Metaphor, metaphysics and astrophysics

Unthought as Cognitive Foundation of Global Civilization (Part #10)

There is a potentially fruitful subtle relationship between these three domains. Each offers a particular form of radical detachment from the substance of conventional reality:

metaphor makes deliberate use of words relating to a known reality in order to offer insight into subtler and more elusive realities which are perceived to be a challenge to comprehension
metaphysics explores the subtlety of being and existence as a speculative extension of more conventional forms of philosophy, itself readily held to be disassociated from the concrete challenges of daily life
astrophysics offers hypotheses (irrelevant to many) regarding the nature of the distant universe in which the planet of daily resource-challenged experience is embedded

The three may therefore be understood as variously exploring the intangible and can therefore be considered -- to some degree -- as complementary "fantasies". Their strength lies in their respective roles in explanation of subtlety and the quality of thinking that has long been invested in their use. However, the function of what are usefully to be understood as "strategic fantasies" merits further attention, as separately argued (Cultivating Global Strategic Fantasies of Choice: learnings from Islamic Al-Qaida and the Republican Tea Party movement, 2010; Globallooning -- Strategic Inflation of Expectations and Inconsequential Drift, 2009). Again the early study by G. N. A. Vesey (Unthinking Assumptions and Their Justification, 1954) merits attention, as with the function of ignorance itself (as mentioned below).

There is a curious case for exploring -- as metaphorical templates -- the powerful subtleties of the mathematics considered appropriate to comprehension of the universe. If such a degree of sophistication is required for that purpose, arguably there is all the more reason to explore its relevance to acquiring a degree of comprehension of the unthought thought that may well underlie psychosocial reality as it is conventionally experienced. There is a degree of irony to this in that the "gravity", which physics is much challenged to explain, has early associations with the "gravitas" admired in the mature -- and equally difficult to explain. The associations are evident to a degree in the mystical writings of Simone Weil (Gravity and Grace, 1952).

The case for some such approach has been extensively argued by Steven M. Rosen (The Self-Evolving Cosmos: a phenomenological approach to nature's unity-in-diversity, 2008), most notably in a concluding chapter on The Psychophysics of Cosmogony.

Insights from astrophysics: The categories of astrophysics can be explored as metaphors for comprehension of the dynamics of a global knowledge society and the challenges of navigating within it (Towards an Astrophysics of the Knowledge Universe? from astronautics to noonautics, 2006; Entering Alternative Realities -- Astronautics vs Noonautics: isomorphism between launching aerospace vehicles and launching vehicles of awareness, 2002).

Given the major role currently accorded to "dark matter" in understanding of a space-time ("physical") universe, what might be the role of "ignorance" in relation to a universe of knowledge -- and the evolution of communication within it over time? As explored by Erkki Patokorpi (Information Pluralism and Some Informative Modes of Ignorance, Information, 2011):

None of the cybernetic conceptions, and only some conceptions within the semiotic-pragmatic approach, can vindicate the elusive intuition of the potential positive role of ignorance.

Curiously "ignorance" is fundamental to the dynamics of a learning society: no ignorance, no possibility of learning. However, the very process of knowledge generation in one sector of knowledge space effectively engenders ignorance elsewhere -- through lack of knowledge there of what has been learned elsewhere.

Memetic singularity? Given the collective and individual challenge of issues of knowledge uptake and delivery capacity (information overload, constraints on attention time and memory, etc.), a case can be made for the emergence of what might be termed a "memetic singularity" within knowledge space -- analogous to the gravitational singularities hypothesized by astrophysics (Emerging Memetic Singularity in the Global Knowledge Society, 2009).

Knowledge dynamics? There is widespread preoccupation with development of sustainable business models, in the emerging context. A stronger case could be made for sustainable "busyness models", namely with how time could be better managed when threatened by incapacitating knowledge dynamics (Strategic Embodiment of Time Configuring questions fundamental to change, 2010; Ungovernability of Sustainable Global Democracy? Towards engaging appropriately with time, 2011).

Whether for the individual or the collective, the challenge may become one of sustaining coherence and identity (Strategic Complexity ∞ Attracting Consensus: Klein is beautiful ∞ Sustaining identity in time, 2011). The relevance of the Moebius strip to working with the unthought is helpfully explored by Gavin Kendall and Mike Michaela (Thinking the Unthought: towards a Moebius strip psychology, New Ideas in Psychology, 1998). Extensive discussion of related possibilities, most notably with respect to the Klein bottle, is variously provided by Steven M. Rosen (The Self-Evolving Cosmos: a phenomenological approach to nature's unity-in-diversity, 2008; Science, Paradox, and the Moebius Principle: the evolution of a "transcultural" approach to wholeness, 1994)

The preoccupation of astrophysics with information in its most technical sense -- of which "matter" is but one form -- suggests that the dynamics and lifecycle of stars offer models which merit consideration as metaphors for understanding the identity and lifecycles of individuals and collectives. "Star" is of course readily used as a metaphor to describe the "brilliance" and associated "visibility" of individuals -- whether intellectually or as performers.

Civilizational collapse: In the current period, there is widespread concern with civilizational collapse, as articulated by various authors (Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, 2005; Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization, 2006). There is therefore a case for considering the dynamics of how stars collapse as a source of insight into knowledge dynamics in the current civilization. The approach of Homer-Dixon is especially relevant in that he develops a detailed analysis of the challenges to the Roman Empire of sourcing its energy requirements to sustain its integrity -- leading up to its collapse.

In the general terms of astrophysics, "energy" is merely one form of information. There are many current instances in which it has become clear that the capacity to communicate such as to enable appropriate governance is seriously lacking. How might a global civilization be vulnerable to "collapse under its own weight"?

Black holes and supernova? Astrophysics offers suggestive insights into the collapse of stars -- offering a "language" through which to discuss the evolution and collapse of psychosocial "stars", as discussed separately (Conscious creativity sustaining confidelity: a solar metaphor, 2011). With respect to the exploration of such metaphor as a way of "handling" incomprehension, a separate discussion of astrophysical phenomena as "Paradoxical templates" (Towards the Systematic Reframing of Incomprehension through Metaphor, 2012) suggested that:

There is then an intuitive consistency to the sense in which a "universe" is best understood as a coherent "way of knowing". This framing then invites reflection on the cognitive implication of humanity's need to engender adequate explanations of its universe as being characterized by paradoxical phenomena -- and as such relatively "incomprehensible" and beyond normal ken.

This notably explored "black holes" as a metaphor in the collapse process, especially given their significance for information processing:

This is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. Metaphorical use is occasionally made of "black hole", notably with respect to a disastrous financial condition of major undertakings. It may also be used with reference to a personal sense of depression, and potentially to any associated sense of "incomprehension". The formation of a black hole is predicted in astrophysics by the theory of general relativity as being associated with a sufficiently compact mass capable of deforming spacetime. Given the psychosocial significance attributed above to "world", when sufficiently "compact" it might indeed be understood as deforming communication space to constitute a form of "black hole". For astrophysics, a black hole is surrounded by a so-called event horizon that marks a point of no return. It reflects and emits nothing. This offers a useful way of exploring certain zones of "incomprehension" -- into which no "light" can enter and from which none can emerge.

Of particular interest in a world characterized by ever-increasing "spin" in public relations, is the role of "spin" in a rotating black hole, namely two of the four hypothesized forms of black hole. Combining considerations of phenomenology and physics, extensive consideration to the role of spin is given by Steven M. Rosen (The Self-Evolving Cosmos: a phenomenological approach to nature's unity-in-diversity, 2008).

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Metaphor, metaphysics and astrophysics