ADAPTIVE HYPERCYCLE OF SUSTAINABLE PSYCHOSOCIAL SELF-ORGANIZATION
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 5 Apr 2010
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service
Designing a Mapping of a Chinese Metaphorical Pattern Language
Introduction
This is specifically concerned with further possibilities of mapping the interrelationships between the set of conditions of change identified and encoded by the 64 hexagrams of the Chinese classic known variously as the Book of Changes, the I Ching, the Yi Jing or the I Ging. The argument developed in the earlier paper is that this offers a rich formal representation of system dynamics with which poetic metaphor has been fruitfully associated to enable widespread comprehension (System Dynamics, Hypercycles and Psychosocial Self-organization: exploration of Chinese correlative understanding, 2010). The point was further made there that, in the light of developing understanding of complex systems, the pattern of interlinked “changes” effectively constitute a hypercycle. Enabling comprehension of such a hypercycle could prove fundamental to comprehending the essence of sustainability in the face of emerging turbulent psychosocial conditions. This challenge is intimately related to that of the need to navigate the adaptive cycle with which they are associated. The case for recognizing an adaptive cycle has been made by the Resilience Alliance and by Thomas Homer-Dixon (The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization, 2006).
The merit of the set of Chinese encodings of change conditions, as discussed previously, is its claim to comprehensiveness and relevance to governance — at a time when the influence of China on global policy-making is increasing dramatically. Its widespread appeal is clearly also to be appreciated in a period of alienation from conventional faith in governance and authority in their various forms (Abuse of Faith in Governance, 2009)
The argument explores how the Fibonacci spiral might be used to configure the relationship between the conditions of change — and facilitate understanding of them. There is the possibility that such design properties might enhance psychoactive engagement with the patterns of change, for reasons previously presented (Topology of Valuing: psychodynamics of collective engagement with polyhedral value configurations, 2008). Such a combination of imagery responds to the challenge of combining the developmental dynamic of the spiral with the invariance of the pattern of changes as a whole. It is in this sense that the result has the potential of increasing the accessibility of insight into the nature of any adaptive hypercycle and its significance for sustainable psychosocial organization.
Specific conclusions are drawn with respect to global governance communication — especially as reflected in the architecture of conference venues, notably in the anticipated innovation of a semantic web environment appropriate to a global knowledge-based society.
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