Contradiction
This condition exists when we are presented with two or more perspectives or sets of practices that are of equal validity and are equally useful -yet differ in significant ways from one another and are not readily reconciled. This condition moves us directly into the gulf. From one perspective, we must focus on Discerning the value of each viewpoint or practice in order to choose the best one.
The primary concern from this perspective is to determine where the greatest truth is to be found and which option is most aligned with fundamental human welfare. An alternative perspective concerns Integrating the diverse perspective and practices. The primary concern from this perspective is recognition that there is one (and only one) unified reality which can be viewed from multiple, complementary perspectives.
Despite VUCA-Plus
Given these challenges of VUCA-Plus, it is easy to see why it is difficult to keep our relationships with other people together. Many years ago, Robert Sommer (1969) wrote about social dynamics and the designs of space in our communities that tend to move us away from other people. These socio-petal dynamics and forces seem to be in full force in our mid-21st Century communities—and were probably in full force when societies in the past were going through major transitions involving revolutions in perspectives, practices and power.
These revolutions tend not only to pull apart nations and cultures but also friends and even families. Yet, we find examples of extraordinary women and men who have retained their close and nurturing relationships with friends, colleagues and members of their own family. We turn in this essay to a family of musicians who have remained close despite major differences (that were central to a revolution in musical compositions). IN our next two essays we consider the capacity of an American president and a developmental psychologist to sustain relationships despite confronting the challenges of a political/military revolution and revolution in the conception of human development.
Exemplar: The Bach Family
Johan Sebastian Bach (J. S. Bach) came for a long line of musicians. The great musical legacy that centers on J. S. Bach began many years before he was born—and was sustained for many years after his death. While it is often declared that the “classical” era in music began with Hyden and Mozart, it really began with the “revolution” led by several of Bach’s sons. The complex, Baroque style compositions of J.S. Bach gave way to the more “streamlined” style of compositions produced by Carl Philipp Emanual (C.P. E.) and Johan Christian (J. C.) Bach. These two composers (and to a lesser extent their brother Wilhelm Friedemann Bach) appealed to the contemporary middle-class audience that now had sufficient money and time to attend concerts in Germany, England and other Northern European countries. Yet, in the midst of this major shift in the nature of European music, the relationship between the senior Bach and his sons was sustained.
It was not easy being the son of J. S. Bach. It was assumed by those who were hiring court composers, conductors and choir directors that the sons of J.S. Bach would bring the now outdated, “churchly” perspective of their father to a European community that was in transition from church and royal authority to secure authority. Music was no longer intended primarily for the upper class and members of the royal court and clergy. The new middle-class wanted music that was more accessible after a long day of “doing business.”
