Sustaining a universe of meaning within a questioning process

Eliciting a Universe of Meaning (Part #13)

Given the nature of the comprehension/communicability/credibility complex, a fundamental challenge is how fruitfully to configure any "clues" as a container within which meaning can be elicited. The may be understood as one of interweaving disparate threads of discourse (Interweaving Thematic Threads and Learning Pathways: noonautics, magic carpets and wizdomes, 2010). Rather than being understood in static terms, the interplay of these threads may be significant, as in music or in dramatic plotlines (Enacting Transformative Integral Thinking through Playful Elegance: a symposium at the End of the Universe? 2010).

The clues, as interacting threads, might include the following -- understood as constrained worldviews of contrasting character, or as ingredients in a drama, for example:

Drama: That of the Galileo Affair, as cited above, offers one example in which the roles are effectively "eternal" in their implication. That of the Grand Inquisitor was developed by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in a novel of that name (The Grand Inquisitor, 1879). As noted above, the editor of Nature cast himself into that role with respect to the work of Ruper Sheldrake. How is any individual to compose and play meaningfully in such a drama, or to reframe the tragedy of the times in meaningfully dramatic terms. As a challenge to "inquisitor", the role of "exquisitor" figures in the form of Discworld character, Exquisitor Vorbis, in a popular fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett (Small Gods. 1992). Paradoxically it might be inferred that both inquisitor and exquisitor variously endeavour to elicit the exquisite. Other examples are cited separately (Imaginal Education, 2003), most notably the novel of Nobel Laureate Hermann Hesse (Magister Ludi, 1943). The widespread fascination of drama evoking mystery is evident in the popular novels of Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code, 2009; Inferno, 2013).
Holy Grail: Whatever "it" may be imagined to be, the Holy Grail has long been a focus for quests, whether taken seriously or metaphorically, It can be framed as the ultimate possession as a focus for desire -- a dynamic counterpart to the "killer app" in computer jargon. Perhaps not surprisingly it figures in the imagination of the financial community, and can be framed as the elusive goal of global governamce (In Quest of Sustainability as Holy Grail of Global Governance, 2011). It also figures prominently in popular psychology, together with the Chalice, as separately discussed (In-forming the Chalice as an Integrative Cognitive Dynamic: sustaining the Holy Grail of global governance, 2011).
Questioning: Curiously the Holy Grail is typically framed as the focus of a quest -- possibly a form of vision quest. In myth this is associated with creative response to riddles, namely questions. As implied by the role of either inquisitor or exquisiitor, the questioning process is existentially fundamental. Ironically in the current period of questionable financial oversight, a quaestor was originally a public official who supervised financial affairs in the Roman Empire. The term continues to be used in some police forces and with respect to financial oversight for the European Parliament. Such usage emphasizes the sense in which questioning is vital to confidence and credibility. It might be asked whether it has more systemic cognitive implications, as discussed separately (Interrelating Cognitive Catastrophes in a Grail-chalice Proto-model: implications of WH-questions for self-reflexivity and dialogue, 2006). A characteristic of the questioning process, which is of fundamental significance, is its capacity to destroy (or "dissolve") inadequate conceptual containers. Hence the mythical quest for a container for the universal solvent (alkahest) capable of dissolving any container. The role of the Zen koan is suggestive of this function -- namely questions designed to provoke the "great doubt" -- as explored separately (Configuring a Set of Zen Koan as a Wisdom Container: formatting the Gateless Gate for Twitter, 2012). From such a perspective, any acclaimed "quest for new thinking" or a quest for a new paradigm" can fruitfully address the nature of the questioning process implicit in the quest.
Gold: This has continued to play a fundamental role in society through centuries past. Despite the shift from the gold standard, it remains a preoccupation today and is intimately associated with a sense of wealth, as a symbol of it, and in the quest for it. It is imaginatively evocative. Gold has been intimately associated with the status of a sovereign -- extending to representation of sovereign authority in gold coin, as noted above. The quest for gold has been fundamental to the conquest and colonial exploitation of distant lands. Curiously, however, very little can be usefully done with it -- in radical contrast to the efforts made to acquire it. Despite that, the seriousness of such quests, and the status of gold today, contrast curiously with the deprecation of the supposed alchemical effort to fabricate gold -- which continues to be mocked as an endeavour of the most extreme foolishness. The contrast turns on the nature of misplaced concreteness versus mystification in relation to the nature of wealth. In a period of unimaginable public debt, irresponsibly accumulated, the remedy for it (in the form of the fiction of quantitative easing) could be considered to exemplify the most extreme form of foolishness. Of particular relevance are assumptions regarding the association between financial wealth and its ability to enable fulfilling meaning. It is in this sense that the symbolic significance of gold merits further attention, whether as the meaning with which sovereigns were associated or as being the essential focus of the alchemical endeavour.

Alchemical quest: The processes of alchemy are readily deprecated by assuming that the associated insights had been completely superseded by those of chemistry. This perception is valid if it is assumed that the preoccupation of alchemy was with the elements and processes which are the focus of the attention of chemistry. As is now being documented by historians of science, some work by so-called alchemists may well have offered insights subsequently developed and refined by chemistry. The perception is however questionable if the "elements" and "processes" of alchemy were primarily of significance as symbols for cognitive "states" and "processes", as more recently argued by Steven M. Rosen (Dreams, Death, Rebirth: a multimedia topological odyssey into alchemy's hidden dimensions, 2013). Systemic presentations of the "alchemical process" can then be understood as metaphorical code for means whereby inner "wealth" could be engendered -- with its potential implications for "health". Of particular relevance, as a symbolic process, was the manner in which the solar function, traditionally embodied in the sovereign, was related to other functions and processes. In this sense alchemy can be seen as engaging with the cognitive dynamics of the comprehension/communicability/credibility complex. As a fundamental attractor, subsuming the array of human values, this necessarily implies the challenge of the associated delusions (cf. Human Values as Strange Attractors, 1993).

Striking at this time is the manner in which "alchemy" is now extensively used as a central metaphor in discussion of global finance, following the 1988 edition of the The Alchemy of Finance by George Soros. Examples include: Neil Irwin (The Alchemists: three central bankers and a world on fire, 2013), Mehrdad Baghai, et al (The Alchemy of Growth: practical insights for building the enduring enterprise, 2000), Luigi Zingales (Europe's Financial Alchemy, Project Syndicate, 23 December 2010), Jacques Vallee (The Four Elements of Financial Alchemy: a new formula for personal prosperity, 2001). Especially relevant to this argument (as elaborated below) are the insights emerging from recent historical work on the role of the Hartlib Circle in relation to both the Scientific Revolution and the Financial Revolution of the 17th century, notably by Carl Wennerlind (How Alchemists Invented Modern Finance, Bloomberg Echoes, 8 March 2012; The Alchemical Roots of the Financial Revolution, Berfrois, 14 March 2012).

Illicit meaning: Attention was drawn above, citing the case of Galileo and Sheldrake, to the manner in which new insight is necessarily "illicit" in relation to prevailing dominant forms. Rather than simply evoking regret and condemnation, there is a case for integrating the hidden and the unsaid, together with incomprehension, into the nature of the processes with which engagement is required (Global Strategic Implications of the "Unsaid", 2003). This could be considered appropriate to learning and its counterpart -- namely the erosion of memory, most notably as a consequence of aging (Societal Learning and the Erosion of Collective Memory, 1980). The intriguing quality of the illicit is evident in the attraction of secrets -- as evoked in much popular drama. As "confidentiality", the unsaid is fundamental to the current operation of the financial system, which benefits so extensively from lack of transparency.
Sustainability: As is widely noted, the current global civilization is faced with a challenge of "sustainability". Beyond the definitions only too readily offered, there is however the mystery as to why its essential nature remains a challenge to comprehension in practice. Reference was made above to sustainability as effectively the "Holy Grail" of global governance. Arguably the challenge lies far less in the manner in which resources are exploited and recycled, however appropriate that may be. The challenge may well lie in the meaningful psychological engagement with those material (tangible) processes -- understood as symbols of (intangible) cognitive processes. The challenge of governance may indeed be framed in terms of engaging with an adaptive cycle, as argued by Thomas Homer-Dixon (The Upside of Down: catastrophe, creativity, and the renewal of civilization, 2006). However it is as likely to require engaging with the psychology of risk-taking and surprise, so fundamental to the financial speculation which has engendered the current crisis, as argued by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Antifragile: how to live in a world we don't understand, 2012; The Black Swan: the impact of the highly improbable, 2007)

Container: Eliciting meaning implies that this must necessarily be "contained" in some way, whether understood as a psychosocial habitat or a memory aid. The container may be explored in terms of the geometry of a configuration through which memory can be reinforced (Metaphorical Geometry in Quest of Globality -- in response to global governance challenges, 2009; Geometry of Thinking for Sustainable Global Governance: cognitive implication of synergetics, 2009). Transcending duality, such configurations can be explored as containers for value as associated with their response to light (Patterning Archetypal Templates of Emergent Order: implications of diamond faceting for enlightening dialogue, 2002). Constraints on their design as containers for cognitive processes can also be explored in the light of the unique toroidal requirements of nuclear fusion (Enactivating a Cognitive Fusion Reactor: imaginal transformation of energy resourcing, 2006).
Universe: The "physical" universe, its nature, scope and origins remains mysterious -- although much continues to be discovered by astrophysics and cosmology. It invites an awe which is curiously absent from consideration of the psychosocial "universe" which an individual or a group may be variously recognized as inhabiting. The acknowledgement of the challenge of "resolving" the nature of the physical universe is far less evident in the case of any psychosocial or cognitive equivalent where there is a marked tendency to assume that "resolution" has been achieved, and that details are of limited significance. Is any such psychosocial universe to be considered "finite but unbounded" or implying a higher dimensionality whose significance calls for consideration in a disciplined manner? What of conventional understanding must necessarily be called into question in the quest for what is implied by the phrase "boundless happiness"?
Wholth: How meaning is contained in an integrative manner to form a universe remains a challenge which may be explored through a variety of frameworks and metaphors. It remains unclear, perhaps necessarily, how "integrative" is to be comprehended, embodied and enacted to ensure the coherence of action over time (Wholth as Sustaining Dynamic of Health and Wealth: cognitive dynamics sustaining the meta-pattern that connects, 2013).
Sovereign: A degree of mystery has always been associated with any "sovereign" and the implication of a relation to higher realms of some kind -- a mystery subject to mystification and abusive manipulation. The mystery has been typically associated with gold and its acquisition. As an authority figure, the sovereign is central to a variety of symbol systems. The mystery is partially associated with confusing conflation between a the sovereign as "superior" and the sovereign as "meta" -- a contrast evident in the question of whether a "head of state" should take a "part" in the discourse between political parties. This may be represented symbolically by the capacity of a sovereign to stand astride several domains -- to bestride them. This metaphor can be extended through exploration of "walking" as a metaphor of relevance to the dynamics of transdisciplinarity (Transdisplinarity-3 as the Emergence of Patterned Experience: transcending duality as the conceptual equivalent of learning to walk, 1993).
Superanus: Curiously a paradoxical dimension is evident with respect to the "seriousness" with which the clues above might otherwise considered. This takes one form in the "disrespect" in which a "sovereign" may be held, exemplified in carnivals and rituals where a sovereign is mocked and ridiculed -- and even symbolically killed. There is therefore a degree of appropriateness to the etymological origin of "sovereign" is Vulgar Latin in the term "superanus", as noted above (Geoffrey Bennington, Superanus, Theory and Event, 2005). This accords with the problematic esteem in which heads of state are currently held, in the light of their behaviour and modes of discourse, as explored separately (Backside to the Future: coherence and conflation of dominant strategic metaphors -- Worshipping the Golden Ass, 2001).

Indicative pattern of mutually reinforcing connectivity of "clues"

The animation below can be used to challenge overly simplistic closure on the connectivity between the "clues" as represented in the circular form above. The merit of the animation is that it suggestively relates a symbol of sovereignty (in the form of an orb) with that of holiness (in the form of the toroidal halo). The cognitive implication of the "clues" might be better understood as mapped onto the sphere-torus.

Animation of transformation between sphere and torus
(reproduced from Wikipedia)

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