Toroidal constraint -- nuclear fusion as metaphor of cognitive fusion

Framing Cognitive Space for Higher Order Coherence (Part #9)

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The widespread focus on cubic organization tends to obscure how, if at all, that static pattern relates to what flows within the pattern that connects -- and effectively defines that connectivity. The distinctive encoding of the 8 trigrams of the BaGua (discussed above) is indicative of transformations between whatever they can be considered to represent metaphorically. However the sense of what flows or circulates in experiential terms within that cubic "container" is relatively obscured, however it may be discussed (Circulation of the Light: essential metaphor of global sustainability? 2010). The question is one of how the transformation perspective between a static cubic pattern and a circular dynamic is to be comprehended.

Two indications are offered through technomimicry, given the fundamental importance of circulation to particular technologies (Engendering a Psychopter through Biomimicry and Technomimicry: insights from the process of helicopter development, 2011). One is provided by the design constraints of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). This depends on a toroidal construction in which the circulation of plasma is constrained by a pattern of 6 magnets and 18 toroidal field coils to prevent the plasma coming into contact with the walls of the torus (In the lair of the ring magnets, ITER, February 2016). Those design constraints can be explored with respect to a hypothetical cognitive analogue (Enactivating a Cognitive Fusion Reactor: Imaginal Transformation of Energy Resourcing (ITER-8), 2006).

The cubic framework above can be used to indicate how its toroidal elements might be used to frame circular pathways within the cube (below left). These could be interpreted in terms of information, attention or enthusiasm -- given the challenge of containing and focusing such flows, and avoiding dissipation. Flow could be notably explored in the light of the psychology of flow ( Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: experiencing flow in work and play, 1975).

A second indication is offered by the fundamental insights of Nikola Tesla into the rotation of a magnetic field, vital to the functioning of electrical generators and motors (Reimagining Tesla's Creativity through Technomimicry: psychosocial empowerment by imagining charged conditions otherwise, 2014). That includes a discussion of the Potential implications of alternation and rotation in psychosocial fields, Imagining a method for adapting Tesla's insights to a psychosocial context and Detecting a meta-pattern of connectivity amongst Tesla's insights. Especially relevant are Tesla's insights into fruitfully interrelating oppositely charged conditions ("positive" versus "negative"), as discussed there Encycling positive and negative for future sustainability. The current capacity for doing so in psychosocial systems is negligible, as is now only too evident in the toxic dynamics of democracies (Being Positive Avoiding Negativity: management challenge of positive vs negative, 2005; Barbara Ehrenreich, Bright-Sided: how the relentless promotion of positive thinking has undermined America, 2009).

Such considerations recall the mythical references to the role of the Ouroboros. As a challenge to the imagination in this context, this is further discussed separately (Explanation vs. Inplanation: multiversal embodiment through the Ouroboros, 2012).

Comparable circuit organization within a toroidal framework
Mutually orthogonal pathways (white) framed by the torus loops	Suggestive animation of circulation of relationships based on BaGua trigrams	Animation of helical coils embedded within helical coils indicative of an engendered "magnetic field"	Indicative association of Ouroboros with 64 interrelated conditions of change encoded by the I Ching, as an indication of the circular configuration of the variety of pathways of choice and decision

As a design metaphor, the exploration can be taken further using the 64-edged drilled truncated cube (indicated above), combining it with a complete rotation of the traditional Shao Yong circle of 64 hexagrams -- each circle being composed of 8 "houses" of 8 hexagrams. The inner trigram of each hexagram is common within each such house. The metaphor follows from the question of "what flows" cognitively within the framework of a hypothetical "cognitive fusion reactor". Variants of this particular design metaphor are clearly possible. The house hexagrams could be distinctively coloured, for example. The circles, with others, could be oriented in terms of other features of of the polyhedron.

Drilled truncated cube with rotation of mutually orthogonal circles of 64 hexagrams
Single circle of hexagrams	Double circle of hexagrams	Triple circle of hexagrams
X3D model; prepared using X3D-Edit and Stella Polyhedron Navigator

An incidental consequence of the software used to represent the circle in 3D (or a result of incompetence in its use) is that the orientation of the individual hexagrams (upper vs lower) is reversed when the circle is viewed from its other side (lower becomes upper). This has the merit of being a reminder of unresolved assumptions associated with directionality (Unquestioned Bias in Governance from Direction of Reading? Political implications of reading from left-to-right, right-to-left, or top-dow, 2016).

The following experimental animations use a design metaphor with the circle of hexagrams augmented by indication of many of the transformation pathways between them. Clearly variants with lower rates of rotation offer more reflective insights whereas at higher rates this is reminiscent of Tesla's rotation of a magnetic field (through which electricity is generated in dynamos).

Drilled truncated cube with animations of circles of hexagrams (augmented by transformation pathways)
Fast rotation of single circle	Circles associated with faces and verticals	Circles on faces of polyhedron
	video; X3D

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