Paradoxical cognitive implications in global transformation

Reframing the Art of Non-Decision-Making (Part #11)

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Blind spots and black holes: There is however a sense that global civilization is embedded within a complex of flows which elude collective awareness and comprehension, consistent with the above-mentioned arguments of John Ralston Saul (The Unconscious Civilization, 1995). As indicated above, the hidden gateway to global transformation may well be "through" that to which attention is least accorded. This could be understood otherwise as the unasked question, effectively a "deadly question" (Abuse of Faith in Governance: mystery of the unasked question, 2009; World Futures Conference as Catastrophic Question: from performance to morphogenesis and transformation, 2013).

The classical Taoist metaphor of a gateless gate is especially appropriate, however limited the capacity to recognize it (Configuring a Set of Zen Koan as a Wisdom Container: formatting the Gateless Gate for Twitter, 2012). Such failure may itself be consistent with the arguments of Terrence Deacon with respect to "what is missing". For Deacon: Ironically and enigmatically, something missing is missing (Incomplete Nature: how mind emerged from matter, 2012).

As with many forms of creativity, the art of change may prove to be subject to strangely aesthetic constraints -- unrelated to conscious decision-making and possibly partially acknowledged as surreal. What may be deplored as systemic neglect could well prove to be a dynamic essential to the failure of outmoded dependencies -- an aspect of the "choice" addressed by Jared Diamond (Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, 2005).

In this sense there is huge irony to the role of governance implied by the function of "oversight" and righteous dependence on it. As equally indicative of negligence (and a blind spot), it shares ambiguity with other terms of relevance to decision-making -- "sanction" being a prime example. Are many abuses tacitly sanctioned by government and other authorities? Those bodies currently claiming authority in global governance might then be fruitfully compared to the Artful Dodger imagined by Charles Dickens, or to recognition of archetypal tricksters.

Biomimetics and epimimetics: The argument can be given focus through the life cycle of the butterfly and its use as a metaphor, as separately discussed (Engendering shape under threat of global catastrophe, 2015; Cyclic dynamic of emergent order versus States of emergency ordered spasmodically, 2015; Epimemetics, biomimetics, epimimetics and biomemetics, 2010).

How might the caterpillar sense the failure of its outmoded pattern of organization in anticipating its transformation into a pupa -- or the pupa, in subsequently reconfiguring itself as a butterfly?

Particularly suggestive is the light of the reference to polyhedra (above), is the discovery by Buckminister Fuller of a cycle of transformation between certain spherically symmetrical forms. This was nicknamed by him as the jitterbug transformation, understood as providing a unifying dynamic. Much significance is attached to the doubling and quadrupling of edges that occurs, when a cuboctahedron is collapsed through icosahedral, octahedral and tetrahedral stages, then inside-outed and re-expanded in a complementary fashion. Is this indicative of the "rewiring" cycle of the butterfly?

Focus on the apparently final shape of a "butterfly" distracts from any question about its changing shape and morphogenesis. Whereas there is careful thought about the "shape of the universe", there is seemingly little thought about the "shape of global civilization" -- or of a human being, for that matter (aide from concerns about obesity).

Expressed otherwise, how does one "cognitively ride" the adaptive cycle in which one is implicated, as framed by the Resilience Alliance?

What is the "shape" of a "butterfly" or a "civilization"?
Life cycle of a "butterfly"	Adaptive cycle

Although use has been made of the metaphor with respect to the transformation of society, there is value in recognizing the degree to which aspects of the metaphor have been adopted as appropriate to personal experience. Extensive reference has been made to cocoon (namely the pupal casing formed by the caterpillar). Thus cocooning, namely staying inside one's home, is valued as insulation from perceived danger, rather than responding to it by "going out" to meet it.

The sense of an "egg" can be variously recognized in terms of aspirations to global peaceful resolution of problematic experience, reminiscent of final embodiment of a goal and the regeneration this may offer. Curiously forgotten in appreciation of the metaphor is the fact that the butterfly lays many eggs, suggesting the need to recognize multiple framings of globality -- and "peace". Also significant in that respect is that the eggs may be of a variety of forms, as with the wing colouration of the many species of butterfly.

The symbolic appeal is also evident in relation to the "bubble" in which people increasingly dwell in an information society, however this is to be distinguished from a cocoon (Mostafa El-Bermawy, Your Filter Bubble is Destroying Democracy, Wired, 18 November 2016). Curiously relevant is the preoccupation with legacy, and the manner in which this may involve laying "memetic eggs" and "planting seeds", with their various reproductive associations.

More challenging is the "caterpillar" phase -- perhaps valued as the "many little feet" enabling social movements? The potential of a caterpillar as a political metaphor has been the subject of commentary relating to the transformation of a consumption-obsessed society (Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, 1969; Seven Critical Readings of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Anglophonism, 7 August 2012; Marina Lewycka, The Caterpillar with an Appetite for Philosophy, 26 September 2007; G. Anderson, A Marxist interpretation of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', 6 May 2011).

More intriguing is the manner in which the 8 pairs of feet (10 plus 6) are coordinated to enable movement. Could the metaphor be suggestively extended to encompass the crudely coordinated distinctive models by which a consumer society is effectively governed -- perhaps as exemplified by the principles of the UN Millennium Development Goals? This is all the more relevant in that the transformation required for the emergence of a butterfly involves a rewiring to give 3 pairs of feet and 2 pairs of wings (which have a figure-of-eight movement).

With respect to the metaphor of metamorphosis, the caterpillar is a consumer par excellence, as noted by Elisabet Sahtouris:

A caterpillar can eat up to three hundred times its own weight in a day, devastating many plants in the process, continuing to eat until it's so bloated that it hangs itself up and goes to sleep... If you want a butterfly world, don't step on the caterpillar, but join forces with other imaginal cells to build a better future for all!

That said, has the fundamental point of the metaphor been missed? How does the butterfly "re-member" the cycle in which it is variously embedded, as recently explored (Brandon Keim, Butterflies Remember What They Learned as Caterpillars, Wired, 5 March 2008; Despite metamorphosis, moths hold on to memories from their days as a caterpillar, The Conversation, 1 August 2014).

Misframed as the desirable outcome, is the metaphor used to focus on an eternal condition of happy indulgence -- anticipating an escape from the wheel of life (Societal Learning and the Erosion of Collective Memory, 1980). Does it reinforce preoccupation with "flying away" from problems of the planet, as exemplified by enthusiasm for space travel (Challenges More Difficult for Science than Going to Mars, 2014).

Also missing from selective focus on the metaphor are the implications of butterflies as a vital food source for many: wasps, ants, parasitic flies, birds, snakes, toads, rats, lizards, dragonflies and even monkeys (What Eats Butterflies?). There is also the implication of the now-deprecated passion for butterfly collection and display, with the threatening possibility that further interest by extraterrestrials in humanity might be similarly inspired (Wings of Desire: why the hobby of Butterfly collecting is over - it's all about conservation now, The Independent, 10 August 2015). And, mixing metaphors provocatively, what of the so-called butterfly effect of chaos theory?

Surrealism: The relevance of a surreal perspective has been separately argued (Surreal Nature of Current Global Governance as Experienced, 2015).

The surreal has been remarkably exemplified in a country especially proud of its philosophical heritage. There the outgoing prime minister has been responsible for framing a comprehensive strategy for the detection and eradication of "radicalisation". Simultaneously the primary candidate for the presidency has specifically identified his core strategy as "radical" (Radical Innovators Beware -- in the arts, sciences and philosophy -- terrifying implications of radical new deradicalisation initiative in France, 2016; François Fillon, 'Radical Conservative' Who Could Be French President, Agence France-Presse, 22 November 2016). The outgoing prime minister is also a candidate for that position.

Given the current appeal of the surreal (noted above) as being marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream, "cognitively riding the adaptive cycle" might be fruitfully informed by reflection on the famous Chinese tale of the butterfly dream of Chuang Tzu -- wondering if he was a man who dreamed of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of being a man.

Such considerations reinforce the sense in which the "art" of non-decision-making -- going with the flow -- is better understood in dynamic terms rather than framed statically. As argued by Francisco Varela, it would seem to be a subtle process of enactive cognition (Laying Down a Path in Walking: essays on enactive cognition, 1997).

The associated paradoxes merit continuing reflection (Paradoxes of Engaging with the Ultimate in any Guise: living life penultimately, 2012; Living as an Imaginal Bridge between Worlds: global implications of "betwixt and between" and liminality, 2011; World Introversion through Paracycling: global potential for living sustainably "outside-inside", 2013).

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