Systemic closure: fourth helix -- and beyond?

Psychosocial Learnings from the Spiral Form of Hurricanes (Part #4)

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Seemingly casual extension of the Triple Helix model to a "quadruple helix" is potentially indicative of the degree of divorce from any biomimetic implications of DNA (Simona Cavallini, et. Using the Quadruple Helix Approach to Accelerate the Transfer of Research and Innovation Results to Regional Growth, Committe of the Regions of the European Union, 2016; Sara Paulina De Oliveira Monteiro and Elias G. Carayannis (Eds), The Quadruple Innovation Helix Nexus -- a Smart Growth Model: quantitative empirical validation and operationalization for OECD Countries, 2017; Loet Leydesdorff and Henry Etzkowitz, Can 'the public' be considered as a fourth helix in university-industry-government relations? Report on the Fourth Triple Helix Conference, 2002, Science and Public Policy, 30, 2003)

That said, of potential relevance is the following clarification:

"The Fourth Helix" is a reference to the DNA structure of telomeres. Telomeres are the ends of our chromosomes, made up of many repeats of the DNA sequence TTAGGG. Bound with proteins, telomeric DNA assumes a complex conformation which protects the chromosomal DNA from degradation. An often-used analogy compares telomeres to the plastic bits at the ends of a shoelace which keep the fabric from unraveling.... The four-helix structure formed at the end of our telomeres is called a "G-quadruplex". (What does the "Fourth Helix" Mean? The Fourth Helix, 25 October 2013)

If the Triple Helix is inspired to any degree by DNA, the "ends" of the helix would seem to call for a form of systemic closure to prevent the helix from degrading and "unravelling". Little is said in the literature about where the Triple Helix, as frequently depicted, is "going to" or "coming from". The role of the 4-fold telomeres as "ends" in the case of DNA do indeed point to the necessary integration of what could then be explored as a Quadruple Helix. Systemic closure would seem to be necessary whether the focus is on institutional or cognitive organization.

Animation of quadruple helix telomere structure

Made by Iridos; reproduced from the English language Wikipedia

Understood in terms of the requisite dimensionality for global coherence and its comprehension, especially in the light of the cybernetic argument for higher orders of feedback processes, there is then a case for exploring a "quintuple helix" pattern, as discussed separately (Concordian Mandala as a Symbolic Nexus: insights from dynamics of a pentagonal configuration of nonagons in 3D, 2016; Visualization in 3D of Dynamics of Toroidal Helical Coils: in quest of optimum designs for a Concordian Mandala, 2016).

Loet Leydesdorff argues, for example, that:

Integration among the functions of wealth creation, knowledge production, and normative control takes place at the interfaces in organizations, while exchanges on the market, scholarly communication in knowledge production, and political discourse tend to differentiate globally. The neo-institutional and the neo-evolutionary versions of the Triple Helix model enable us to capture this tension reflexively. Empirical studies inform us whether more than three helices are needed for the explanation. The Triple Helix indicator can be extended algorithmically, for example, with local-global as a fourth dimension or, more generally, to an N-tuple of helices. (The Triple Helix, Quadruple Helix,..., and an N-Tuple of Helices: explanatory models for analyzing the knowledge-based economy? Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 3, 2012, 1, pp. 25-35)

In proposing a framework for a trans-disciplinary analysis of sustainable development and social ecology, a key question has been raised by Elias Carayannis and D. F. Campbell (Triple Helix, Quadruple Helix and Quintuple Helix and how do knowledge, innovation and the environment relate to each other? International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1, 2010, 1, pp. 41-69).

The possibility has been developed in subsequent papers (Elias G. Carayannis, et al., The Quadruple/Quintuple Innovation Helixes and Smart Specialisation Strategies for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Europe and Beyond, Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 2014; Elias G. Carayannis, et al, The Quintuple Helix innovation model: global warming as a challenge and driver for innovation, Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2012). The authors summarize the case for this development as:

However, in one line of interpretation it could be argued that the Triple Helix places the emphasis on knowledge production and innovation in the economy so it is compatible with the knowledge economy. The Quadruple Helix already encourages the perspective of the knowledge society, and of knowledge democracy for knowledge production and innovation. In a Quadruple Helix understanding, the sustainable development of a knowledge economy requires a coevolution with the knowledge society.

The Quintuple Helix stresses the necessary socioecological transition of society and economy in the twenty-first century; therefore, the Quintuple Helix is ecologically sensitive. Within the framework of the Quintuple Helix innovation model, the natural environments of society and the economy also should be seen as drivers for knowledge production and innovation, therefore defining opportunities for the knowledge economy. The European Commission in 2009 identified the socioecological transition as a major challenge for the future roadmap of development. The Quintuple Helix supports here the formation of a win-win situation between ecology, knowledge and innovation, creating synergies between economy, society, and democracy. Global warming represents an area of ecological concern, to which the Quintuple Helix innovation model can be applied with greater potential.

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