Mapping forms and opportunities for dialogue

Learnings for the Future of Inter-Faith Dialogue (Part #9)

There is the clear implication that dialogues of different quality and consequence could be associated with distinct conditions, whether considered as stages or frameworks. But the dangers of focusing on 'higher level' dialogue, at the expense of others forms, derive from the failure to recognize the functions of each kind of dialogue and how they complement each other within society.

Jacobs points to the wide acceptance achieved by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (23), designed by two women based on the work of Carl Jung. This effectively provides a 4x4 square of 16 places denoting different categories of temperament (24). No developmental linear progression is suggested. Also arousing much interest is the framework of 9 conditions provided by the distinctly non-linear enneagram (25). Users are encouraged to work with the challenges of their own condition in relation to those of others they encounter, and to broaden their range of responses. A rich system was developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs as an international community in which the idea of a never-ending journey between 16 conditions was emphasized (26). It is also appropriate to mention the remarkable significance attached to the Chinese Book of Changes (27) as perhaps the most sophisticated mapping of relationships between a variety of human conditions and dilemmas.

Clearly one of the most conveniently comprehensible forms of map, as a step beyond linearity, is a tabular presentation like that of Myers-Briggs. It is therefore worth speculating on the possibilities of representing the variety of opportunities for dialogue on a surface resembling the classical board game common to many cultures. Clues to the organization of such a mapping might be:

board games like chess and draughts suggest ways of seeing relationships between 'opposing' dialogue partners. The games constrain the ability of each to move in relation to the other. The 'developmental' value of 'levels' is still present, with notions of lines and angles of advance and retreat, advantage and disadvantage, challenge and threat, that are experienced in dialogue. Particular pieces or positions may be 'lost' or 'taken'.
such board games have been extensively used in Buddhist and related traditions as a complement to religious education. Players move over the board between conditions ('heavens', 'hells', etc) in a manner somewhat similar to 'snakes and ladders' (28). Here each position is uniquely identified, possibly by illustration, as are the inscribed pieces in a game such as mahjong or the areas of a mandala. The Transformation Game developed at the Findhorn Foundation is a recent innovation with related intentions.
qualities of space occupation and encirclement are admirably represented in games such as go. The transformation and interpenetration of spaces is elegantly represented by some of the morphing drawings of M C Escher -- a technique now highly developed on computers.
one traditional presentation of the 64 different conditions identified by the Book of Changes is a square 8x8 pattern. It is worth recalling the number of studies that have explored the use of its binary coding pattern, notably in relation to the genetic code (29) and the specificity of certain key amino acids. Seemingly unrelated is the remarkable identification by Buddhists of the network of 64 possible philosophical viewpoints (30).
the computer-based game of 'life' has proved to be a very thought provoking illustration of how patterns emerge, grow, move, evolve and decay over a surface similar to that of the board games described above (31). This has been valuable in the study of chaotic systems.