Strange bedfellows – the inherent complementarity to Universe
R.Buckminster Fuller said that Unity is Plural, at minimum two.
To an up we have a down. To an in, an out.
There is an inherent complementarity to Universe. Often times the complementary pair is not a mirror image.
The palm of my hand is different than the back of my hand, yet they are paired.
Some of the strange bedfellows of complementarity are;
Tension and compression
Flow and resistance
Multiplication and division
Male and female
When we are designing stable systems we need to consider the complementary pair.
Where is the tension by design? Where is the compression, by design?
Where is the flow, and where is the resistance?
If we do not design in the complementary pair then we will not get integrity, and our design will not hold its shape.
To design for a world with a future we need to ask…
What am I designing for? What is the world I seek to design for?
For example, more flow, more well-being, more vitality, more money?
And for each of these elements, what is the complementary pair? How do I design for these too to live within the structure in a healthy way?
Where is the resistance to the flow? Where is the female to the male?
Our world is lopsided because we have dismally neglected to do this. We want the bright shiny outcomes without designing in the complementary pair as an integral aspect of our design.
We want happiness without finding a space for sadness. We want consensus without allowing robust debate and healthy conflict. We want zero poverty without considering the complementary pair to our sovereign currencies.
Photo taken April 14th 2021
