Cognitive shapeshifting?

Constrained, Unconstrained and Surprised in a Global Context (Part #4)

In his commentary on Zhuangzi (and in his own view), Tao Jiang suggests that Zhuangzi does not satisfactorily solve the tension between the contrasting kinds of freedom offered by the perspective of the frog and that of the turtle. Aside from the necessity of such tension, one approach is offered by mythical references to shapeshifting -- to be understood here in cognitive terms. Rather than as distinct frameworks, the fable can be held to imply a form of alternation between contrasting perspectives -- the frameworks of the frog and the turtle.

The possibility of such a dynamic is discussed separately (En-minding the Extended Body: enactive engagement in conceptual shapeshifting and deep ecology, 2003). There it was noted that the archaic belief in shapeshifting characteristic of Celtic myth is presented as a feature of the education of King Arthur by Merlin in T. H. White's classic novel The Once and Future King (1966). Through its many links to shamanism, cognitive shapeshifting has now become a theme of popular workshops and is also a feature of role playing and other games valuable to imaginal education. Explanations of shapeshifting have also been related to multiple personality disorder.

As previously explored (Being the Universe, 1999), there is a case for seeing oneself at any one moment as conforming to dynamics of any of a wide spectrum of species, from all levels of the evolutionary diaspora. This is consistent with the arguments of quantum mechanics for a participatory universe (Alexei V. Nesteruk, A "Participatory Universe" of J. A. Wheeler as an Intentional Correlate of Embodied Subjects and an Example of Purposiveness in Physics, Humanities and Social Sciences: journal of Siberian Federal University, 6, 2013, 3). However, with respect to the fable, it also merits recognition in terms of ecophilosophy and deep ecology (Alan Drengson, Ecophilosophy, Ecosophy and the Deep Ecology Movement: An Overview, Ecospherics, 1999; Henryk Skolimowski, The Participatory Mind: a new theory of knowledge and of the universe, 1994; Existential Embodiment of Externalities, 2009). The latter stresses the radical cognitive engagement with environmental categories and disciplines.

There is a way in which one can be an amoebic blob, a spider, a snake, a bird, a wolf, etc -- or labelled as such by others. To what degree are we all behavioural shapeshifters? Should shapeshifting be a part of our education (as Merlin purportedly offered the young Arthur and as in totemic education in many tribes)? How are we constrained in adopting particular behavioural patterns? When is there a case for experiencing reality as an amoeba? A (couch) potato? A doormouse? A tiger? What ecosystems do we then require in order to survive and thrive in that shape? How do we relate to others through such patterns?

Perhaps appropriately, understanding of the implication of a set of metaphors is offered by science fiction in speculating on the cognitive challenge of navigating the complexity of hyperspace, as discussed separately with respect to cognitive "shapeshifting" (En-minding the Extended Body: enactive engagement in conceptual shapeshifting and deep ecology, 2003):

An imaginative stimulus for such investigation is provided by a science fiction scenario explored by a number of writers. It focuses on the challenge of comprehending high degrees of complexity calling for decision-making under operational conditions (as is the case in global management). The problem is that of piloting or navigating a spacecraft through "hyperspace" or "sub-space", as imagined in the light of recent advances in theoretical physics and mathematics.

Because of the inherent complexity of such environments, writers have explored the possibility that pilots and navigators might choose appropriate metaphors through which to perceive and order their task in relation to qualitative features of that complexity - for example, flying like a bird, windsurfing, swimming like a fish, tunneling like a mole, etc. The mass of data input derived from various arrays of sensors, and otherwise completely unmanageable, is then channelled to the pilot in the form of appropriate sensory inputs to the nerve synapses corresponding to his "wings" or his "fins".

Perception through the chosen metaphor is assisted by artificial intelligence software and appropriate graphic displays. The pilot switches between metaphors according to the nature of the hyperspace terrain. Such speculations do at least stimulate imagination concerning a possible marriage between metaphor and artificial intelligence in relation to governance.

As a provocative follow-up to his study of shapeshifting, John Perkins (Shapeshifting: Shamanic Techniques for Global and Personal Transformation) has presents a later text under the title: The Shape of Things To Come: Shapeshifting -- adapting the classic preoccupation of H. G. Wells (The Shape of Things to Come, 1933). The meme invites other reflections (Secret sharing, Shapeshifting and Embodiment, 2011), notably consideration of resonance as enacting the world through shapeshifting.

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Cognitive shapeshifting?