Existential dynamic in a cognitive helicopter

Functional Complementarity of Higher Order Questions: psycho-social sustainability modelled by coordinated movement (Part #11)

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As noted earlier, the challenge of piloting a helicopter was the inspiration for Arthur Young's model -- used here to order WH-questions relating to movement in semantic space. Such are the cognitive challenges of helicopter movement that a study has in fact been made of a "cognitive helicopter" (A. Walsdorf, et al. Cognitive Helicopter Cockpit: From Human Operator to a Cooperation between Man and Cognitive Assistant System, Internationales Hubschrauber Forum 2000, Bückeburg). Of course the focus there is on the "helicopter", whereas here the concern is with "cognition".

WH-interactions with "reality", and how the latter is reframed and re-engaged by that process, might be understood as what being alive is all about. WH-interactions are what is happening moment by moment to sustain relationship with reality and be nourished by it. Those interactions are like a cognitive form of REM (rapid eye movement).

It would be very interesting to explore WH-interactions from a perspective of different kinds of meditation -- especially those so highly articulated by Buddhism. Meditation might indeed be understood as piloting a cognitive helicopter -- as "cognitive helicoptering". The higher disciplines of meditation purportedly involve engaging with reality so as to reframe the knower-known relationship. Who asks the questions? Who answers?

Ironically the term "helicopter" derives from the Greek adjective "elikoeioas," (Latin "helix")meaning spiral or winding and the noun "pteron," meaning feather or wing.

The ability of a helicopter to rise vertically and move in any direction is consistent with the freedom sought in many forms of meditation. Both "helix" and "wing" are significant metaphors in meditation. Again, the capacity to "hover" in place might be compared with the quality of detachment from mundanities -- as sought in meditation -- or the appropriate navigation of patterns of virtues and vices (Navigating Alternative Conceptual Realities: clues to the dynamics of enacting new paradigms through movement, 2002). Insights of relevance are also articulated in relation to aerobatics (see Why Hummingbird?, 2002). Arthur Young in 1946 moved on from his work on the helicopter to an interest in the psychopter -- the helicopter as a metaphor: "What is the Psychopter? It is the winged self. It is that which the helicopter usurped -- and what the helicopter was finally revealed not to be." (The Bell Notes: A Journey from Physics to Metaphysics, 1979). It might even be instructive to consider the parallels between the earliest efforts at helicopter design [more] and exploration of the psychological technologies of meditation.

This approach is also consistent with that of enactivism, and specifically the phenomenological explorations of Francesco Varela (The Embodied Mind, 1991) relating to embodiment as discussed elsewhere (En-minding the Extended Body: Enactive engagement in conceptual shapeshifting and deep ecology, 2003).

The helicopter metaphor also points to the merit of considering the importance of "torque" in the psychological analogue -- especially since torque is essentially a "twisting" or rotational force (Twistedness in Psycho-social Systems: challenge to logic, morality, leadership and personal development, 2004). It is the moment of a force; the measure of a force's tendency to produce torsion and rotation about an axis.

In the case of a helicopter, and in accordance with Newton's law of action and reaction, the helicopter fuselage tends to rotate in the direction opposite to the rotor blades. This effect is called torque. It is associated with the geometric center of the main rotor and results from the rotor being driven by the engine power output. It must be counteracted and or controlled before flight is possible and must be continually corrected during any manoeuvers:

Compensation for torque in the single main rotor helicopter is accomplished by means of a variable pitch antitorque rotor (tail rotor) located on the end of a tail boom extension at the rear of the fuselage. Driven by the main rotor at a constant ratio, the tail rotor produces thrust in a horizontal plane opposite to torque reaction developed by the main rotor. Since torque effect varies during flight when power changes are made, it is necessary to vary the thrust of the tail rotor. [more]

A form of "torque" has been considered of significance in relation to schizophrenia (T Blau. Torque and schizophrenic vulnerability: as the world turns. American Psychologist, 1977, 32, 997-l005). the question of "psychic torque" seems to have been explored by Eddie Oshins whose lifetime interest in martial and meditative arts was reflected in an experimental proposal for measuring certain forms of self-referential motion predicted by his theories. Through his Quantum Psychology project, he proposed a modification of the results of experiments with monkeys by A. P. Georgopoulos, which indicate neuro-correlates for mental rotations such as have been shown to occur in mental imagery by R. N. Shepard and colleagues. Oshins suggested a simple experimental adaptation from the wing chun kuen martial art's "siu nium tao form" to derive data supporting his hypothesis of a "psychic torque." [more]

The relevance of "torque" to any meditative "ascent" of a "psychopter" is suggestively indicated from a Zen perspective by Chuan Zhi Shakya (Being a Good Shepherd and Being a Non-Shepherd):

Non attachment is integral to Zen and if we foster it in our relationships with others we free ourselves, and others, from the emotional torque that all too often leaves us spiraling out of control. If we abide in the path of non-attachment, we won't get pulled into the tormented existence of the drug-abuser or the thief, and we'll be able to provide unbiased, selflessly motivated guidance when troubled people come to us for help.

A much more grounded insight into the relevance of vehicle driving to any understanding of navigation of cognitive spaces is suggested by the challenge of marketing vehicles, as in Driving dynamics are a metaphor for contemporary lifestyles:

Modern individuals want to drive actively, which can also mean fast, but not irresponsibly and always with the sense of having the vehicle completely under control. They want to enjoy a "sports-oriented" driving experience and feel the power in their vehicle.

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