Fundamental values and individual cyclic implication

Freedom, Democracy, Justice: Isolated Nouns or Interwoven Verbs? (Part #14)

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The above argument highlights the merit of exploring conventional values for the individual (health, food, shelter, etc) as better defined and comprehended in terms of cycles. There is the further implication that such comprehension then empowers new possibilities in response to situations in which these particular values are problematically recognized by their absence or dysfunction. The following argument follows in part from earlier studies (Needs Communication: viable need patterns and their identification, 1980; Spherical Configuration of Categories to Reflect Systemic Patterns of Environmental Checks and Balances, 1994).

In each of the following cases -- as with the example above -- English at least is challenged to recognize the "value" as a dynamic through an appropriate verb. Such recognition has previously been argued as a case of "unfreezing categories" (Framing the Global Future by Ignoring Alternatives: unfreezing categories as a vital necessity, 2009), discussed there notably in relation to: employment, health, safety, energy, education and growth.

Health: The fundamentally cyclic process of life is recognized through the biological life cycle. "Health" is increasingly commodified through notions of "health delivery". It is far less clear how individuals engage with -- and value -- their biological lives in cyclic terms. Typically, whilst understanding may be framed through the verb to "live", there is no dynamic sense of to "health". If health is better understood as an appropriate configuration of cycles, these might clearly include the following "systems":

• respiratory cycle
• digestive cycle
• blood circulatory cycle

Other "systems" which might be understood in cyclic terms are the lymphatic system and the nervous system. Clearly the cyclic nature may relate more to an experience over time than to a cyclic flow, as with the ovulatory cycle. Over longer periods of time, other cyclic dynamics may become apparent, as with the reproductory cycle. Reference is also made to the "aging cycle" (and how to mitigate it), notably through an "exercise cycle". The cyclic nature of the digestive cycle is also questionable in the absence of evident "recycling" of wastes -- through interaction with cycles relating to procuring of nourishment.

At the cellular level there are many processes, some of them cyclic -- as with the Citric Acid Cycle (Krebs Cycle), the Urea Cycle or the Glyoxylate Cycle, with flow in a cycle such that each component of the cycle is a substrate for the subsequent reaction in the cycle. The interweaving of such metabolic pathways are essential to life. It is noteworthy that, in the tradition of Wikipedia, WikiPathways is an open, public platform dedicated to the curation of biological pathways (for all species) by and for the scientific community. Over 1600 pathways are profiled. Is there a case for a psychosocial equivalent?

Of some relevance, understandings of "health" in relation to "disease" have been partially addressed in terms of Patterns Essential to Individual and Global Health? (2010) in considering the Cognitive Implications of Lifestyle Diseases of Rich and Poor: transforming personal entanglement with the natural environment (2010).

Nourishment: "Food" represents one of the values that is most clearly commodified and "packaged" (even literally so). It is increasingly recognized that such products are mistakenly understood as primarly to be acquired at markets, even supermarkets, totally disassociated from the farming and other processes from which food is derived. The cyclic relationship to nourishment has effectively been broken by dependence on agribusiness -- except for those few who choose to engage with their own food production in various forms of gardening and animal husbandry. Cycles that might be (faintly) recognized include:

• foraging / predation cycle -- possibly involving extensive travel (as with acquiring water), but perhaps now to be understood as going to the supermarket (or exploring the trash cans of restaurants for food waste)
• food preparation cycle -- perhaps avoided by acquisition of pre-processed foods
• consumption cycle
• waste disposal and recycling

Of relevance to this argument are the ways in which "food" as a value is reframed in more dynamic and cyclic terms by those who are not simply satisfied with its consumption. One example is the slow food movement. Also of relevance are the variety of concerns with cyclic patterns of dietary variation, notably as fundamental to health. Within a larger environmental context, importance is now attached to recognition of the nutrient cycle (the biogeochemical cycle) whereby nutrients move from the physical environment into living organisms, and subsequently are recycled back to the physical environment.

This argument with respect to nourishment has been extended to the possibility of a healthy "information diet" (Memetic and Information Diseases in a Knowledge Society: speculations towards the development of cures and preventive measures, 2008). A striking example is the possibility that widespread preferences for "positive" thinking may have implications analogous to preferences for "sweets" and the consequent rising incidence of diabetes (Barbara Ehrenreich, Smile Or Die: how positive thinking fooled America and the world, 2010).

Employment: A major source of stress around the world is the lack of "jobs" within the economic system as it has emerged and been elaborated. The notion of "job" is intimately entangled with "value", especially through the framing of "valuable" job from an economic perspective -- as a key to other values and as a measure of self-worth. Again, through this framing, jobs have become highly commodified. Within that understanding, evident cycles include:

• cyclic pattern of activity "on the job", as on a production line
• daily  commute and work cycle
• weekly cycle
• annual cycle
• career cycle -- involving the phases of exploration, establishment, maintenance and disengagement

By focusing on "employment" rather than "job", other potentially cyclic processes can be recognized as missing from such a checklist:

• cyclic shift between "employment" and "unemployment"
• cyclic engagement with other forms of "employment" -- as with "working in the garden" or "housework", which are typically not recognized as "jobs" from an economic perspective, nor as the kind of "job" to be valued
• cyclic patterns of "employment" of those to old to "work" or have a "job"

The "employment" framework can be used to suggest that to be alive is to be "employed" -- even minimally through the work required by the body to sustain itself. Respiration is a form of work from a thermodynamic perspective. In this sense "job" is effectively a distortion from an economic perspective of a wider, and potentially more fruitful, understanding of "employment". Understood in this way, it is with the cycles of "employment" that value is more closely associated, especially for those who do not have a "job". It is through this framing that the "job crisis" might be more fruitfully addressed.

The focus of worldwide protest is on the lack of "jobs", with politicians engaging in rhetoric on "job creation" -- effectively the ability to produce "employment boxes". This framing from an economic perspective is fundamentally unrealistic given that the possibility of "creating jobs" or "delivering jobs" is increasingly constrained -- in the light of rising demand -- most notably as a consequence of unchecked population growth. A potentially more fruitful approach is one of "engendering employment" through which a sense of self-worth can be sustained and enhanced, as previously argued (In Quest of a Job vs Engendering Employment: escaping economic disempowerment through enabling metaphors and software, 2009; Sustainable Occupation beyond the "Economic" Rationale Reframing "employment", "non-profit-making" and "voluntary" in a context of increasing "unemployment" and failure of "social safety nets", 1998).

This argument also calls into question the nature of the "wealth" (as a value) created by a "job", in contrast with the nature of the wealth associated with meaningful "employment" (Engagement: 14 Contrasting concepts of meaningful employment, 1996; Being Employed by the Future: Reframing the Immediate Challenge of Sustainable Community, 1996; Re-enchantment of Work: Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Its Off to Work We Go: Engagement in the 21st Century, 1996;  Sustainable Lifestyles and the Future of Work: Learnings from "The Employment Dilemma and the Future of Work", 1996).

Given the degree of stress currently associated with lack of "jobs", there is a case for according minimal attention to the "economic models" of those communities where employment is not remunerated in a conventional sense -- as long explored through "simple living" in intentional communities and lifestyles (Duane Elgin, Voluntary Simplicity: toward a way of life that is outwardly simple, inwardly rich, Quill, 1998). It is the fact that such options are not explored by economically-biased establishments which suggests that the prevailing model is deliberately designed to depend on the capacity to exploit the existence of a pool of people lacking "jobs" -- as argued from some political perspectives, perhaps to be understood as an "Ultimate Con".

Shelter: In a period when millions live in refugees camps, and more millions live in shelters inadequate for protection against intruders or the elements, new thinking is appropriate regarding the value of "shelter" -- readily framed as a product to be supplied via the building industry. The associated stress is exacerbated by exposure of many in such conditions to media presentations of the forms of "shelter" characteristic of some in the more developed societies. The cycles potentially associated with shelter include:

• construction cycle -- corresponding to the nest building phase of many animals
• maintenance cycle -- typically required of many dwellings
• heating / cooling cycle -- as required to engage effectively with the elements
• security cycle -- as required to ensure protection and defence against intruders
• refurbishment cycle -- characteristic of continuing desire for improvement of the shelter

The challenge of shelter, as with health and nourishment, is how the associated cycles are constrained and distorted by unchecked growth in family size. The challenge is further exacerbated for the elderly and disabled. The question that is readily forgotten is the quality of life represented by a shelter, even of the simplest kind, as extensively discussed by Christopher Alexander in the light of an appropriate "pattern language" designed to empower anyone to design and build at any scale (The Timeless Way of Building, 1979; A Pattern Language, 1977).

Alexander's argument with respect to the value of "shelter" understood in physical terms can be extended to other forms of shelter and the cycles they imply (5-fold Pattern Language, 1984). This included:

• Socio-organizational environment: namely the organization of social groups, organizations and networks.
• Conceptual environment: namely the organization of a conceptual framework or a body of knowledge.
• Intra-personal environment: namely the organization of modes of awareness adopted by a person.

Further to the insights of Alexander's subsequent work on Harmony-Seeking Computations (2009), it is possible to reflect on the value of "beauty" itself as being expressed by a verb rather than a noun (Beauty as a Verb: de-signing the future, human nature and the environment, 2010).

Individual attractiveness: The argument above with respect to the static appreciation of values as nouns vs. their dynamic appreciation as verbs is neatly reflected in the relative evaluation of human beauty. This is typically based on measurement of physical characteristics (height, weight, girth, facial proportions, etc) -- and far more  surreptitiously with respect to breasts, buttocks and penis as attractors. There is little capacity to evaluate attractiveness with respect to measures of movement except by expert jurors in sport and dance -- and, far more surreptitiously, with respect to intercourse. (Global Governance via a Double-breasted Strange Attractor: cognitive implication in a dynamic sexual metaphor, 2009)

Evaluation of the attractiveness of the capacity to "move" in society -- the people intelligence of personal interactivity -- might be said to be as inadequate as the evaluation of democracy, freedom and justice with respect to their more powerfully fundamental implications and capacity to engage attention. Upheld as inherently "beautiful" insights, it is in this sense that they are indeed "strange attractors" determining psychosocial dynamics.

Education: This is framed as a value which is a key to success within the prevailing socio-economic system. Within the framework of the human biological cycle it has been further associated with lifelong learning. For the educator, and possibly a potential student, an educational or learning cycle cycle can be variously defined, notably in the light of various models of learning styles, as

• assess needs, set objectives, design methods, design assessment, assess needs....
• learning cycle: engage, explore, explain, extend, evaluate, engage...
• David Kolb: identify further learning, plan, implement, apply, evaluate, disseminate, identify further learning... [this has also been associated with a reflective learning cycle]

A review of a variety of cyclic approaches to "experiential learning" is provided by James Neill (Experiential Learning Cycles: overview of 9 experiential learning cycle models, 2010).

Whilst all these "models" are valuable as explanations of a process, they are perhaps necessarily less explicit about the experiential enragement of the learner in learning cycles, notably when framed beyond the typical educational deliverables of skills and certificates. Less clear are the cycles in which people may fruitfully engage in the pursuit of "experience", "maturity" and "wisdom" -- however these are to be understood, especially in a more spiritual context. From a lifelong learning perspective, it is these which may be implied by "education" but how they are dynamically acquired and embodied is another matter.

Happiness: "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is upheld as one of the most influential phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence. In this context, happiness is considered one of the "unalienable rights". The nature of happiness and the capacity to pursue, "get" or sustain happiness is a matter of continuing research from a variety of perspectives. The features of a "happiness cycle" have been contrasted with a "depression cycle" by Herb Sorensen (The Happiness Cycle, 2000). The nature of the cycle has been challenged by Charlsie Winston (The Pursuit of Happiness Myth, 2007). As experienced, the cyclic dynamics might include:

• entertainment cycle
• recreation cycle
• gifting cycle
• celebration cycle
• socializing cycle

Again the question is whether the value of "happiness", understood as a noun, disguises qualities of happiness that can only be appreciated through cyclic dynamics. Especially interesting, given its place in the US Constitution as a defining instrument of democracy, is the extent to which American understandings of "happiness" will be written into any new constitutions of Arab countries. Given the condemnation of hedonism by Islam, the relation of any happiness cycle to the "hedonic treadmill" may well be challenged.

Identity and self-esteem: These interrelated terms are readily assumed to be adequate descriptors of what are necessarily subtle experiential, if not existential, processes. Administratively "identity" may simply be associated with "having papers" -- held to be "proof of existence". Whilst clearly much to be valued in some contexts, this framing clearly raises the question as to whether one can "exist" and have an "identity" without having such "papers" as evidence confirming the fact. This may be a matter of tragicomedy in the case of those formally declared to be "non-existent" or erroneously defined as "dead" -- as recognized by various associations for "dead people".

A cyclic approach to identity as expression of interlocking cycles has been undertaken separately (Emergence of Cyclical Psycho-social Identity: sustainability as "psyclically" defined, 2007).

Irrespective of the question of identity, a potentially more agonizing value, assumed to be described by a noun, is "self-esteem" or "self-worth" -- presenting the challenge of how it is to be "acquired". This challenge is central to the worldwide experience of depression and despair as separately discussed (Implication of Personal Despair in Planetary Despair avoiding entrapment in hopeful anticipation, 2010). This approach may be related to various understandings of phases of human development through challenging problems. These include the value crises -- crucial for continued development -- encountered through the lifecycle, as articulated by Erik Erikson scheme (Childhood and Society, 1963):

• Infancy (basic trust vs. basic mistrust)
• Early childhood (autonomy vs. doubt)
• Play age (initiative vs. guilt)
• School age (industry vs. inferiority)
• Adolescence (identity vs. role confusion)
• Young adulthood (intimacy vs. isolation)
• Adulthood (generativity vs. stagnation or self-absorption)
• Mature adulthood (integrity vs despair)

Especially intriguing is the case of individuals who have explicitly addressed their sense of identity by declaring themselves to be a "verb" or have explored the possibility:

• R. Buckminster Fuller: I Seem to be a Verb (1970)
• Ulysses S. Grant: The fact is I think I am a verb instead of a personal pronoun. A verb is anything that signifies to be; to do; or to suffer. I signify all three.
• Thomas A. Sebeok: I Think I Am a Verb: more contributions to the doctrine of signs (1986)
• Victor L. Schermer: J.D. Walter: Being a Verb, All.About.Jazz, 18 May 2009
• Flemming Funch: Being a Verb, 21 January 2003)
• Mark Stevens: The Importance Of Being A Verb…..And The Curse Of Being A Noun, Unconventional Thinking, 14 August 2008)

More complex still, given the system dynamics explicitly acknowledged, is the book-length exploration by Douglas Hofstadter (I Am a Strange Loop, 2007). This suggests a collective possibility, speculatively explored for those "afflicted" in this way (Sustaining a Community of Strange Loops: comprehension and engagement through aesthetic ring transformation, 2010).

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