Challenges to Comprehension Implied by the Logo of Laetus in Praesens
Laetus in Praesens Alternative view of segmented documents via Kairos
17 August 2020 | Draft

Wave Alternative to Dependence on Conceptual Fragmentation

Potential of integrative comprehension otherwise

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Introduction
Framing the re
References

Introduction

The future may marvel at the plethora of concepts and "things" which are perceived as framing the nature of human civilization. By techno-optimists these are considered to be in process of organization into an Internet of Things. Beyond that, howver, there are also the many "things" to which people are exposed by advertising, by legislation, by religion, by culture, or by science -- all of which populate our individual and collective psyches. Education is seemingly understood as development of the ability to manage these to an adequate degree -- to recognize them and to remember them.

With respect to quality of life, arguably this array of recognizable "things" renders life meaningful and fruitful to only a limited degree -- whether for some or for many. One obvious alternative is to focus on one "thing" to the exclusion of all others as being relatively irrelevant. Science and religion, for example, offer possibilities in this regard -- as does sport.

There is a case for a more radical exploration of alternatives to what may be experienced as the "pollution" of one's psyche -- namely the uncontrolled accumulation of what may well be recognized as the waste products of the endeavours of others.

The following speculative exercise is inspired by the manner in which physics has framed the relation between particles and waves through the uncertainty principle. There is a case for recognizing that the vast array of "things" -- conceptual or otherwise -- can be usefully understood as particulate, as "particles". This would then frame the question as to the experiential meaning to be associated with "waves". An early suggestion in this respect has been the argument of Garrison Sposito (Does a generalized Heisenberg principle operate in the social sciences? Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy, 12, 1969, 1-4). However this was long preceded by arguments of such as Heraclitus regarding panta rhei -- "everything flows" (Tim Rayner, Heraclitus, change, and flow, Philosophy for Change, 7 April 2008). Related implications have been noted with respect to COVID-19 (Ben Klemens, The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of Social Science Modeling, Scientific American, 7 July 2020).

A degree of recognition is accorded to such a notion through the process philosophy (Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality, 1929) and through flow psychology (Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, 1996)/ Of greater potential relevance is the sense in which people speak of a "wave of enthusiasm" and similar experiences. Consistent with the radical approach explored here is the sense in which fundamental values -- including peace -- might well be more appropriately appreciated as verbs rather than as nouns (Freedom, Democracy, Justice: Isolated Nouns or Interwoven Verbs? Illusory quest for qualities and principles dynamically disguised, 2011).

A trend towards the formal articulation of any such understanding is the impact of quantum mechanics, most obviously as articulated by Alexander Wendt (Quantum Mind and Social Science: unifying physical and social ontology, 2015), and discussed separately (On being "walking wave functions" in terms of quantum consciousness? 2017). The possibility has been framed for a different audience by Ethan Siegel (In Quantum Physics, Even Humans Act As Waves, Forbes, 19 August 2020). Elliot

The following argument is a development of previous explorations of this theme (Encountering Otherness as a Waveform, 2013;Being a Waveform of Potential as an Experiential Choice: emergent dynamic qualities of identity and integrity, 2013; Being Neither a-Waving Nor a-Parting: cognitive implications of wave-particle duality in the light of science and spirituality, 2013).

covid "second wave" -- search

Clunky fragmentation of society and the universes of knowledge and belief

The fragmentation of society, and of the disciplines, has long been deplored -- to little avail. The possibility of any form of "unity" could well be recognized as an extreme form of naive optimism. Even the possibility of consensus in that regard could be recognized as delusional (The Consensus Delusion: mysterious attractor undermining global civilization as currently imagined, 2011).

There is therefore a case for noting the degree to which the vast array of "things" could be compared with clunky "containers" -- possibly even with a degree of organization comparable with that of a refuse dump, whatever effort is made for its "organization" by those in inhabiting that context. However, just as with any waste dump, a degree of motivation and care enables various "things" to be put together so that something useful "works". The result may even be subject to intellectual copyright to restrict the use of the assemblage by others. Do the "systems" on which society is so dependent reflect a higher degree of organization? Are they inherently vulnerable -- as crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic, tend to render only too evident?

Given the creativity which is so obviously associated with any viable assemblage, could this be more fruitfully recognized as "coagulating" into the larger "thing" thereby created? How is that creative potential then to be recognized once the "thing" exists? The competitive processes associated with intellectual copyright are then usefully to be understood as a deep commitment to divisiveness. People can "buy into" the result if they so choose, committing their resources as required. The context may also stimulate some to design the next "killer app" with the possibility of holding the world to ransom and making a fortune.

It would seem that there is the possibility of a fundamental choice. One can indeed "buy into" the clunky context -- as can be seen by the attitude of many desperately endeavouring to make a living from a waste dump. So framed, anyone can become a "part" and can thereby "participate" in society. Identity is then framed by the part of society with which one identifies.

Rather than understanding the alternative as being "apart", it would seem that there is the possibility of identifying with a "wave" -- however this might then be understood. There is a degree of paradox to the choice of this alternative.

As with the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, there are conditions under which one indulge in the potentially illusory recognition that one is a "part". There are others under which one can indulge in the recognition that one is a "wave" -- whether or not this merits consideration as being equally illusory. The shift from one cognitive framework to the other might be usefully compared to "donning" one form of clothing and "doffing" another. One sense of "habit", as worn by monks, is suggestive of this understanding (Antonio T. De Nicolas, Habits of Mind: an introduction to the philosophy of education, 1999).

Fundamental physics has extensively explored the choice of one alternative or the other -- framed by the measuring process of the observer. Here the emphasis is however on an understanding of existential choice. Far less evident is how it is possible to choose between such extreme alternatives -- and whether in fact this is a skill which some people (if not many) already possess to some degree.

Under what conditions do people identify with "parts" -- as with possessions which affirm their status in their own eyes, or in the eyes of others? The example of clothing with a designer label is indicative. The switch to identification with a wave is perhaps most evident in responding to the beat of music, especially in dance. The difficulty is clearly that society is organized around the articulation into "parts" with which people are variously obliged to identify. The scope for identification with a "wave" is limited -- especially when the wave has been orchestrated as part of a marketing initiative of some kind.

Arguably the sense of freeedom is associated with the ability to choose with what to identify but more particularly with the possibility of not identifying with a "thing" that has been organized by another. This frames the possibility of a cognitive form of speciation into those who identify primarily with the parts or with the waves -- and potentially those who alternate between them. This implies the possibility of  as a matter of choice a fundamental shift in identity Homo conjugens / undulans -- believer / unbeliever

Reification, commodification and possession

Possibly to be understood as wave-like in its manifestation, there is a widespread process of conceptual reification closely associated transformation of whatever can be reified into commodities -- lending themselves to, or necesssitating, legal definition as such for administrative purposes. The process is entangled with the psychosocial quest to possess exclusively whatever is commodified and to regulate associated issues of ownership -- with the relation between possession of property and defining the properties of objects offering a degree of irony.

The various manifestations include:

As a consequence of the above, knowledge can be variously recognized as "incarcerated", "entrapped" or even "entombed" in "parts". This is most evident in the case of intellectual property. Any process of explanation can be understood in this light -- "wrapping up" and packaging experience in containers designed for that purpose.

The naming process may have psychocultural significance as a means of frame creation or territorial appropriation (also known by the Icelandic term land nám, coined by Ananda Coomaraswamy, The Rg Veda as Land-Nama Book, 1935) and discussed elsewhere. This territorial appropriation process, notably practiced by the Navaho and the Vedic Aryans was further described by Joseph Campbell (The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: metaphor as myth and religion, 1986):

Land nám ("land claiming or taking") was [the Norse] technical term for this way of sanctifying a region, converting it thereby into an at once psychologically and metaphysical Holy Land.... Land nám, mythologization, has been the universally practiced method to bring this intelligible kingdom to view in the mind's eye. The Promised Land, therefore, is any landscape recognized as mythologically transparent, and the method of acquisition of such territory is not by prosaic physical action, but poetically, by intelligence and the method of art; so that the human being should be dwelling in the two worlds simultaneously of the illuminated moon and the illuminating sun. (p. 34)

As Campbell notes, this is a variant of the archetype of a "promised land", namely "a spiritual region, or condition of mind, wherein phenomenal forms are recognized as revelatory of transcendence". **** naming stars, theories, etc

The commitment to this complex of reification/commodification can be seen as a variant -- a century later -- of the illusory enthusiasm for a mechanistic model of the universe. Then, as now, the underlying belief is that if the position and direction of every feature of that universe could be known, then the development of that universe could be predicted, if not controlled. Obvious evidence of this belief is to be found in the philosophy associated with the manipulation of democratic systems, as highlighted by the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

Strangely missing from the commitment to this belief are the dynamics associated the achievement of what it appears to promise. One archetype is offered by the Imperial Library on Trantor of Isaac Asimov's Robot, Galactic Empire and Foundation Series, and the dilemma of how to engage with its contents. The dilemma is higlighted by the shards consituting the only evidence of civilizations long past, desperately collected by archaeologists -- a process potentially to be repeated by those of the future with respect to the electronic traces of the current civilization.

In the light of the fundamental challenge to the mechanistic model of the universe, namely Einstein's theory of relativity, is any understanding of what universal comprehension would imply -- if only in the instance of global governance. Curiously disguised by that theory is the treatment of intellectual property as potentially influenced by the context in which the theory was formullated (Einstein's Implicit Theory of Relativity - of Cognitive Property? Unexamined influence of patenting procedures, 2007)

Questionable existence as claimed, purported and inferred

This argument is both challenged and justified by assumptions regarding understandings of "existence". With respect to the debelopment of this argument, it is strange to note the reference to an extraterrestrial perspective by Alexander Wendt (Quantum Mind and Social Science: unifying physical and social ontology, 2015). As an eminent specialist in international relations he introduces his argument with the hypothetical perspective of extraterrestrials scanning the globe. He makes the point that nations states, however bordered or not, cannot be detected from space. In that sense the distinctions between them are non-existent.

With this argument it is obviously questionable as to whether "Israel" and "Palestine" "exist" -- except as rather peculiar constructs of the collective imagination of some. The challenge extends to entities like the United Nations, and to those corporations purportedly owning an excessive proportion of terrestrial assets. This could be understood as a form of dreaming to which a degree of reality has been variously attached -- to the point that that reality is beyond any conventional question. Wendt uses that insight to justify the fundamental insights emerging from understandings of quantum reality.

Existence, and the associated boundaries by which phenomena are distinguished, have an illusory dimension -- irrespective of the arguments of some belief systems promoting this view. The ET perspective can be usefully reversed, given controversy regarding their existence. The nature of their "existence" may be otherwise -- potentially as wave phenomena, for example -- as separately argued (Sensing Epiterrestrial Intelligence (SETI): embedding of "extraterrestrials" in episystemic dynamics? 2013).

What indeed is meant by existence or "it exists" -- despite the formal assertion of the natura;l sciences or legislation? Any sense of existence can be challenged from a more radical perspective. For example, to what extent is it useful to claim:

Wave-like processes -- potentially unexplored as such

Reference is commonly made to the experience of a variety of processes which elude reification, commodification and possession. These include:

These may well be detectable in crowd dynamics, most notably as a feature of crowd psychology. Obvious instances are provided at assemblies and rave parties (Mexican wave), or in coflict situations (waves of ground forces, bombers, missiles).

Especially intriguing is whether fundamental (religious) belief has a wave-like nature, perhaps as a standing wave -- with unbelieveers necessarily excluded from the experience. This frames the question as to whether persuasion and conviction call for exploration in such terms. Is this similarly the case with agreement in contrast with disagreement, with the latter readily framed as "out of sync" or "not on the same wavelength".

wave-like?

Concepts which merit critical examination in wave terms

From de-parting to en-waving and encycling

wave-particle

cultural products -- but not waste? recycling -- responsibility for the cycle

de-veloping to enveloping -- de-construction

Wholth? wealth

Notes

Relevance of the wave metaphor? Can nations be said to be "on the same wavelength" with respect to climate change and enviromental degradation at this critical time? If not, is there a case for exploring the wave patterns characteristic of collective intelligence -- some analogue to alpha, beta, etc? Is the incapacity of institutions to frame such issues through more fruitful metaphors itself an indication that such waves have already "flatlined"? (Rupinder Mangat and Simon Dalby, Climate and Wartalk: metaphors, imagination, transformation, Elementa, 6, 2018, 1; Anne K. Armstrong, et al, Using Metaphor and Analogy in Climate Change Communication, 2018; Alice Deignan, et al, Metaphors of Climate Science in Three Genres: research articles, educational texts, and secondary school student talk, Applied Linguistics, 40, 2019, 2).

It could be considered extraordinary that global society is equipping itself with a vast array of technology dependent on wave functions -- in support of collective intelligence or its artificial surrogates -- whilst ignoring the nature of the wave functions which may be fundamental to the operation of the intelligence of its institutions. Thinking in regard to electromagnetic waves now extends to quantum mechanics with implications for quantum psychology. Yet to be addressed are the issues raised from the perspective of international relations by Alexander Wendt (Quantum Mind and Social Science: unifying physical and social ontology, 2015).

Is this failure itself a characteristic of institutional "brain death"? Of further relevance is his argument that indivuals merit recognition as "walking wave functions", as discussed separately (On being "walking wave functions" in terms of quantum consciousness? 2017). This could then be understood as applicable to collective entities -- institutions -- with the implication that their "brain death" could be explored in terms of "collapse of the wave function", especially given the relation to consciousness in the light of the Von Neumann–Wigner interpretation (Emerging Memetic Singularity in the Global Knowledge Society, 2009). Now that importance is attached to an ultimate singularity, the manner in which this might be associated with collapse of a global function calls for attention (Cadell Last, Global Brain Singularity: universal history, future evolution and humanity's dialectical horizon. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 2018).

Whether the challenges international institutions claim to face are embodied in other institutions, or whether they take the form of environmental and resource issues, in the light of Wendt's argument, there is a case for framing the engagement in wave terms (Encountering Otherness as a Waveform, 2013).

Wendt could however presumably argue that global institutions are now in effect "ghosts" in an electromechanical machine, following earlier introduction of such a frame by Gilbert Ryle (Arthur Koestler, The Ghost in the Machine, 1967; Alexander Wendt, The mind-body problem and social science: motivating a quantum social theory, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 48, 2018, 2). The metaphor is readily applicable to the "international community" -- but comprehensible in the case of the United Nations and many other global bodies.

References

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi:

Antonio T. De Nicolas. Habits of Mind: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. Paragon House, 1999

Ralph Nelson Elliott. The Wave Principle*** 1938

Alexander Wendt. Quantum Mind and Social Science: unifying physical and social ontology. Cambridge University Press, 2015

Alfred North Whitehead. Process and Reality. 1929

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