Clues to engaging with the unknown

The points above frame a dysfunctional dynamic between knowing and not-knowing. The question is whether there are imaginative indications of a healthier dynamic that is readily comprehensible. Suggestive possibilities include:

Sexual intercourse: Given its fundamental role in society as a virtually universal preoccupation with which most are familiar, there is every possibility that that dynamic offers valuable insights into knowing-not-knowing. The possibility is evident from one biblical use of "knowing" and resistance to "grasping" as previously suggested (Beyond Harassment of Reality and Grasping Future Possibilities: learnings from sexual harassment as a metaphor, 1996). The mysterious nature of "not-knowing" is the theme of repeated commentary on the mutual incomprehensibility of the sexes. In the process of intercourse a complex dynamic between knowing and not-knowing can be readily experienced -- potentially culminating in that of consummation. This dynamic remains to be sensitively explored, as noted elsewhere (Reframing the Dynamics of Engaging with Otherness: triadic correspondences between Topology, Kama Sutra and I Ching, 2011).

There is a profoundly tragic irony to strategic consideration of the crises of the time by science, as the intentionally preferred process of "knowing", in that the process of sexual intercourse is systematically excluded from any "systematic analysis" of drivers of those crises, as separately argued (Scientific Gerrymandering of Boundaries of Overpopulation Debate, 2012).
Remembering and Forgetting: The widely experienced process of "remembering" can be readily associated with that of "knowing". Similarly the process of "forgetting" can be readily associated with "ignoring". Any focus on the "knowledge" remembered or the "ignorance" associated with the forgotten, ensures a non-experiential distance from "remembering" and "forgetting" respectively. Especially meaningful are the transitions widely experienced between one and the other through partial remembrance.

Unlearning: This has been variously recommended as a means of engaging with the unknown. Indications are evident from the resources offered by the Institute of Unlearning. It argues that a great deal of energy is expended by those in power to craft an illusory world designed to benefit only a very small percentage of the population. The many mind-traps and emotional webs crafted by these perpetrators have left humanity in a largely disempowered, though apparently freely chosen, state.
A complementary perspective is offered by Erica Dhawan (Business Schools Need To Focus On Unlearning, Forbes, 13 June 2012) arguing that MBAs are trained to focus on what they learn rather than how or why they learn. In this light, business leaders should reflect on their learning processes to unlearn the old patterns that stand in the way of authentic leadership.

Durelle Price (Unlearning 101, 21 February 2009) Albert Einstein, icon of intellect and insight, said "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Universities are focused on higher learning when perhaps they should promote a course entitled Unlearning 101. Course objectives would include: remove cultural filters; abandon destructive behaviors; and stimulate individual creativity and ingenuity.

For Prasad Kaipa (Unlearning, Mithya Institute of Learning, 1999), unlearning is not any form of reframing or refreezing. These all focus on an end state whereas unlearning is about moving away from something rather than moving towards something. Unlearning is exactly what it says. Intending to let go of what has already been learned or acquired. It is not about right or wrong. It is about being open to and exploring something that lies underneath the judgment, underneath the right and the wrong.
Holes: The nature of "nothingness", ignorance and the unknown become especially mysterious when recognized as a "hole", as remarkably discussed by Roberto Casati and Achille C. Varzi (Holes and Other Superficialities, 1994) -- with respect to the borderlines of metaphysics, everyday geometry, and the theory of perception (as they summarize in the entry on holes in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). What might indeed be the cognitive implications, as separately discussed (Existential implications -- of a "hole" in conventional reality?, 2012) ?

These four possibilities together suggest a useful insight into the experiential dynamics of the relationship between knowing and ignoring. This derives in part from the adage take a step back, or retreat in order better to advance -- which acquires an experientially provocative sense through the sexual innuendo in the French form reculer pour mieux sauter. That interpretation relates the case of unlearning to sexual intercourse. It might also be interpreted as forgetting in order better to remember (as often recommended in the quest for creative inspiration). Together these offer insights into ignoring in order better to know. The insight is enhanced by the mysterious nature of "hole", both as a fundamental attractor and with respect to a memory "lapse" or "blank", especially as described in French trou de mémoire.

An extensive commentary on the interplay between knowing and not-knowing is offered by James S. Atherton (Doceo; Knowing and not knowing, 2011). He acknowledges "playing around with a conceit", namely the two senses of the term "know" -- awareness of self and knowledge of the world. With the aid of diagrams, he considers the matter in terms of:

Not knowing you don't know
Knowing you don't know
Knowing and not knowing that you know

Many other possibilities, meriting further exploration, are cited in the literature with respect to engaging with the unknown, as discussed previously (Going Nowhere through Not-knowing Where to Go, 2012). Some are briefly indicated, and tentatively clustered, as follows:

Unsayable and unsaid: The processes of this cluster notably suggest ways of engaging with the mystery of any cognitive "hole" -- with an "absence" and with what is "missing":
- Engagement with nothing: This has been separately discussed (Configuring the Varieties of Experiential Nothingness, 2012; Varieties and dimensions of experiential nothingness, 2012)
- Apophasis: As apophatic theology. this attempts to describe God by negation or unsaying, to speak only in terms of what may not be said about the nature of the perfection assumed to be characteristic of God. It is contrasted with the descriptive affirmations of cataphatic theology as separately discussed (Being What You Want: problematic kataphatic identity vs. potential of apophatic identity? 2008)
- Via negativa: The via negativa is closely associated with apophatic theology. A non-theological appreciation of via negativa has been most recently articulated by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Antifragile: things that gain from disorder, 2012)
- Negative capability. As formulated by the poet John Keats, "negative capability" the capacity to be "in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason" (1817). It is consistent with avoiding the fretful quest for knowledge and closure
- Dialogue profiling: A technique explored by Douglas Walton (Profiles of Dialogue for Evaluating Arguments from Ignorance, Argumentation, 13, 1999) develops recent research showing that in many cases lack-of-evidence arguments (negative evidence, ad ignorantiam arguments and ex silentio arguments) traditionally classified as fallacies can be used reasonably.
- Silence: This is traditionally valued in many meditational practices, possibly in the institutional setting of an intentional community or a hermitage (cf. The Deafening Silence of Those Who Know Nothing, 1998). The heart of meditation is considered to be an inner quality of silence and emptiness through which engaging with the undefinable becomes possible.
Nonduality and questioning: This is the transcendent appreciation of the challenge of opposites and binary thinking, and the questions it is possible then to formulate:

Nonduality: This is notably a focus of the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy (Epistemological Panic in the face of Nonduality: Does nothing matter? 2010). It may be ecplored in terms of the possibility of contractual relationships (Transcending Simplistic Binary Contractual Relationships: what is hindering their exploration? 2012)
Questions: The process of questioning to transcend duality has long been elaborated through the Zen koan, as separately discussed (Configuring a Set of Zen Koan as a Wisdom Container, 2012). The challenge may be explored in terms of avoidance (Question Avoidance, Evasion, Aversion and Phobia why we are unable to escape from traps, 2006), in relation to answering (Am I Question or Answer? 2006), or to cognitive catastrophes (Conformality of 7 WH-questions to 7 Elementary Catastrophes: an exploration of potential psychosocial implications, 2006).
Learning relationships and mediation: Here the focus is on the dynamics of the subtle cognitive relationship between teacher and student and the misunderstandings that may arise.
Chinese classics: It is to be expected that certain classic philosophical texts of China would suggest ways of engaging with the unknown and ignorance (Tao Te Ching, I Ching, Tài Xuán Jing), especially through the mnemonic devices offered by their encoding (cf. Tao of Engagement -- Weaponised Interactions and Beyond: Fibonacci's magic carpet of games to be played for sustainable global governance, 2010). Particularly relevant, with regard to the "nothingness" of ignorance as not-knowing, is the much-cited verse from the Tao Te Ching:
Thirty spokes share the wheel's hub; It is the centre hole that makes it useful.
Shape clay into a vessel; It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room; It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore profit comes from what is there; Usefulness from what is not there.
This is consistent with Deacon's recognition of the role of the "missing". However Firestein's recognition of ignorance as a "driver" suggests that, as an empty "centre hole", it is then actively supplying torque to the "spokes" of the wheel (of modes of knowing) -- in contrast to any implication that it is functioning purely passively. It is the subtlety of the active-passive relationship here which then characterizes the knowing-not-knowing dynamic. For a University of Ignorance it is the "usefulness of what is not there" which is the focus of attention -- in contrast to the "profit" to be derived from the various forms of knowledge (so insidiously associated with problematic growth). In the light of use of the mechanical metaphor, rather than "engaging with nothing" (as suggested by the subtitle of this paper), it is the manner in which "nothing engages" which is of interest -- in order to function as a "driver".

Paradox and humour: Various uses are made of humour to transcend conventional frameworks:
- Humour: Possibilities, including the tradition of crazy wisdom and the role of the court jester, are discussed separately (Humour and Play-Fullness Essential integrative processes in governance, religion and transdisciplinarity, 2005)
- Learning stories: These range from aphorisms and proverbs to the "teaching stories" favoured in some spiritual traditions, notably the Nasruddin learning stories widely disseminated by Sufis in the Middle East and the Islamic world. Aesop's tales are another example.
- Aesthetic design experiments: A distinct approach is that of the Oulipo movement a loose gathering of (mainly) French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. That spirit can be applied otherwise (Lipoproblems: Developing a Strategy Omitting a Key Problem, 2009) .
Statistical and strategic methods: Various techniques of a more conventional nature have been developed
- Uncertainty: The challenge of ignorance and the unknown, framed as uncertainty, has resulted in the development of various statistical techniques, including: probability theory, fuzzy set theory, game theory
- Brainstorming and crowdsourcing: Various brainstorming techniques are used to elicit imaginative responses to potentially threatening situations with unknown characteristics. These may take a different form through crowdsourcing.
- Antifragility: A postulated antithesis to fragility where high-impact events or shocks can be beneficial. Anti-fragility is a concept developed by professor, former trader and former hedge fund manager Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Taleb coined the term "anti-fragility" because he thought the existing words used to describe the opposite of "fragility," such as "robustness," were inaccurate. Anti-fragility goes beyond robustness; it means that something does not merely withstand a shock but actually improves because of it (Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Accepting Uncertainty, Embracing Volatility, Knowledge@Wharton, 17 December 2012). The relevance to ignorance emerges even more clearly when he contrasts with it with the understanding offered by knowledge (Understanding is a Poor Dubstitute for Convexity (Antifragility), Edge, 12 December 2012).
- Martial arts: The much-cited recognition by Carl von Clausewitz that war is the continuation of politics by other means has been adapted to sustained indebtedness (John Pilger, War by Other Means, 1992). Reference is frequently made to the role of knowledge and ignorance in military strategy as articulated by Niccolò Machiavelli (The Prince, 1513) and Sun Tzu (The Art of War). The martial arts may be reframed in cognitive terms as discussed separately (Ensuring Strategic Resilience through Haiku Patterns: reframing the scope of the "martial arts" in response to strategic threats, 2006)
Extraterrestrial communication: In exemplifying the unknown, consideration has occasionally been given to the post-contact content of communication with extraterrestrials (Communicating with Aliens: the psychological dimension of dialogue, 2000). Exemplifying the unknown, perhaps most intriguing are the questions relating to their "silence" and what humans might choose to say if contact were to be established.

Understanding the challenge of the knowing-not-knowing dynamic of any university community could be framed through conversation and its possible transformations within a "multiversal" community, as separately discussed (Enactivating Multiversal Community: hearing a pattern of voices in the global wilderness, 2012; Transforming the Art of Conversation: conversing as the transformative science of development, 2012). As a "conversity", a University of Ignorance might then embody a complementary extreme to a conventional university in this dynamic (Complementarity of university and conversity?, 2012).

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Clues to engaging with the unknown