Global spiking of knowledge and ignorance

Reimagining Coronavirus in 3D as a Metaphor of Global Society in Distress (Part #12)

"Spikes"? The argument frames the question as to whether the patterns of knowledge and/or ignorance can be usefully understood in terms of arrays of spikes -- potentially configured globally in three or more dimensions. Whether ignorance is understood in its problematic sense, or as the "unknowing" highlighted by mystics (as in The Cloud of Unknowing), the possibility would appear to merit particular attention -- as indicated by the recognition increasingly accorded to its significance (Stuart Firestein, Ignorance: how it drives science, 2012; Nicholas Rescher, Ignorance: on the wider implications of deficient knowledge, 2009).

Understanding the "noosphere" as the "universe" of a global-knowledge-based civilization, suggests the provocative possibility of setting any exploration of it within a "university of ignorance", as separately argued (University of Ignorance: engaging with nothing, the unknown, the incomprehensible, and the unsaid, 2013). As one means of gaining understanding of the "shape" of that universe, speculative use was made there of some of the simplest sustainable micro-organisms -- radiolaria (as above) -- given the general systems inspiration regarding isomorphism. The following imagery, with its associated animation, is derived from that exploration.

Indicative representation of a "University of Ignorance" as a pattern of resonance between cognitive extremes Using the radiolarian Aulonia hexagona, whose morphology was extensively studied by Ernst Haeckel (image derived from a study by Christina Brodie, prior to modification for illustrative purposes)
areas as domains of ignorance (dark holes) connecting network as knowledge (thin light links) ignorance as a background to a configuration of knowledge	areas as fields of knowledge (light holes) connecting network as barriers (thin dark links) knowledge as a background to a configuration of ignorance

Animation indicating the intermediary conditions in the alternation between the above extremes (tentative) (click for separate animation [2MB gif] with 64 contrasting images, including the following)

Images for the animation were generated using filter effect options of Photoshop to modify the 2 extreme images, thereby suggesting an arrray of contrasting relationships between knowledge and ignorance (NB: Such an animation could benefit from greater aesthetic skills with respect to composition and pace)

"Holes"? The geometry of radiolarians has been an inspiration to digital artists, such as those associated with the journal Vague Terrain, including the following image, for which a commentary is provided by the author.

Digitally generated "radiolarian"

Image published by Robert Hodgin, Radiolaria Studies, Vague Terrain, 31 July 2009)

The complementary contrast to "spikes" can be seen as the presence of "holes", notably recognized in terms of the gaps in any pattern of knowledge. Of relevance is the Cognitive mystery of holes, lacunae and incompleteness, as discussed separately (Is the World View of a Holy Father Necessarily Full of Holes? Mysterious theological black holes engendering global crises, 2014). In referring to necessary incompleteness, that discussion highlighted the insights of deliberately omitting, or unconsciously missing, a dimension essential to systemic viability in the light of the work of the biological anthropologist Terrence Deacon (Incomplete Nature: how mind emerged from matter, 2012).

A fruitful question relates to the capacity of radiolaria in engendering such forms -- and their necessary sustainability, even at that scale. Could the organization and "shape" of global civilization benefit from such systemically sensitive design? More provocative is the sense in which such "unseen" organisms (of which few have heard) imply a configuration of silences. In terms of the mystical tradition of Buddhism, this offers an image of the "emptiness of form".

With respect to coronavirus, Farhad Manjoo focuses on Coronavirus Is What You Get When You Ignore Science (The New York Times, 4 March 2020). Amy Lauren Fairchild focuses on Science Can’t Save Us From Coronavirus Panic -- But Trump’s Information Crackdown Can Certainly Make Things Worse (Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2020). The difficulty is that neither "panic" nor "Trump" are topics on which "science" claims to offer any insight -- or is seemingly qualified to do so as its mandate and disciplines as conventionally defined. With respect to what is "missing" (in the light of Deacon), the point can be argued in greater detail (Knowledge Processes Neglected by Science: insights from the crisis of science and belief, 2012; Are Environmentalists and Climate Scientists in Denial? Climate change recognized as primarily a psychological challenge, 2019)

Metaphor? As noted by Richard Ennals and Philip Molyneux (Managing with Information Technology, 2012), the metaphor of sun and corona was coined by Howard Rosenbrock (see Engineering as Art in Artificial Intelligence, Culture and Language: On Education and Work, 1990). In relation to creativity and tacit knowledge, Rosenbrock used it to to explain the idea of human-machine symbiosis:

As objective knowledge is used in practice, it is seen as adding to the tacit dimension of human knowledge. Similarly, as tacit knowledge is practised, it becomes accessible and explicable and thus adds to the objective part of the knowledge. In other words, both objective and tacit knowledge increase through practice. This means that tacit knowledge will always exist so long as the objective knowledge exists; in other words, tacit knowledge can never be fully explicated. The sun metaphor signifies objective knowledge, and the corona metaphor signifies tacit knowledge. Just as the sun cannot exist without its corona, so objective knowledge cannot exist without its complementary tacit knowledge. (Managing with Information Technology, 2012)

Given reference above to a 3D variant of the sunflower as a mode of organization of spikes based on a Fibonacci spiral, of some relevance is detailed discussion of it separately (Adaptive Hypercycle of Sustainable Psychosocial Self-organization: designing a mapping of a Chinese metaphorical pattern language, 2010). This includes sections on:

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Global spiking of knowledge and ignorance