the confusion. The table of distinctions tentatively indicated above can be used for this purpose, especially by highlighting conditions under which particular modalities may be explicitly active or implicitly missing. Those absent in this way can then be understood as functioning as implicit "constraints" -- according to the argument of discussed Deacon.
| Figure 3: Indication of degrees of coordination of cognitive modalities identified in Figures 1 and 2 | |||||||
| Examples of degrees of coordination of column modalities |
0-column examples (No column coordination) |
1-column examples (2 columns "missing") |
2-column examples (1 column "missing") |
3-column case (12-fold integration) |
|||
| I OO O I O I I I I OO |
OO I OO I I OO I I I |
I OO I OO I OO I OO |
OO I OO I OO I OO I |
I I O I I O I I O I I O |
O I I O I I O I I O I I |
I I I I I I I I I I I I |
|
| Examples of degrees of coordination of row modalities |
0-row examples (No row coordination) |
2-row examples (2 rows "missing") |
3-row examples (1 row "missing") |
4-row case (12-fold integration) |
|||
| O I I OO I I O I I O I |
I OO I O I I I O O I O |
I I I OOO OOO I I I |
OOO I I I I I I OOO |
I I I OOO I I I I I I |
I I I I I I I I I OOO |
I I I I I I I I I I I I |
|
Sustainable discourse
This mode of representation calls for a visual alternative more directly representative of the challenge of discourse of the requisite richness implied by the archetypal 12-seat roundtable. In such a circular representation, some of the "seats" might then be effectively "unoccupied". Vital enabling and countervailing 3-fold or 4-fold functional "coalitions" would then be inhibited -- with the dynamics of the remainder constrained by their absence. Related issues and possibilities are discussed separately, notably with regard to insights from the distinct "voices" in multi-part singing (Enabling a 12-fold Pattern of Systemic Dialogue for Governance, 2011).
The framework facilitates reflection on the nature of the emergence and embodiment of collective self-consciousness under the conditions of constraint typical of many gatherings. Deacon was cited above, with regard to "teleodynamics", to the effect that "life requires more than self-organisation and more than molecular self-replication: it must persistently recreate its capacity for self-creation". His development of this point acquires further relevance if "memetic " is understood as an analogue for "molecular". He indicates:
Although living systems depend on self-organising processes to create their orderly structures, life must involve more than a mere constellation of self-organising molecular processes because there is no real "self" in self-organisation. What I mean by self is an intrinsic tendency to maintain a distinctive integrity against the ravages of increasing entropy as well as disturbances imposed by the surroundings.
To be truly self-maintaining, a system must contain within it some means to "remember" and regenerate those constraints determining its integrity which would otherwise tend to dissipate spontaneously.
Deacon's emphasis on integrity in a molecular context recalls the work on the tensional integrity of cellular architecture, as noted in a discussion of Global Self-Organization: the systemic structural challenge of the exchange of meaning, dramatized by the Asian financial crash (1998):
It is an ironic coincidence that the January 1998 issue of Scientific American features the challenge to understanding self-organization in the most primitive biological forms: "How groups of molecules assemble themselves into whole, living organisms is one of biology's most fundamental and complex riddles. The answer may depend on 'tensegrity', a versatile architectural standard in which structures stablilize themselves by balancing forces of internal tension and compression. The same relatively simple mechanical rules, operating at different scales, may govern cell movements, the organization of tissues and organ development" (p. 2). Donald E. Ingber argues there: "A universal set of building rules seems to guide the design of organic structures--from simple carbon compounds to complex cells and tissues" (The Architecture of Life, January 1998)
NB: See main paper for Conclusion and References
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