Learning to walk as a metaphor for transcending duality

Transdisplinarity-3 as the Emergence of Patterned Experience (Part #2)

Contemporary society is bedeviled by dilemmas, dualities and polarized debates, especially in the political arena. No satisfactory way has been found to transcend this condition. The response has been to favour democratically one pole of a dilemma at the expense of another for as long as this is feasible -- however obvious it becomes that both extremes hold vital truths for society. The discussion above draws attention to the polarization between objective (extensive) and subjective (intensive) knowledge as expressed through Transdisciplinarity-1 and 2. It is argued that Transdisciplinarity-3 could constitute a framework which can hold such paradoxical relationships between totally incompatible modes of awareness.

But the challenge to understanding of Transdisciplinarity-3 is absolutely fundamental. It is not simply the resolution of an intellectual game of thesis/antithesis/synthesis, as should be obvious from the difficulties in dealing with such extremes, if only in the political arena.

There is therefore merit in learning from a metaphor based on experience to which all have been exposed, namely learning to walk. This is not a static, mechanistic process. Coordinating leg movement to the degree that makes it possible to stand upon two legs, and walk with them, is far from being simple. Transcending dualities can usefully be seen through such a metaphor, because walking is considered so trivial once it has been learnt. It is not however seen as trivial by an infant or by those who have to relearn it after an accident.

As infants (the biblical 'little children' that we are enjoined to be), sitting up and crawling with four limbs are the initial challenges. Two limbs may then be used for balance and holding on, whilst the other two are then used to stand and walk upon. The coordination of several hundred muscles is required (labelled primitively in political terms as 'checks and balances'). It can take a year to learn (or relearn).

The challenges of transcending dualities can be seen in the light of the stages of learning to walk. There are questions of security and fear of falling, which may require an unhabitual act of faith in the stability of the walking process (as is the case in learning to ride a bicycle). Associated with this is the problem of holding on, and learning to detach oneself from support structures. There is the challenge of orientation, notably whilst in movement. But the art lies in the process of alternation through which the load is shifted between the two supporting legs as they are moved in sequence. There is an intuitive appreciation of this in the arguments for alternation between parties in government (especially appreciated as 'alternance' in French) -- although the current procedures for achieving this can only be described as chaotic and reminiscent of a drunkard attempting to walk (although the equivalent challenge for a spastic might be even more descriptive).

The challenge of Transdisciplinarity-3 is therefore a challenge to learn a pattern experience which is essentially dynamic. It is a pattern of movement which ensures stability (as is the case in certain meditative breathing exercises). People are only able to stand still by ensuring the continuous interplay of certain sets of muscles and processes. Taking advantage of Transdisciplinarity-3 calls for the ability to continually reconfigure, as is the case with walking. Such dynamic stability could be considered an important feature of 'sustainability'.