Multiplicity of relational conditions and any "standard model"

Global Civilization through Interweaving Polyamory and Polyanimosity? (Part #12)

It is therefore a useful challenge to argue that there may well be 64 conditions (or more) to be recognized, as suggested by the tabular presentation above. Beyond the purely sexual connotations, such complexity can be related to the distinctions encoded symbolically by the I Ching and the Kama Sutra of Eastern cultures. Given the mathematical basis of the former and the topological basis of the latter, there would appear to be a whole realm of possibilities to be explored, as argued separately (Reframing the Dynamics of Engaging with Otherness: triadic correspondences between Topology, Kama Sutra and I Ching, 2011).

If physics finds reasons to argue that the pattern of chemical elements is derivative of more fundamental structure, there is a case for exploring the patterns of distinctions made at such fundamental levels to see whether they in any way reflect insights in relation to psychosocial organization. Again, why should it be assumed that cognitive organization is not of commensurate subtlety with the organization of matter? One argument in this respect is that of George Lakoff and Rafael Nunez (Where Mathematics Comes From: how the embodied mind brings mathematics into being, 2000).

It is therefore somewhat ironic to recognize that the range of distinctions of love or of hate is curiously similar to that of the Standard Model of Elementary Particles explored with such intensity by physics. (Beyond the Standard Model of Universal Awareness: Being Not Even Wrong? 2010; Metaphorical Insights from the Patterns of Academic Disciplines: learning from the Standard Model of Physics? 2012).

Of relevance to this discussion, as argued in the latter, is the extent to which metaphor is explicitly associated with complex Chinese encoding systems -- as with the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, and the 81 tetragrams of the Tao Te Ching and of the T'ai Hsüan Ching (Tài Xuán Jing). Such metaphor is evident in the effort to associate a comprehensive integrative engagement with features of familiar experience by which global governance is notably challenged, whether psychosocial relationships, environmental categories ("earth", "air", "fire" and "water"), or especially their interrelationships.

The following figure positions a complete set of tetragrams such as to correspond to the pattern of the standard model of particle physics -- notably presented as a simple "box", in the light of the concern here with geometrical metaphors. Although the pattern of tetragrams has a degree of internal coherence corresponding to that of the standard model, as a tentative exercise it is merely designed to encourage reflection on any more appropriate ordering. The order of rows and/or columns could be changed -- as was done in a second iteration, when columns 2 and 4 were switched to approximate more closely to the criterion of a magic square (as discussed in that context).

Correspondence between distinctions of the standard model and a pattern of tetragrams

There are six quarks (up, down, charm, strange, top, bottom), and six leptons (electron, electron neutrino, muon, muon neutrino, tau, tau neutrino). Pairs from each classification are grouped together to form a generation, with corresponding particles exhibiting similar physical behaviour. The gauge bosons are defined as force carriers that mediate the strong, weak, and electromagnetic fundamental interactions.

What might such distinctions, and their powerful integration, then suggest with respect to the configuration of psychosocial patterns of love and hate?

Enabling comprehension of complexity through music: Especially intriguing about the form of the depictions above, particularly that on the right, is the degree to which they are reminiscent of the keyboard of a musical instrument -- perhaps the fret of a guitar or the associated tablature. Given the manner in which the variety of experiences of love and hate are expressed in musical form, there is the possibility that more use could be made of that modality to articulate systematically the patterns of polyamory and polyanimosity and their interrelationship. This could well have global implications, as separately argued (A Singable Earth Charter, EU Constitution or Global Ethic? 2006).

Relating the fundamental organization of matter to sound is not as farfetched as might be assumed. Use is made of sonification to render comprehensible patterns of collisions of fundamental particles (Harriet Jarlett, Sonified Higgs data show a surprising result, CERN, 5 April 2017; Data Sonification from Physics to Health, CERN, 30 March 2016). Similar techniques are used in biology (Brent Townshend, Sonification of Genetic Sequences, CCRMA; Mark Temple, What does DNA sound like? Using music to unlock the secrets of genetic code, The Conversation, 20 June 2017).

There is an enchanting possibility that, through musical harmony, polyamory and polyanimosity might be insightfully understood through polyphony, as can be speculatively explored (All Blacks of Davos vs All Greens of Porto Alegre: reframing global strategic discord through polyphony? 2007). This notes the role of the otherwise incomprehensible value of discord in relation to concord -- easily forgotten when it is assumed that the appeal of music is dependent on concord alone, as is characteristic to a greater degree for proponents of sacred music as conventionally understood.

It is appropriate to consideration of such "unconventional approaches" that the Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman's own interest in art and bongo drumming was much deplored by other physicists as an irrelevancy -- perhaps even to be seen as an "abuse of science". Feynman was notably intrigued by the relationship of rhythmic patterns to physics -- proposing use of a drumhead to demonstrate Chladni vibrational patterns (Jagdish Mehra, The Beat of a Different Drum: the life and science of Richard Feynman, 1994).

Feynman's skill in that respect is illustrated by a recording made two weeks before his death (Richard Feynman playing bongos, YouTube; Feynman plays the bongos, You Tube). There is some probability that he may have adapted this skill to explore the relevance of patterns encoded by shamanic drumming of the I Ching (Florence W. Deems, Drumming the I-Ching Patterns, 1999; Hilary Barrett, Drumming the I Ching, 2011). Feynman is renowned in fundamental physics for his development of so-called Feynman diagrams. These might indeed prove significant to richer comprehension of contractual relationships (Potential of Feynman Diagrams for Challenging Psychosocial Relationships? Comprehending the neglect of an unexplored possibility, 2013; Credibility of Psychosocial Analogues of Feynman Diagrams: cognitive engagement with challenging visualization, 2013). There is some irony to the fact that such patterns may be more readily comprehended through music.

Global civilization? Is the reality of global civilization too readily assumed in this period of global crisis? Could it be usefully challenged by adapting the question famously asked of Mahatma Gandhi: What Do You Think of Global Civilization? -- to which he is widely quoted as responding: I Think It Would Be a Good Idea.

Beyond the questionable implications of sacred music, and given the argument for interweaving polyamory and polyanimosity, what might "peace" and "sustainability" sound like -- in reality? To which question the attitude of Feynman might well be appropriate as a response: I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.