Reading the weave and communicating musicality

Potential for Coherence through Engaging Strategic Poetry (Part #13)

"Reading": Faced with an array of strategic challenges and possibilities -- a crisis of crises -- how is the situation to be "read"? What cognitive capacities can be drawn upon? One answer lies in the array of rational tools which have been assiduously developed and deployed -- only to prove less than adequate, if not problematic in their own right.

The argument here evokes the possibility of a more aesthetic appreciation of the challenge -- framing the question as to how any such "reading" is to be undertaken. Understood otherwise, reading can be expressed more subtly as suggested by "reading the weave". Here weave is understood metaphorically as the manner in which problems and strategies weave together -- a metaphorical notion of warp and weft, as explored separately (Warp and Weft: Governance through Alternation: world governance as a Gandhian challenge for the individual, 2002).

Far less evident is the meaning to be associated with that mode of reading and how it might be enabled. Further understanding may well call for expression in aesthetic form -- and in modes distinct from those conventionally relied upon.

Clues to reading otherwise are evident in reference to unusual abilities to: "read the land", "read the weather", "read a person" (notably an opponent), "read a card game", "read an animal" whether domestic or wild (exemplified by the Horse Whisperer). Clearly a conductor has a special capacity to read the score of orchestral music -- a capacity readily eluding description. A general might have such a skill in reading a military confrontation. A tracker would necessarily have a particular capacity to read a trail.

Even more obscure is the association of such reading with engagement with the liminal (Living as an Imaginal Bridge between Worlds: global implications of "betwixt and between" and liminality, 2011). This may be cultivated by poets or of nature now clarified with respect to witchcraft (Charmaine Sonnex, Flow, Liminality, and Eudaimonia: pagan ritual as a gateway to a life with meaning, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2020; What is Liminal Space and Why is it so Important in Witchcraft?; A Witch's Reflection on the Liminal).

In the sense of being able to "read sign", it may be more evident in the capacity to read insignia, wampum and quipu -- especially what this may imply for the future (Quantum Wampum Essential to Navigating Ragnarok: thrival in crisis through embodying turbulent flow, 2014).

Reference may be variously made to "Zeitgeist" -- the spirit of the times -- potentially offering further understanding of "weave", or rendering it superficial (Reading the Zeitgeist in reading lists, The Weekend Austraalian, 22 July 2005; Madeleine Mitchell, Reading the Zeitgeist, Medium, 2 November 2021; Gilbert Adair, Surfing the Zeitgeist, 1997). Of less relevance, use of the term may however more commonly r refer to a schema of fashions or fads that prescribes what is considered to be acceptable or tasteful. Of greater relevance is apropropriation of the term by The Zeitigeist Movement, an international activist group embracing sustainable ecology and scientific administration of society.

Communicating musicality? The related issue is the capacity to communicate what is "read" in that way, potentially calling for a distinctive mode of expression. Valuable emphasis has been placed by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke on the requisite "musicality of language" to which many commentators now refer.

This may well be contrasted with issues raised with respect to the tone of voice employed in the conventional advocacy of strategies (Varieties of Tone of Voice and Engagement with Global Strategy: alternating between a requisite variety of voices to engender coherence? 2020).

A major difficulty in promoting any complementary aesthetic modality is the uncritical enthusiasm of those upheld as skilled in that mode. Whilst they may be appropriately critical of others, there is little evidence of sensitivity to their own limitations. There is a dearth of appropriately self-critical aesthetics in the face of a crisis of crises long deplored in an aesthetic mode to little effect, as discussed separately (Poetry-making and Policy-making: arranging a Marriage between Beauty and the Beast, 1993). A related point has been made by the poet John Keats in arguing for negative capability. Aesthetic creativity is subject to the same weakness as highlighted by Barbara Ehrenreich (Bright-Sided: how the relentless promotion of positive thinking has undermined America, 2009). In cybernetic terms this is recognized as the value of negative feedback.

Of some relevance in that regard is the argument of Jacques Attali (Noise: the political economy of music, 1985). Attali noted the manner in which the organization of favoured styles of music pre-figures emergent styles of organization and governance more appropriate to changing circumstances of civilization. In its anticipation of an ideal future the remedial possibilities for the present are then far less evident.

Metaphor: A potentially useful metaphor to highlight the cognitive challenge of engaging with complexity is the DNA double helix. For humans this organizes a coiled coil of some 50,000 protein-coding genes -- clearly far beyond any conventional capacity of comprehension, despite their role in sustaining life. Rather than a longitudinal view of such a structure, an axial view offers a comprehensible pattern of interlinkages. Arguably any strategic comprehension, aesthetically enhanced by symmetry, rhyme and rhythm, calls for such a cross-sectional perspective -- as a distinctive form of "reading". As illustrated below, the axial view bears a strong resemblance to integrative images such as mandalas and the like (Eliciting Insight from Mandala-style Logos in 3D: interactive engagement with mandalas and yantras in virtual reality, 2020).

Longitudinal and cross-sectional structures of A, B and Z DNA
(left to right)

Mauroesguerroto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Conclusion? Although the DNA metaphor is indicative -- as variously explored separately -- in concluding this argument, it is secondary to the central issue (Climbing Elven Stairways: DNA as a macroscopic metaphor of polarized psychodynamics, 2007; DNA Supercoiling as a Pattern for Understanding Psycho-social Twistedness, 2004). Similar reservations can be made regarding efforts to design mandala-like structures to enhance cognitive focus (Concordian Mandala as a Symbolic Nexus, 2016; Speculation on Potential Symbolic Relevance of the Concordian Mandala, 2016; Reimagining Guernica to Engage the Antitheses of a Cancel Culture, 2022).

The challenge framed by this argument is however rendering evident the patterns of rhyme, rhythm and symmetry in poetry, song and music in terms of their capacity as "strange attractors". How indeed can they be related to an "axial reading" of remedial strategies to complement the potentially alienating efforts at any "longitudinal reading" of those strategies? How can engagement with remedial strategies acquire an aesthetic dimension, as separately argued (A Singable Earth Charter, EU Constitution or Global Ethic? 2006)? As indicated there, mixing metaphors, is it a case that for any strategy: if one cannot sing it, it will not fly? This is ironically reminiscent of the dependence on ritual chanting (especially by witches).

As presented here, a vital key to such exploration is the role of numbers in ordering such insight for mnemonic purposes -- as may have been the key to Mozart's and Tesla's skill. A similar case can be made with respect to religious discord (Mathematical Theology: future Science of Confidence in Belief -- self-reflexive global reframing to enable faith-based governance, 2011).

Longitudinal vs Axial perspectives? Rather than arguing the case in terms of the collective engagement with the abstraction of a remedial strategy, the possibility may be clarified by reference to individual identity and life strategy. Arguably great efforts are made to present these through devices enabling a "longitudinal reading", such as: a CV, a biography, a profile, an eulogy, or an obituary. Corresponding efforts are made to present aspects of them enabling an "axial reading" through which identity can be sensed at a glance, such as: a photograph, an identity card, a medal, an award, a degree (qualification, rank), an aphorism (epigram). For the individual, the first enables exploration of "who am I" in terms of a life journey with its implied sense of destiny. The second only implies or suggests a sense of "who am I" through an aspect or facet -- however much it may be taken as an expression of it, as in the case of a medal.

An individual may however endeavour to articulate a more comprehensive sense of identity through devices which offer a higher degree of integrative cognitive engagement. These could take the form of: a song ("my song"), a poem (as with a death poem), an image (as with a mandala or a heraldic insignia),an astrological chart. a motto, or perhaps by "making a mark" (as in construction of an iconic artefact). As an "axial" presentation of mnemonic value -- a symbol -- the issue is the degree to which the design holds and implies the variety of dimensions of the strategy with which the individual identifies.

Compactification of significance? Intriguingly the challenge is reminiscent of the compactification of dimensions imagined in the fundamental physics of superstring theory as descriptor of reality. There it is assumed that the extra dimensions are "wrapped" up on themselves, or "curled" up on Calabi–Yau spaces, or on orbifolds. Physicists offer little guidance on how an individual might engage with such a metaphor in framing any sense of identity. It is however the case that the orbifold framework has been applied to music and its comprehension, notably by Dmitri Tymoczko (The Geometry of Musical Chords, Science, 2006; A Geometry of Music, 2011), as discussed separately (Musical implications of orbifolds for comprehension of questioning dynamics, 2014).

The complexity implied by simplistic representations of the Calabi-Yau manifold (below right) can be discussed in relation to collective strategies of requisite higher dimensionality (Global Brane Comprehension Enabling a Higher Dimensional Big Tent? 2011).

Complexification and compactification of significance
Suggestive animation of 3 contrasting axial views of DNA (from image above)	Composite axial view of DNA (discussed in Comprehending cognitive metabolism, 2012)	2D slice of a 6D Calabi-Yau quintic manifold

Combination of images of Mauroesguerroto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons	Adapted from Reginald Brooks (GoDNA: The Geometry of DNA. 2001)	Andrew J. Hanson, Indiana University., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Animation (as below) can be used to enhance the cognitive attraction of such representations -- but without addressing the issue of their cognitive significance.

Animations of visual renderings suggestive of higher-dimensional cognitive osmosis in a global brain
(Reproduced from Envisaging a Comprehensible Global Brain -- as a Playful Organ, 2019)

Hypersphere (Hopf fibration)

Calabi-Yau manifold

The image on the right from Wikipedia, which originally appeared on the cover of Scientific American, Nov. 2007). Such manifolds are higher-dimensional analogues of K3 surfaces of significance in superstring theory. The extra dimensions of spacetime are sometimes conjectured to take the form of a 6-dimensional Calabi-Yau manifold.

The image was previously used in a separate speculative discussion of Global Brane Comprehension Enabling a Higher Dimensional Big Tent? Strategic implication in encompassing nothing and coming to naught (2011).

The animation of the original image made use of selected aesthetic possibilities of Photoshop -- of which many others might be employed to improve the suggestive quality of the animation.

Sonification of significance? One response to the massive quantities of data collected by astronomy, and by physics research on fundamental particles, is the use of sonification (or auditory display) to enable elusive patterns to be detected through sound rather than the constraints of visual recognition (Clemency Burton-Hill, The sounds of science: how physics and music can help each other, Financial Times, 19 October 2013; Harriet Jarlett, Sonified Higgs data show a surprising result, CERN News, 1 April 2016; Sophie Hetherton, CERN scientists perform their data, CERN News, 3 October, 2014).

It is curious, especially given the controversial collection of quantities of data of psychosocial relevance, that the challenge of its organization and comprehension is not addressed through frameworks of equivalent complexity to that supposedly required for the representation of fundamental physical reality. Their inhibition would seem to be a prevailing naive assumption regarding the relative simplicity of psychosocial reality and any remedial strategies required -- despite the acknowledged complexity of crises and the highly questionable track records of simplistic strategies. Expressed otherwise, there is no social science equivalent to CERN or ITER, although there is every suspicion that such data is manipulated with little concern to its comprehension..

There is already the surprising capacity of AI to compose music held to be of credible quality. Arguably there is the future possibility of using AI to render "verbose" discourse (characteristic of any "longitudinal" perspective) into succinct patterns of sound to enable a debate to be presented compactly for ready comprehension (in "axial" terms), as variously discussed separately:

One indicative response to the challenge is the organization of sound inspired by string theory (PerMagnus Lindborg and Joyce Koh, Multidimensional spatial sound design for 'On the String', Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, 2011). Completely missing however, with respect to collective strategy, is the cognitive significance purportedly implied and articulated by anthems, for example, despite the fundamental value accorded to them -- as with the Anthem of Europe. (Reversing the Anthem of Europe to Signal Distress: transcending crises of governance via reverse music and reverse speech? 2016).