Configuring a confusion of concepts of consequence to contention, consensus and consummation?

Concordian Mandala as a Symbolic Nexus (Part #9)

[Parts: First | Prev | All] [Visuals] [Links: To-K | From-K | From-Kx | Refs ]

"Con" as a prefix: As noted above the inspiration of this argument derived from earlier recognition of the remarkable function of "con", most notably in English (Considerable Conglomeration of "Cons" of Global Concern, 2012). This resulted in the preceding concern with the Concordian Mandala (Con-quest Aesthetically Reframed via the Concordian Mandala: inspired by implications of the systemantics of the Discordian Mandala, 2016). The concern in the latter was the possibility of designing a suitable "container" for the set of essentially elusive human values. The container was understood as a mapping device for the set of 5x9 clusters of such values resulting from the Human Values Project -- especially given the 5x9 configuration of the Concordian Mandala.

Of particular relevance to the times is how confidence is to be engendered and sustained in a context in which it is in process of being eroded in every domain. The argument has been developed from an economic perspective (Trust Busting: the dangerous contradiction between economic reality and political rhetoric, The Economist, 17 September 2016). The latter notes:

People no longer trust mainstream politicians, nor indeed the media that report on them. This of course has huge economic as well as political consequences.... Trust is built into the heart of of almost all economic activity... Any hint of a general erosion of trust... would be a very worrying sign.... Yet complacency would be unwarranted. The 2007-08 financial crisis sjowed wat can happen when belief in the financial system breaks down.... Today's economy and financial system depend on global co-operation; today's political system is one where such co-operation is increasingly seen by voters as intrinsically suspicious. That is a dangerous disconnect.

With respect to the dubious connotations of "con", other uses merit concern, as in the case of neocon -- with its implication of a new form of confidence trickery. As noted above, if neoliberal agendas could be explored as a "makeover" of those of Freemasonry, is there a case for "reconnaissance" with regard to the emergence of equally suspicious "neoegalitarianism" and "neofraternalism"? In that sense, is reconnaissance an appropriate prelude to renaissance?

Conflation and disconnectivity: The dynamics of the mandala are also suggestive of conditions under which the 5 nonagonal sets may be confused and conflated, as with the 9 pentagonal sets. In this sense any pentagonal configuration may be inadequately informed by the 9 forms of 5-foldness, and any nonagonal configuration by the 5 forms of 9-foldness.

The mandala configuration of 5 sets of 9-fold rings is potentially valuable in ensuring forms of connectivity and disconnectivity which may be systemically appropriate. The dynamics of the mandala are also valuable in indicating conditions under which connectivity and direct linkage between values may be inappropriate and dysfunctional. The Borromean ring configuration frames a higher order of connectivity -- especially given the possibility of variants of even higher order (Nils A. Baas, Higher order architecture of collections of objects, International Journal of General Systems, 44, 2015, 1).

Semiotic nonagon: Of potential relevance to this argument is the criticism by Claudio F. Guerri (Philosophy and Symmetry in the Semiotic Nonagon. International Interdisciplinary Conference "Symmetry of Forms and Structures", 2009)

There was a significant gap between the complex philosophical proposals of Charles S. Peirce, as such, and the potential to extract out of it useful applied semiotics without descending into a reductivism or an injurious distortions of the original purpose. The aim of this paper is to show that the well-known triadic sign classification of Peirce can be designed to perform as a diagrammatic icon in order to work as an operative model. In the design format of the nonagon, symmetry becomes a helpful tool of an operational and cognitive sort.

Following Peirce, Guerri stresses that All valid necessary reasoning is in fact diagrammatic. He introduces the Semiotic Nonagon by taking account of Peirce's concept of the sign

According to Peirce, a sign is not determined by its proximity to other signs as in Saussure'?s theory, but is chained, in a semiotic process, to all other signs through a triadic relationship. The Semiotic Nonagon acting in different ways, prioritizes the possibility to comprehend, to analyze, and to produce signs: that is, the matrix renders the possibility to organize within a logical framework, the nine fields, and allows a phenomenological description, and the relationships of the nine fields of the matrix sustain the cognitive processes. Peirce maintains that diagrammatic icons always contribute to knowledge. The most important aspect of the Semiotic Nonagon, the value of the Nonagon, is to establish the internal dynamics of the nine parts of the sign, which are strongly interdependent, and the relation of the sign to the Dynamic Object.

Guerri argues that there is no symmetry in Peirce?'s proposal of sign classification, at least not in the limits of human knowledge, only the real incommensurable universe of knowledge may possibly be completely symmetric. In the semiotic nonagon, as presented below, there is an apparent diagonal mirror from FF through EE to VV, even the letters FE and EF are mirror images; but it is a mirror with a sort of a palindromic twist, since FE and EF are not interchangeable in conceptual content.

Semiotic nonagon of Claudio Guerri (reproduced from Philosophy and Symmetry in the Semiotic Nonagon. 2009)
Indication hree superposed mirror symmetries along this diagonal: F of F, E of E and V of V.	Indication of complementarity and specificity of the horizontal and vertical axes.

Identity containment and embodiment: Engagement with a mandala, especially as a portal, is intimately associated with identity, its comprehension, its dynamic and its transformation.

This can be variously recognized and enabled through use of other symbolic devices most notably a circlet of beads, a sash, a ring, a necklace, a torc or a crown. These can be endowed with unusual properties and practices (Designing Cultural Rosaries and Meaning Malas to Sustain Associations within the Pattern that Connects, 2000; Engaging with Globality through Cognitive Crowns, 2009).

The multiple nonagons of the mandala presented offer the sense of a multiplicity of such devices -- interweaving dynamically to frame what is otherwise understood statically and therefore only to a limited degree, as argued otherwise (From Statics to Dynamics in Sustainable Community, 1998; Dynamic Transformation of Static Reporting of Global Processes, 2013). As noted, there is necessarily a degree of paradox and a challenge to comprehension of what is thereby contained, embodied or implied. Rather than the self-reflexive emphasis on the singular by Douglas Hofstadter (I Am a Strange Loop, 2007), there is necessarily a multiplicity -- to be understood as a requisite variety (Sustaining a Community of Strange Loops: comprehension and engagement through aesthetic ring transformation, 2010).

Further challenges and possibilities are indicated by the subsequent work of Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander (Surfaces and Essences: analogy as the fuel and fire of thinking, 2013). Any sense of a central hole can be cultivated as a portal -- potentially reinforced by experiential sexual connotations and associated metaphors. The singular strange loop recalls the widespread depiction of a halo in relation to a person esteemeed holy -- possibly now presented as an infinity sign (or a Mobius strip) to imply more fundamental complexity.

The argument here is that the singular form could be presented as multiple rings -- perhaps recalling electron orbitals and their wave-like implications. Whether together or separately the sense they offer of a portal could be playfully framed as a porthole -- or even a "portwhole" -- as a means of transporting a way of seeing or a perspective. In that sense the 5 rings are also usefully reminiscent as framing the 5 senses enabling engagement with physical reality.

As argued with respect to correspondences, metaphor would appear to offer a key to more coherent engagement with globality (Theories of Correspondences -- and potential equivalences between them in correlative thinking, 2007; Metaphorical Geometry in Quest of Globality -- in response to global governance challenges, 2009).

Missing however is any geometric or topological indication of degrees of self-reflexivity, however these might be implied by degrees of insight, of rebirth and of freemasonry. The need for such in relation to coherent identity can be presented in terms of the viable systems model, and more specifically in relation to knowledge cybernetics (Maurice Yolles, Knowledge Cybernetics: a metaphor for post-normal science, 2012). Beyond the requirements for double loop learning, as variously advocated, the arguments of Maurice Yolles and Gerhard Fink point to the potential role of system comprehension in terms of third-, fourth- and fifth-order cybernetics (Generic Agency Theory, Cybernetic Orders and New Paradigms, 2014).

Clearly there is however a collective challenge of comprehensibility and incomprehension in a learning-constrained society. Neglect of these dimensions of identity has every probability of contributing to system failure, as discussed separately (Variety of System Failures Engendered by Negligent Distinctions, 2016).

In contrast there is the sense in which people are already obliged to live "between worlds", irrespective of whether they are imaginatively attracted to some such modality (Living as an Imaginal Bridge between Worlds: global implications of "betwixt and between" and liminality, 2012). With reality in process of being reframed in terms of quantum mechanics, and by identification with music, indvidual identity may already be better understood through wave metaphors (Being a Waveform of Potential as an Experiential Choice: emergent dynamic qualities of identity and integrity, 2013; Being Neither a-Waving Nor a-Parting: cognitive implications of wave-particle duality in the light of science and spirituality, 2013).

Reframing the I-conic: Given the degree to which authority makes explicit use of a symbolic sash -- especially the highest authority with which importance is implied and expressed -- the implications of donning such a device merit the most careful attention with regard to the containment and embodiment of identity. This can be fruitfully explored (as with other symbols worn in this manner) in terms of traditional use of wampum. This could be reframed with the newly recognized implications of quantum reality (Quantum Wampum Essential to Navigating Ragnarok: thrival in crisis through embodying turbulent flow, 2014). Would multiple sashes be more consistent with the implications for identity-- or the desperate quest to embody their meaning and cognitive implication?

The set of patterns, especially those which are centro-symmetric, merits similar attention -- especially through the manner in which they carry cognitive significance. It is argued above that the simplest in 2D, which are characteristic of many symbols, are variously associated with psychosocial processes -- whether familiar or unrecognized (even held to be "secret").

Current preoccupation with pattern recognition calls for its consideration in cognitive terms. As argued, this is equally true in 3D, and potentially more pregnant with significance. The cognitive implications of 4D remain to be explored through polychora, given widespread preoccupation with time and cycles (Four-dimensional requisite for a time-bound global civilization? 2015; Comprehending the shapes of time through four-dimensional uniform polychora, 2015; Marco Möller, Four-dimensional Archimedean Polytopes, 2004).

With respect to collective governance, and especially concerns with regard to corporate megastructure of the military-industrial complex, there is a case for recognizing how these interweave in 3D and 4D -- beyond the preoccupations these engender in the many conventional 2D network representations in "plane sight". As emphasized, the problematic nature of their interlinkage (however viable) merits recognition through its "fraternal informality" -- rendered evident in aesthetic terms. The elusive structure of their Borromean ring configuration offers a provocative way of considering the interwoven rings of organized crime, espionage, or the distinctive expressions of a common belief (Catholic relgious orders, Christian denominations, masonic jurisdicictions, and the like) -- as a viable, but deniable, conspiracy.

For the individual, the illusory existence of such iconic corporate configurations might indeed be compared to that of interwoven "fairy rings" -- usefully understood in terms of confidence trickery -- an exercise in "I-conning". Far more intriguing are the many ways in which any sense of "I" is reframed for the individual in terms of the multiple connotations of "con", whether constructive or otherwise. It is in this sense that the cognitive processes associated with the nonagons serve as "cognitive sashes" through which aspects of identity are "magically" interwoven.

Should the nature of requisite variety be expressed in such terms?

Enabling more fruitful comprehension: The challenges to comprehension of complexity as emphasized above also imply the challenges to embodiment of simplicity (Engaging with Insight of a Higher Order: reconciling complexity and simplexity through memorable metaphor, 2014). As indicated, the challenges can be helpfully framed by metaphor, numbers and geometry, and the depiction of the latter.

Especially intriguing is the constraint famously identified by George Miller (The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: some limits on our capacity for processing information, Psychological Review. 1956). The above argument is effectively an exploration of 5-fold patterns (as 7 minus 2) in relation to 9-fold patterns (as 7 plus 2). The implication is that greater simplicity (including any form of unity) poses its own challenge to comprehension, rendered problematic by the ease of oversimplication and reification -- as with dualism and the pattern associated with the thinking enabled by the Pentagon. The systemic complexity of the 9-fold is elusive in another sense -- despite intuitions of the harmony associated with the 12-fold which lies "beyond" it.

As configurations of (w)holes, polyhedra offer a language within which such patterns can be explored -- recognizing the dangers of premature closure. The extent of malnutrition worldwide suggests that civilization may be faced with analogues to physical disease and the need for analogous remedies (Memetic and Information Diseases in a Knowledge Society, 2008; Memetic Analogue to the 20 Amino Acids as vital to Psychosocial Life? 2015)

These help to frame the challenge of consensus and consummation in a context of contention and conquest.

Vitruvian man/woman (animation) (multi-coloured variant)

[Parts: First | Prev | All] [Visuals] [Links: To-K | From-K | From-Kx | Refs ]