A "stargate" of higher dimensionality -- the Renaissance as a Gateless Gate?

Post-Apocalyptic Renaissance of Global Civilization (Part #14)

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In the light of the argument above, the following are potential clues to enablng the operation of a "stargate" in cognitive terms.

Clues to design of a cognitive "stargate" -- complementary metaphors ?

Definition -- "unsaying" and apophatic discourse? The art of engaging with an operational "stargate" would appear to require clues of a higher order which consciously avoid any obsession with definition and closure (Christopher James Galloway, Deliver us from Definitions: a fresh way of looking at public relations, Public Relations Inquiry, 2, 2013, 2). Whilst definition may be essential to the design of one kind of motor or spacecraft, there is the possibility that overdefinition may inhibit other kinds of movement. The difficulty is determining how the motor required may be "stuck" as a conseqence.

There is a clue to the possibility that significance may be associated with what cannot be effectively said, if only becaise of constraints in the communication process. In that sense nothing that can be said may be worth saying -- as this may assertion can be variously interpreted. Arguments to that effect include:

• the recognition in some traditions that the most fundamental deity cannot be named
• the process variously recognized in theology as the via negativa or apophasis, as separately discussed (Being What You Want: problematic kataphatic identity vs. potential of apophatic identity? 2008; Michael A. Sells, Mystical Languages of Unsaying, 1994)
• the argument of Christopher Alexander with respect to the quality without a nmae as being associated with the most desrable place to be
• the initial statement of the Tao Te Ching as variously translated:
  • The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name -- with the strategic implication that: The Dao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Dao.
  • The name that can be named is not the eternal Name -- with the strategic implication that: The Reason that can be reasoned is not the eternal Reason..
  • An idea that can be expressed in words cannot be the infinite idea -- with the strategic implication that: The Dao that can be understood cannot be the primal, or cosmic, Dao
• the insight of Hinduism known in Sanskrit as Neti Neti, (especially valued in Jnana Yoga and Advaita Vedanta) understood to mean "not this, not this", or "neither this, nor that"
• the concluding phrase by Ludwig Wittgenstein: Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1921).
• whether sayable or not, there is clearly a need for greater attention to what is unsaid (Global Strategic Implications of the "Unsaid": from myth-making towards a "wisdom society", 2003).
• negative capability as undertsood in poetic terms by John Keats: capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason
• unmaking ***

Container? If there is a need for a new "metabolism" to ensure the viability of global civilization reborn, as argued above, there is a case for exploring the possible form of the container (Con-taining significance in the con-quest of the moment, 2016; Cognitive significance of a con-tainer, 2016). Just as much is made of the transition from a flat Earth understanding to the global form of the present incarnation, it is possible that Renaissance will be associated with a new type of container for whatever then "flows" in order to sustain it.

A valuable clue in this respect is the toroidal form of the reactor currently under construction to enable nuclear fusion -- known as ITER. The primary criterion is to design the container to ensure that what circulates within the torus -- plasma at very high temperature -- does not come in contact with the wall of the torus, which would destroy it catastrophically. Arguably this illustrates the challenge in the current global civilization in which significance -- notably that of values -- tends to degrade (or be degraded by) whatever definitional container is used to communicate it. Are conflicts effectively between definitional "tanks" rather than between the significance they may contain or imply ("Tank-thoughts" from "Think-tanks": metaphors constraining development of global governance, 2003)?

The ITER design may therefore be used as a means of reflecting on the nature of cognitive fusion from which a higher order of psychosocial energy may be elicited (Enactivating a Cognitive Fusion Reactor: Imaginal Transformation of Energy Resourcing (ITER-8), 2006; Eliciting a Universe of Meaning -- within a global information society of fragmenting knowledge and relationships, 2013).

Embodiment of fundamental paradox: As variously noted above, and as has become evident through the increasing surreality of a global civilization of conflicting perceptions, there is a case for embodying paradox suggestively in some way. Reference was made above to the Mobius strip, the Necker cube and the Klein bottle as a means of "containing" insight into such paradox.

Other such cognitive devices are required to hold incommensurable perspectives. The argument has been developed with respect to use of the traditional Ouroboros to that end, especially given the toroidal form it shares with the ITER design (Complementary visual patterns: Ouroboros, MÖbius strip, Klein bottle, 2017). In the light of the physiological process of osmosis, so vital to the interface between internal and external processes, this highlights the challenge of comprehension between the two sides of a paradox (Cognitive Osmosis in a Knowledge-based Civilization: interface challenge of inside-outside, insight-outsight, information-outformation, 2017).

Dynamics of diversity: As emphasized above, there is a particular challenge to introducing the requisite dynamics to contain what can no longer be effectively held in a static form, most notably any definition -- as with any set of values and notably those implied by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (whose periodical update is curiously never envisaged). A valuable dynamic is provided by the Chinese BaGua pattern, both through the alternation between its two forms and the dynamics between the 8 distinctions in each.

The ITER design offers a particular clue of relevance in that it is a configuration of magnets which ensures that the plasma circulating around the torus is held at a distance from the toroial wall. The BaGua dynamics can be considered as indicative of a cognitive equivalent, ensuring balance between the variety of cognitive extremes. How many "cognitive magnets" are required to enble and sustain Renaissance? How might they be most fruitfully configured? How is the dynamics between them to be rendered appropriate?

Imagining ways of imagining the Renaissance: As is implied by the above argument, there is a need to recognize the variety of complementary ways in which the Renaissance may be fruitfully imagined. One approach to the challenge is inspired by a much-studied poem by Wallace Stevens (Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird), as previously explored (Anticipating When Blackbirds Sing Chinese: conversion from tweets to songbites to ensure integrity of communication, 2014). This included sections on:

That argument is supported by many visual clues. In the light of the potential complementarity of the distinctive images indicated above, the argument is further developed separately (Topology of Renaissance "stargate" of higher dimensionality: complementary ways of imagining engagement with otherness, 2018).

Renaissance as a "Gateless Gate"? Consistent with the nature of a cognitive "stargate", that metaphor should be susceptible to challenge. Should a Renaissance "stargate" be "gateless" in some sense?

Especially intriguing in this respect is the classic articulation of what is commonly translated into English as the "Gateless Gate". This is a collection of 48 Zen koan -- each framing a provocative question to elicit insight. The classic collection  was compiled in 1228 by the Chinese Zen master Wumen Hui-k'ai. It is known in Mandarin as WÚmÉnguan and in Japanese as Mumonkan. It is commonly translated in English as The Gateless Gate, although the implications of this are contested -- as evident in the translation by Robert Aitken (The Gateless Barrier: the Wu-Men Kuan, 1991). The ambiguity is itself appropriate. A 49th koan, which appeared in a classic edition, has also been considered part of the set.

In the spirit of this argument for higher dimensionality, the traditional list of 48 koan was variously "configured" onto a polyhedron to constitute a 3-dimensional "gate" -- as an exercise in response to the emergence of Twitter (Configuring a Set of Zen Koan as a Wisdom Container: formatting the Gateless Gate for Twitter, 2012). Twitter itself can be provocatively interpreted in terms of the traditional language of the birds -- a perfect language, itself a potential feature of Renaissance (Re-Emergence of the Language of the Birds through Twitter? 2010).

For the purpose of that exercise, use was made of the extensive rendering of The Gateless Gate on Wikisource which includes both the original koan, extensive commentary, and the succinct commentary of Wumen on each koan. The following are selections from that mapping exercise.

Exercise in arbitrary mapping of 48 Zen koan onto polyhedra
Rhombicuboctahedron (48 edges) (reflection planes shown)	Truncated cuboctahedron (48 vertices) (symmetry axes shown)	Rhombicuboctahedron (4D simulation)	Truncated cuboctahedron (4D simulation)
Images prepared using Stella Polyhedron Navigator

Any understanding of a "gateless gate" is usefully recalled by another suggestive configuration -- the traditional symbolism of the gateway offering entry to a sacred space, as discussed separately (Civilization as a Global Configuration of Silences: recognizing silence of a higher order, 2013).

There are many forms of symbolic gateway in Asia, as with the pailou of China and the torana of India. In Japan these are known as torii, of which there are many variants. The ambiguity between the problematic and constructive alternatives is indicated in the image below by use of a simple animation. Such gateways may well stand in isolation in the countryside. Leading "nowhere", they are now appropriate symbols for the future as many experience it (Going Nowhere through Not-knowing Where to Go, 2013; Way Round Cognitive Ground Zero and Pointlessness? Embodying the geometry of fundamental cognitive dynamics, 2012). It is mnemonically appropriate that the sign most closely associated with mathematical insight into its nature should be the pi sign -- resembling the torii in significant respects.

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