Cognitive "twist"

Potential Misuse of the Conveyor Metaphor (Part #4)

Curiously a form of non-linearity was in fact associated with some conveyor belts from the beginning of the industrial revolution. As discussed elsewhere (Psychosocial Energy from Polarization within a Cyclic Pattern of Enantiodromia, 2007), where the metaphor is used to illustrate the transfer between two different domains, whether physical or otherwise, it may incorporate a twist into the belt to ensure equal wear on both sides (as with car fan belts, until recently). Notably where the domains are epistemological, such a twist in the feedback loop between domains highlights their fundamental distinction through an apparent discontinuity. The challenge of any such a twist is discussed elsewhere (Engaging with Questions of Higher Order: cognitive vigilance required for higher degrees of twistedness, 2004; Twistedness in Psycho-social Systems: challenge to logic, morality, leadership and personal development, 2004).

The operation of such a twist, and the challenge to comprehension, has been remarkably well depicted in the work of the artist M C Escher, specifically with respect to the Möbius strip, but more generally as discussed in relation to enantiodromia.

Of particular interest is the possibility of understanding the "cognitive twist" in terms of the adaptive cycle of complex systems. Many helpful images of this are available on the web in two and three dimensions. One example is shown below.

Adaptive cycle in complex systems
(Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Upside of Down: catastrophe, creativity and the renewal of civilization, 2006)

It might be argued that it is in the deliberate association of Wilber's approach with the spiral sequence of vMemes in Spiral Dynamics that a form of 'twist' is recognized. This however presupposes recognition of that sequence as being itself a form of one-way conveyor - albeit spiral. Curiously, in arguing for the fundamental nature of spirals, notably by comparison with DNA, the originators of this approach appear to avoid discussion of the coiling whereby the DNA coils upon itself without any 'loose ends', except when in the 'unzipped' mode associated with reproduction (Don Beck and Chris Cowan, Spiral Dynamics, 1996) (cf DNA Supercoiling as a Pattern for Understanding Psycho-social Twistedness, 2004).

The problem of the twist in the interpretation/translation between languages is well-recognized. Curiously, it is readily assumed that such translation is not required between the conceptual "languages" that characterize different domains -- and that that challenge is insignificant to communication (rather than potentially of much greater difficulty). There is notably no recognized profession for interpretation/translation between conceptual languages.

The unaddressed challenge is evident in many efforts at interdisciplinary communication and might be considered fundamental in the case of any "clash of civilizations" (witness the minimum number of Arabic interpreters/translators in the initial period of the "war on terrorism"). In a supposedly democratic world, who interprets between the "languages" of "right" and "left", "north" and "south", "east" and "west" -- and between any "clashing civilizations"? (cf Review of Frameworks for the Representation of Alternative Conceptual Orderings as Determined by Cultural and Linguistic Contexts, 1986)