Experiential implication in the "circulation of the light"

Circulation of the Light: Essential metaphor of global sustainability? (Part #5)

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Subject-Object / Knower-Known distinction: This conventional distintinction through which externalities are reified is widely studied (Max Deutscher, Subjecting and Objecting: an essay in objectivity, 1983). It is variously called into question by the nature of any participation in a "circulation of the light", especially to the extent that "light" is intimately associated with awareness. Arguments relevant to such cognitive participation have notably been developed by Henryk Skolimowski (The Participatory Mind: a new theory of knowledge and of the universe, 1995)

Identity: It follows that "circulation of the light" raises the question of "who" or "what" is "circulating". More radically there is the possibility that identity is associated to a greater degree with the dynamic of that circulation rather than with some thing which is circulating. This sense of identity has been explored separately (Emergence of Cyclical Psycho-social Identity: sustainability as "psyclically" defined, 2007). Also of relevance (as with the Subject/Object distinction) is the extent to which any "externalities" are cognitively embodied -- rather than being effectively "outsourced" through reification (Existential Embodiment of Externalities, 2009).

Closure: Understood dynamically, identity raises the epistemological question of how it is bounded and the nature of any invariance over time. These may be specualtively explored (Am I Question or Answer?, 2006). This is of relevance in relation to any sense of a bounding "tunnel" by which identity is contained and constrained. How is any such containing boundary challenged and how does this relate to sustainable development -- whether collective or individual? How is dysfunctional, premature closure avoided, as tentatively highlighted separately (Sustaining the Quest for Sustainable Answers, 2003)? Currently many countries challenged by articulation of a sustainable development strategy are further challenged by how to define their essential identity -- especially with respect to the implications of immigration. The dynamic between openness and closure has been explored by Orrin E. Klapp (Opening and Closing; strategies of information adaptation in society, 1978) and notably first figured in discussion of open source projects (Eric S. Raymond, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, 1999). In relation to definition, it is a theme of Hilary Lawson (Closure: A Story of Everything, 2001). Perhaps more intriguing is the relation of closure to property, as highlighted by the enclosure of the commons -- implying that which cannot be closed off in this way is without value. This is relevant to any discussion of around what the "circulation of the light" takes place.

Uncertainty: As most recently emphasized by the above-mentioned Rockefeller study, society is faced with multiple uncertainities -- if only in responding to the scenarios on offer regarding future decades. Individuals too are necessarily faced with such uncertainty. This reinforces the ambiguity associated with any sense of identity and self-worth and how psychosocial entities understand themselves to be bounded and constrained over time -- together with any related sense of extreme existential anxiety. The issue was highlighted by the notorious poem of Donald Rumsfeld in his capacity as US Secretary of Defense, as separately discussed (Unknown Undoing: challenge of incomprehensibility of systemic neglect, 2008)

Topology: The above issues constitute a challenge to tendencies to oversimplify the geometry within which "circulation of the light" is understood to occur. Whilst a circle offers a convenient focus, even fairground rides use geometry of greater complexity. Many dances and musical compositions offer richer templates for experience -- intersecting circles, for example. Indeed a circle is perhaps the simplest pattern along which circulation can take place -- within the set of more complex geometric forms. Reference was made above to interlocking circles, fundamental to configuration in three dimensions. Of related relevance is the psychoactive engagement with features of any such topology (Topology of Valuing: dynamics of collective engagement with polyhedral value configurations, 2008; Degrees of Cognitive Engagement with Interrelated Global Categories, 2009). As raised in the introduction, does civilizational collapse become probable when the resources of the cognitive geometry on which a civilization chooses to live are exhausted? What degree of topological complexity is necessary to support the dynamics faced by global governance? What might any such "exhaustion" of cognitive geomtry imply for individual mortality -- especially given the obsessive quest for individual mortality in civilizations of the past? The connective role of such geometry is well indicated by Gregory Bateson (Mind and Nature: a necessary unity, 1979) in making the point that:

The pattern which connects is a meta-pattern. It is a pattern of patterns. It is that meta-pattern which defines the vast generalization that, indeed, it is patterns which connect.

And it is from this perspective that he warns in a much-cited phrase: "Break the pattern which connects the items of learning and you necessarily destroy all quality." This might well be described as ensuring mortality.

Cognitive twist: The cognitive simplicity of circulation in a circle inhibits recognition of the experiential complexities in the process of that circulation. These are evident in misuse of the conveyor metaphor as mentioned above and separately discussed -- failing to recognize (possibly deprecated) portions of the cycle (Potential Misuse of the Conveyor Metaphor: recognition of the circular dynamic essential to its appropriate operation, 2007). Of particular interest are the cognitively paradoxical forms exemplified by the Möbius strip and the Klein bottle -- the first being one-sided, despite appearances, and the latter lacking the conventional distinction between inside and outside (Intercourse with Globality through Enacting a Klein bottle: cognitive implication in a polysensorial "lens", 2007). Their psychosocial significance is the subject of a study by Steven M. Rosen (Science, Paradox, and the Moebius principle: the evolution of a "transcultural" approach to wholeness, 1994).

Möbius strip (by David Benbennick from Wikimedia Commons)	Klein bottle (4-dimensional) (from Wikimedia Commons)
The Klein bottle is constructed from two Möbius bands (mirror images of each other), connected by an ordinary two-sided band (for visual explanations and animations, see Konrad Polthier, Imaging Maths: inside the Klein bottle)

Of further interest is what might be termed a "cognitive twist" in any pattern of circulation through which the assumptions of sidedness (so characteristic of problematic "us and them" distinctions) are called into question in traversing the cycle (Us and Them: relating to challenging others, 2009). This twist may be fruitfully explored in relation to the process of enantiodromia and the coincidence of opposites -- through which, over time, protagonists take on the previously deprecated characteristics of their polar opposites (Psychosocial Energy from Polarization: within a cyclic pattern of enantiodromia, 2007). However, and more challenging, are the implications from various traditions of a necessary "endarkenment" seemingly a prequisite for "getting through" the twist (Enlightening Endarkenment: selected web resources on the challenge to comprehension, 2005).

Dysfunctional cycles: It is clearly appropriate to recognize the highly problematic psychosocial cycles to which viable governance must necessarily respond -- and in which it may be implicated. Most striking, notably in which they are reminiscent of the map above of the global ocean conveyor, are the cyclic patterns associated with the drug trade,the oil trade, and the arms trade -- especially given the degree of implication of Permanent Members of the UN Security Council in the latter. At its simplest these may be recognized as reinforced by circular arguments which introduce no new insight or change of perspective -- in contrast to the "cognitive twist". Efforts at argument mapping could perhaps be usefully inspired by efforts to map the metabolic pathway.

The more general challenge is evident in the various situations in which the need to "break the cycle" is recognized, most typically of violence (Web resources on "breaking the cycle", 2002).  What is intriguing is the manner in which these cycles are sustained by any circulating form of awareness which is resistant to learning. This is in the spirit of the aphorism of George Santayana: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Believers in reincarnation would subscribe to a similar understanding of such cycles.

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