Modelling: configuring paradoxes through the tensional integrity of their relationships

Evoking Authenticity: through polyhedral global configuration of local paradoxes (Part #15)

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In the above-mentioned Human Values project the possibility of configuring over 200 value polarities in 3 dimensions was explored in the light of the unusual features of tensional integrity (tensegrity) structures [more; more]. Such "global" structures have the unusual property of existing in three dimensions as a result of a dynamic balance between tension elements (cords) and compression elements (struts). What makes such structures unique is that the struts do not touch one another and there are no privileged struts, especially at the centre (where there are in fact no structural elements at all). It is such properties which usefully encode the possibility of non-linear relationships between mutually opposed value categories that collectively sustain a coherent counter-intuitive structure.

Of special interest is the possibility of projecting value polarities onto struts. The particular model presented to highlight these possibilities for further investigation was selected because it had 90 struts. Speculating that it may be fruitful to distinguish between a conscious (explicit) and an unconscious (implicit) form of the 45 value dimensions identified in that project, the two sets of 45 could be projected onto such a model. The distinction between two such sets is itself modelled by the impossibility of viewing more than half such a global structure from any one perspective. Other properties of interest are the three-fold and five- fold groupings of polar elements within the model as well as many symmetry effects which contribute to the integrity of the model. It is the use of such properties to stabilize and render comprehensible interpretation of the complex relationships between opposing values that merits attention (see Groupware Configurations of Challenge and Harmony: an alternative approach to alternative organization. 1979)

Whether or not the paradoxes are explicitly identified in terms of values, the kinds of polarities listed as examples at the beginning of this paper could be projected onto a single tensegrity as a way of providing a special kind of common framework. In this case "common" respects the incommensurabilities through a different kind of connectivity (referred to as the kiss-touch) -- rather than "bolting" the items distinguished into a rigid structure emphasizing a theoretical uniformity that has no correspondence in practice.

Given that tensegrities exist of complexity greater than may be appropriate for particular purposes, it is interesting to explore the simpler tensegrities that may be used to handle 6 to 30 polarities / paradoxes. This was the approach taken by Stafford Beer (Beyond Dispute: The Invention of Team Syntegrity, 1994) in a cybernetic application of R Buckminster Fuller's synergetic geometry. For a group of 30 people his syntegration process is explained by using an icosahedron as a metaphor [more; more] . Here, each of the 30 people is represented by an edge whereas each vertex corresponds to a topic of concern -- in this case we have 12 topics. Usually each vertex (i.e., a topic) is associated with a colour so each member of the group is represented by two colours, the two colours that connect its edge in the icosahedron.

The question might then be framed as what structure of this kind can hold the set of paradoxes that sustain and frame my own world ? Of particular interest is one based on the cuboctahedron or vector equilibrium (Vector Equilibrium and its Transformation Pathways, 1980). Is there a way in which the nested polyhedral sets of paradoxes effectively constitute a matrix or womb within which authenticity is birthed? This perspective might be usefully contrasted with the emphasis on the (usually cubic) "tank" metaphor in relation to "think-tanks" as centres of excellence within which innovation is engendered -- possibly to be developed in associated "business incubators". Elsewhere the suggestion was made that more organic metaphors might prove more appropriate to some of the paradoxical challenges of sustainable development (see "Tank-thoughts" from "Think-tanks": constraining metaphors in developing global governance, 2003).

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