Dynamics of confidence: a "conbustion engine"?

Flowering of Civilization -- Deflowering of Culture (Part #11)

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Abuse of confidence: The interpretation of finance in terms of alchemy can be fruitfully understood as a means of reframing the intangibles of confidence and trust, now well-recognized as fundamental to the dynamics of the financial system -- for which tangible monetary units are merely a conventional token. The systematic breach of trust by those in authority has been made only too evident through the financial and other crises of the recent period (Abuse of Faith in Governance, 2009; Joseph E. Stiglitz, In No One We Trust, The New York Times, 21 December 2013).

The animation above might then be interpreted as indicative of a dynamic system of trust-making and trust-breaking -- of confidence-building and its negation through bond breaking. Just as financial economics is framed metaphorically as the "engine" or "motor" of civilization, there is a case for recognizing a more generic "engine", encompassing the biological process of (de)flowering. This might be better understood as a "conbustion engine" rather than a "combustion engine", especially in the light of separate arguments (Primary Global Reserve Currency: the Con? Cognitive implications of a prefix for sustainable confidelity, 2011; Considerable Conglomeration of "Cons" of Global Concern: eightfold constraint on constructive conflict control? 2012). [Curiously appropriate to the times, the term "conbustion" already figures extensively in search engine results as a consequence of misspelling].

Given the relationship between trust and faith (as variously understood), and the intimate relation between faith in secular and religious contexts (as framed by theology), there is a case for exploring the "science" of confidence in new ways, as discussed separately (Mathematical Theology: Future Science of Confidence in Belief -- self-reflexive global reframing to enable faith-based governance, 2011; Towards Conscientific Research and Development, 2002).

Systemic interconnection and nesting: As experimental animations, consideration could be given to improvements to that above, and its elaboration in various ways. The dynamic tentatively associated with each of the four phases, the use of black and while, and the direction of the arrows. might also be usefully depicted through alternatives such as the following. These suggest that the larger system of processes is replicated through nesting within each quadrant -- linking those phases and usefully highlighting potential conflicts in directionality (such as those between generations).

Suggestive alternative nestings of larger system within its four phases (as a basis for more complex animations)

This "nesting" can be seen as consistent with the interconnectedness of levels illustrated by the following schematic featuring the adaptive cycle at different scales.

Interconnectedness of levels emphasized in panarchy (reproduced from Panarchy as described by The Sustainable Scale Project)

Three-dimensional representations? As noted above, the depictions in two-dimensions obscure implications which would be more readily apparent in animations in three or more dimensions. It is tempting, for example, to see a more appropriate representation as one combining the Mobius strip (as implied in some depictions of the adaptive cycle) and the Klein bottle (as an extension to include a degree of paradoxical self-reflexivity), as separately discussed (Intercourse with Globality through Enacting a Klein bottle, 2009). The cognitive and psychological implication in the dynamic is reminiscent of the concerns of David Bohm with respect to the holomovement of quantum mechanics, as the dynamic relating the explicate and the implicate order (Wholeness and the Implicate Order, 1980).

The patterns above are also reminiscent of some form of propeller enabling motion or propulsion. With respect to the latter, the dissemination of winged sycamore and maple seeds (spinning in the wind) has been one inspiration for the development of the helicopter and drone (Secret Found to Flight of 'Helicopter Seeds', Live Science, 11 June 2009). Such biomimicry may yet contribute to the design of the psychopter envisaged by Arthur M. Young, as discussed separately (Engendering a Psychopter through Biomimicry and Technomimicry: insights from the process of helicopter development, 2011). Ironically, using the Tao symbol, the paradoxes of the cognitive challenge are clarified by the simplest of metaphors (Snoring of The Other: a politically relevant psycho-spiritual metaphor? 2006).

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