As in the case of complexity, the presence of a group might help in meeting the challenge of contradiction and polarization. While a group that contains diverse perspectives can produce contradiction and polarization, it can also provide multiple outlooks that lead to a slowing down of the polarizing swing. Furthermore, somewhere amid the diversity is likely to be the “unifying” image or symbol that the Jungians suggest. This image or symbol can inspire and even guide a search for a shared perspective and outcome—or can serve at least as a bridge between the polarities. Collective intelligence in this setting shows up as a willingness of group members to listen to one another and to find safety in the collective, so that all members of the group can think and imagine “out of [their] box.”
Nothingness Interacting with Being
As I have mentioned, some of the most creative and perhaps sustaining uses of nothingness occur when it continues to exist and interplays with somethingness (Being). I have witnessed it in Ortiz’s violin concerto, and in the remarkable deconstruction of literary works and historical narratives.
Deconstruction
The text is broken down into small units (words, phrases) which are compared, correlated, and probed. Literary and historical biases are uncovered. And a new and often deeper meaning is revealed. Recently, for instance, Sharon Xiaoyn Ma, one of my doctoral students from China, “deconstructed” the naming of women and the representation of women in Chinese characters (Xiaoyn Ma, 2022):
“In the early feudal time, a woman can only have a family name as Shi, then after they got married, they put the husbands’ name Xing before the Shi, and that would be the way to refer to a woman, no given name at all. Although Chinese family names have a rich history and cultural content, women are still not allowed to be recorded in the book of the family tree. . . .
Each Character carries a narrative and imagination itself. The word ‘Nv’ means Female. In its original form, the Oracle letter Nv (Image above: Upper is Oracle letter, bottom is simplified Chinese characters) looks like a person crossing hands in a kneeling/sitting position. Immediately, people would associate the image with the female’s societal position at that time – bending over and obeying with no freedom nor rights. Then one may further imagine what it was like to be a woman in that period.
The word ‘Nu’ (First image below from left) has a left part of female (Nv) and right part as being caught by hand. It was said that during a war period, men were killed, and women were captured as trophies, ‘Nu’ means Slavery. To go further if we add a ‘Xin’(heart) at the bottom of Nu, the meaning changed from Slavery to Anger (Second image below from left). It described an intense emotion which is aroused by being a slave.
Furthermore, the word ‘An’ (Third image above from left) is a female (Nv) staying in a house. When women were in danger of been caught, it was better to stay in the house. This word means Safe. Other words like ‘Fu’ (Fourth image above from left) which has a female (Nv) on the left side and a tool on the right side, this character clearly shows that females are assigned housework. This word means Lady.
