Relationship and Community

Enhancing the Quality of Knowing through Integration of East-West metaphors (Part #18)

The 20th century has in many ways been characterized by an explosion in the nature and variety of relationships, whether through knowledge organization, systems and their analysis, communications networks, distribution networks, ecological food webs, or networking of every shade. 'Relationships' have become a prime preoccupation of interpersonal and community dynamics. This explosion has been the focus of a number of western-style sciences which have offered insights into aspects of the phenomenon. Unfortunately relationship failure has also been a prime characteristic of the past century and science has proved relatively ill-equipped to suggest alternatives to many of the challenges that have emerged. These may be associated with:

inadequacy of models of possible integration, whether denoted by 'unity', 'global', 'transdisciplinary'
inadequacy of models of relationships between faiths, aspiring to some form of unity through inter-faith dialogue (and bedevilled by some 40 simulateanous religious conflicts around the world at the end of the 20th century)
inadequacy of models of relationship between minorities and majorities, and the territories on which they have conflicting claims
inadequacy of models of the variety of interpersonal relationships (marked by family crises, divorce and other breakdowns)
inadequacy of models of sustainable (alternative) communities

There is an intriguing relationship between the scientific enterprise as the pursuit of knowledge, and the masculine approach to sexual relationships. As noted by Goonatilake (1999, p. 20), feminist research has indicated, that much of western-style science and images of knowledge are heavily influenced by thinking supported by male sexual metaphors (Eveyln Keller, 1985). This concern suggests the value of speculating on the degree to which science may be considered a form of 'sexual harassment of reality' (see Beyond Harassment of Reality and Grasping Future Possibilities learnings from sexual harassment as a metaphor, 1996). It would then not be surprising that such integrative models fail to emerge from science, if the research emphasis is effectively on a pattern of promiscuity reminiscent of one-night-stands -- the publish or perish syndrome that dominates science..

From this perspective, is reality a kind of "other" through which a scientist can, at least potentially, "reproduce" himself by some subtle form of cognitive intercourse? In which case are there also distorted understandings and approaches to such intercourse? Macho efforts are made to "grasp" reality and the future (Linda Alcoff et al, 1993). This is considered an important goal of education. Individuals, groups and society, "grope" their way into the future. Is there anything to be learnt by wondering how reality may feel about such grasping and groping? What kind of future emerges from processes of grasping and groping? Many engage in "stripping" reality of its various disguises in order to uncover what lies beneath -- this is the essence of scientific 'discovery'. As the key objective of the scientific method -- truth is thus reality laid bare -- through aggressive operations of the mind.

This mindset aims at acquisition and possession of knowledge -- reminiscent of Christian biblical references to a man "having knowledge of" woman. In poetic and vulgar jargon, there are references to such intercourse as 'plowing a field' -- again recalling the 'field' metaphor governing knowledge work. Many scientists would undoubtedly rate any creative discovery as 'better than sex'. It is not therefore strange to witness the subsequent concern with the 'dissemination' of results -- for which there are many zoological parallels.

Is it possible that the dysfunctionality of western-style science, in the face of the challenges to society, derives in part from the ways in which it parallels the dysfunctionality of male-female relations that have been a worldwide focus in recent decades? If this is the case, then the subtler male-female relationships articulated within the dynamics of various eastern pantheons may suggest other ways of 'knowing' reality -- less invasive and more harmonious. The erotic architecture of Hindu temple design exemplifies the variety of ways of knowing that are designed out of western equivalents. Is it possible that the positions of the Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana ("Kama Sutra" is Sanskrit for "Aphorisms of Love"), and the associated trantric disciplines, are vehicles to encode the full set of possible cognitive relationships between knower and known? The philosopher Paul Feyerabend (1975) would certainly subscribe, with humour, to the recognition of 'sex workers' as a category of 'knowledge workers'!

The science of the future may necessitate a subtler courtship of reality -- of Gaia -- than the increasingly functional approaches characteristic of western-style science with its mechanistic emphasis reminiscent of sexual plumbing arrangements. Reality may not react favourably to rape or to the more abusive mindsets governing male-female relationships in West and East. The present may be seen as an era of development in which it was natural to be 'economical with the truth', whereas the challenges of relationships in the future may require an emphasis on being 'ecological with the truth' -- as implied by the increasing use of the term 'ecology of knowledge'.

It is in this sense that it is important to recognize the questionable attitude underlying any project to 'mine' civilizational knowledge, as proposed in the project to 're-read' the cognitive products of civilizations (Metaphors as Transdisciplinary Vehicles of the Future, 1991) and embodied in the title of Susantha's Goonatilake's excellent work on Toward a Global Science: mining civilizational knowledge (1999). It is especially questionable when the attitude echoes that of the rape of the natural environment, notably through 'strip mining', for which this era will be severely condemned by the future.

The missing emphasis may prove vital to developing understanding of new relationship possibilities and enhancing ability to engage in them fruitfully -- whether interpersonally, in community, or amongst disciplines or belief systems. In a society in which many have to encounter a variety of 'aliens' (whether due to generational, cultural, or other gaps), the nature of communication with any future genuinely extraterrestrial aliens by 'scientists' might usefully be structured in other than in the purely western style -- as presented so often in fictional scenarios (see Communicating with Aliens: the Psychological Dimension of Dialogue, 2000).

Diana James, an anthropologist with the Australian Aborigines comments (in a private communication) that the virtual worlds that might be designed by eastern or indigenous knowledge workers could explore the 'alien within' rather than the 'alien without'. Maybe the aliens many seek to communicate with inhabit inner space worlds of alternative cognitive metaphors. What 'spaces' are we seeking, and will we simply colonize what we discover or will we see the spaces between as more important than the known recognised cognitive objects or 'facts' ? Will the spaces redefine the picture? Perhaps even more intriguing is the possibility, that through certain kinds of knowledge, some have long been able to shift into an inner form of orbit -- inhabiting such inner space -- and avoiding the conventional path to mortality. The 'Immortels' of the Académie Française may reflect aspects of this belief -- as do the hopes of many knowledge workers for 'immortality'. Maybe whole civilizations can migrate in this way to preserve their culture -- surviving 'hidden' into the future (perhaps like the ancestors of the Australian aboriginal Dreamtime) as do 'ancient' portions of the DNA carried by recently emergent species. Perhaps we then become their vehicles, permitting them to continue to navigate the world through our eyes?

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Relationship and Community