Conclusion

Metaphors as Transdisciplinary Vehicles of the Future (Part #9)

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It is the difficult-to-justify sphericity that is called for in the transdisciplinary organization of knowledge -- reconciling local disciplinary knowledge with the "global" organization of such knowledge.

Recognition of the sphericity of the physical world has since been surpassed by the vital recognition of the complementarity of different bioclimatic zones -- whether the contribution of the tropical forests or of the polar regions. It is such features which ensure the viability of the biosphere. It is perhaps in this sense that the necessary complementarity between a set of metaphors (see 8.4 above) should be understood. It is then this complementarity which guarantees the viability of the noosphere.

The challenge to comprehension lies in enriching our understanding of such complementarity. Some insights come from properties of symmetry for which geometrical metaphors are helpful. These extend into patterns of dynamic stability for which tensegrity structures are helpful. Both point to the existence of "pathways" around spherical structures -- corresponding to "great circles" around the globe. Several may interweave and interlock to define zones in a spherical grid. Such pathways may perhaps be understood as conceptual "ley lines". (For a computer user, by contrast, travelling pathways through a hypertext stack without any sense of overview, may be likened to a rat exploring a maze)

This paper suggests that metaphors constitute our best understanding of the nature of the vehicles to travel along these pathways and around the noosphere. Metaphors may be used to articulate our understanding of the processes of balancing, building and holding conceptual relationships to permit higher conceptual orders to emerge in a conceptually turbulent environment. They can be used to point to the "environmental" problems of the noosphere, including such challenges as "cultural deforestation" and "acid rain" resulting from the unchecked excesses of irresponsible disciplines.