The Geometry of Pluralism
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| Romanesco, Broccoli |
In
all of these cases, Pluralist thought is a cognitive tool, an ontological step
revealing the interconnected nature of existence. This Pluralist view does not
erase difference. It is not intended to gloss over the structural dynamics of
power or underestimate the fear and anger that rise up in response to the
forces we face. The darkness is great, the pain very real, the stakes high. We
are being called to action. The task before us is nothing less then
transforming the way that we live with each other and the planet. We are being
called to bring about true social justice, an internal and external peace
unheard of in recorded human history. We are being called to bring about an
environmental relationship drastically different then that which now enables
our survival. The information indicates that time is running out. This is our
narrowing window of opportunity to see the intricate and inextricable
interexistance between the social and the environmental worlds, and to work for
that totality, to work for a Global Justice.
Because
this is our current challenge, what we need is a clear model of how social
change actually happens. So that we can be strategic with our efforts. So we
can contextualize and co-ordinate our good work. So we can become lucid in this
movement and step into empowered choice- choosing our tools, allies and
campaigns from a place of conscious passion. So we can identify our true
opposition and find greater acceptance in our co-existence with others. So that
maybe we can come to love each other more, because maybe that is the only real
chance we have at pulling this one out.
Stepping
into pluralist thought, expanding the peripheral vision to include ever more,
seeing past closed categories to the larger, underlying territory. Gazing out
at this vast ocean of what is- there is so much. The area is wide and deep, the
raw expansiveness of it intuitively calls for a way to structure the space. Turning towards geometry,
the science and architecture of space, our mathematical language for navigating
its expanses. Seeking an appropriate form, a descriptive principle. Pulling
apart the scales, mapping out the emerging patterns. They come, building like
wave out of wave. The contours of this pattern are far too complex to be
described by traditional Euclidian geometry. And, remarkably, the
self-propagating, self-generating, self-organizing scales of what is seem to
follow the principles of a fractal.
Fractals
are self-similar patterns where smaller and larger iterations form the same
pattern on different scales. Fractals are everywhere in nature: lungs, river
networks, tides. A classic example is how a tree follows a primary branching
pattern. Its trunk reaches out to its larger branches, those branches then
reach out into smaller branches in a form that follows the original pattern.
Smaller branches then extend into leaves, whose spine is like a tree trunk
reaching out with larger ribs that then branch out into smaller phytocellular
branches and so on. These patterns repeating on different scales are everywhere
in nature. The smaller pattern not only follows the form of the larger, but
also experiences itself as an autonomous entity. An example of this is coral.
Coral is made from polips. Those polips are part of the larger coral organism,
functioning as one. Yet, simultaneously scientists have recently become aware
that each individual polyp is having it own polyp experience. You can also
think about how a brain cell looks like the projected image of the universe,
how planets orbit the sun similar to how protons and neurons orbit an electron,
or the way the whole planet behaves like a single living organism. The example
of the tree branching pattern is a simple spatial fractal. An example of a
time-space fractal would be something more like the carbon cycle- where beings
exchange carbon for oxygen at varying levels of coordination simultaneously. A
single animal exhales the carbon a tree inhales while the algae in the ocean
inhale the carbon off-gassing from industrial production while the hooves of
grazing animals turn up the oxygen in the soil and deposits carbon there all
occuring on different scales in innumerable interactions all at the same time.
Applying
this principle, I have developed a model of the machinations of social change
and a vision of Global Justice that I call Fractal Pluralism. Fractal
Pluralism brings a fractal understanding to a pluralist conception of social
change. Fractal Pluralism is a model,
a way of spatially visualizing the intricate interconnection of the full
spectrum of activities being undertaken by people to bring about a life
sustaining culture on this planet. It is a form of scalar play, collapsing the
dichotomy between local and global to show the complex layering and the
multi-scalarity of human organizing. As a model in action, it is geared towards
finding tactical alliances on all scales. This does not mean that everyone is
on the team. The opposition is real and a distraction;destruction and
disengagement are ever present. This model is a tool for visionary activists to
conceptualize their position in the pluralist process towards Global Justice.
It is a re-imagining of networks, intended to move us towards the goal of
discerning which relationships are useful to articulate, including markets,
governments, non-governmental organizations, spiritual communities and whomever
else one wants to include, honor and celebrate as doing the work to bring about
Global Justice.
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