Jabbercovid from the Jabberplex (Part #6)
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Each of the above songs offers mnemonic guidance to a pathway within the following complex map -- reproduced from the extensive explanations in Wikipedia. It is in accordance with the principles of sonification of the  International Community for Auditory Display (ICAD).
| Metabolic Pathway Map |
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| Reproduced from Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. |
Arguably the same could be done for the challenges faced by the jabberplex on a "macroscopic" scale, as separately explored (A Singable Earth Charter, EU Constitution or Global Ethic? 2006; Structuring Mnemonic Encoding of Development Plans and Ethical Charters using Musical Leitmotivs, 2001).
From the perspective of a jabberplex, the approach bears comparison with the analytical overview by the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US of the counterinsurgency (COIN) initiative in Afghanistan as represented by the PA Consulting Group. This took the form of a map, notably publicized on behalf of McClatchy Newspapers by Dion Nissenbaum (The great Afghan spaghetti monster, Checkpoint Kabul, 20 December 2009; Graphic Shows Complexity of US Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, The Huffington Post, 22 December 2009).
Coincidentally that unusual "spaghetti monster" map was publicized over the web at the end of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (Copenhagen, 2009). At the time it lent itself to adaptation as indicated below -- with respect to the challenge of climate change, for which no equivalent exists (Mapping the climate change context of Copenhagen, 2010).
| Adaptation to climate change of a representation of counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan (click on image for larger version) | |
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| Afghanistan COIN dynamic (clusters in original map) | Climate change COIN dynamic (clusters in adapted map) |
| Population/Popular support Infrastructure, Economy and Services Government Afghanistan Security Forces (ANSF) Insurgents Crime and Narcotics Coalition Forces and Actions Physical Environment | Population/Popular support Infrastructure, Economy and Services Governance Activist NGO Strategic Forces (ANSF) Dissenters ("Them") Crime and Distractions Initiatives of Coalition of the Willful ("US") Physical Environment |
Clearly there is a case for an analogous map to provide memorable systemic insights into the nature of the strategic challenge offered by the coronavirus.
In the case of the United Nations, given the global commitment to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is appropriate to ask why so little effort is devoted to mapping the systemic relations between such goals as they might affect their strategic fulfillment -- the "metabolic pathways" of a deeply "diseased" planett. The goals are typically pressented and promoted as checklists or in a simple table which offer no such insights.
One provocative experiment towards considering the challenge otherwise is to make use of the Harriss spiral discoverd in 2015 -- of which one animation is shown below left. Its discovery is variously described (Alex Bellos, The golden ratio has spawned a beautiful new curve: the Harriss spiral, The Guardian, 13 January 2015). With respect to the conventional tabular presentation of the UN SDGs, the latter is even suggestive of the manner in which such a table might be transformed into an alternative dynamic configuration of goals.
The dynamics of the elaboration of the fractal are significant in their own right by comparison with the widely recognized role of the Fibonacci spiral in nature and its potential significance in psychosocial organization, as discussed separately (Fibonacci Spiral in 3D Framing Psychosocial Phyllotaxis: articulation of global governance through the language of flowers? 2020). The experimental animation explores part of a cyclic representation in which prominence is successively given to particular goals.
| Use of the Harriss spiral as a basis for s memorable mapping of strategic preoccupations | |
| Animation showing development of Harriss spiral | Experimental animation of UN SDGs on a Harriss spiral |
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| Reproduced from Maths and science animations | Superposition of SDGs on an image by Edmund Harriss (2015) |
In the absence of any such map, it is clearly appropriate to revert to the original image by which the Jabberwocky poem was illustrated by John Tenniel in 1871 -- suitably adapted to clarify the nature of Jabbercovid, as presented below. That on the right was produced by David Avocado Wolfe of Memedrops
| Speculative representations of Jabbercovid | |
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| Adapted from the original illustration of the Jabberwocky by John Tenniel (1871) | Produced by David Avocado Wolfe of Memedrops |
An extensive summary of the concluding day of the unprecedented UN Special Session dedicated to the COVID-19 pandemic is available (Amid Threat of Catastrophic Global Famine, COVID-19 Response Must Prioritize Food Security, Humanitarian Needs, Experts Tell General Assembly, UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, 4 December 2020).
Challenge of the Jabberplex: Copenhagen According To Dr Seuss | |
| The delegates came and the delegates sat And they talked and they talked till their bums all went flat Then a delegate said of the country he knew "We must do something quick but just what should we do?" So they sat again thinking and there they stayed seated Sitting and thinking "the planet's been heated" "I think" said a delegate there from Peru "That we all must agree on some things we could do | Like reducing emissions at least CO2" So they nodded and noted then vetoed and voted And one of them stood up and suddenly quoted "It's the science you see, that's the thing that must guide us When the leaders all get here they're certain to chide us" So they sat again thinking about what to think Then decided to ponder what colour of ink To use on the paper when they'd all agreed.... |
| In a similar vein: Sets and their Settings: from development to climate change... and beyond See other Experimental "Poems" of Strategic Concern | |
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