Page Title

The trigrams are developed around the
notion of evolution. Moving through the
Early Heaven sequence of the trigrams of
the I Ching, Chinese Book of Changes, Yi
Jing, from the Lake Trigram to the Flame
Trigram, the Lake Trigram is interpreted here
as a symbol of the gene pool and the
recombination and reproduction of the genes
within a population's (of interbreeding
organisms (plants, animals,etc.)) gene pool.
The Heaven Trigram is interpreted as genetic
mutation and genetic drift as a source of new
variation. The Wind Trigram is interpreted as
the genetic adaptations, set points, and
adaptive peaks pursued by evolution.

The Water Pit Trigram is interpreted as the
physiological and genetic systems that
maintain reproductive and genetic systems
order and the regulative feed back that these
systems might impose.

The Mountain Trigram is interpreted as
genetic isolation, species formation, and the
input of information into species systems
generated by pressure on phenotypic forms.

The Earth Trigram is interpreted as the
resulting phenotypic form, morphology, and
measurable traits associated with it.

The Thunder Trigram is interpreted as the
expression of the genome and resulting
adaptation and maladaptive variation.

The Flame Trigram is interpreted as the
competition, extinction, and natural selection
that causes differential survival.

Genes selected by natural selection are
returned to the species gene pool, they
return to Lake, where they can be
augmented by further mutation through
Heaven in pursuit of the genetic adaptive
peaks belonging to Wind and supported by
Water Pit systems feedback and regulation.

For reference to these ideas, see Evolution
as Entropy, Daniel R. Brooks and E. O.
Wiley, The University of Chicago Press,
1986. Of course Brooks and Wiley take no
position on the I Ching, but they do develop
and interesting position on Evolutionary
Theory. See page 132 of the above for the
following quote: "Evolution is not just a
manifestation of changes in the genes and
developmental programs of individual
organisms. It is also a manifestation of the
way in which such changes, reflected in
phenotypes affect populations and species."

In our system, these changes emerge in the
Heaven Trigram (as mutations), are manifest
in the Earth Trigram (as phenotypes). The
genes (Wind Trigram) are expressed
(through genetic systems of Water Pit) in the
Thunder Trigram, selected for in Flame,
isolated in separate species in Mountain and
collected in the gene pools of the population
in the Lake Trigram.

Everything is a result of contrasting polarities
emerging out of Pascal's Triangle, the
emergence of the binomial progression, the
one point the here and now monad of the
subjective essence generating the primordial
threads of the two point vectors of primitive
time that twist upon each other to generate
three point triangles of wave formations
space, that bend back to generate the two
point vectors of relativity and the one point
locus of virtual photons.

This emerges into the four points of space
and the five points of relativistic space time.
As part of this progression, the local and
individual differentiate from the universal and
collective and the measurable emerges from
transcendent potential.

Imposed upon this is the polarity between
the yang of thermodynamic mass-energy
and the yin of weightless information and
systems order. This polarity is the bottom
line of the trigrams of the I Ching.   As the
long middle line of yang wholeness
separates from the broken parts of yin
quanta, the middle order of the I Ching
generates the middle line of the trigram.
Finally the yang of the infinitesimal creative
beginning separates from the yin of group
association and reflection to generate the top
line of the trigram and the final stroke of the
three dimensional eight trigram double
tetrahedron octahedron pyramid cube.

This separates creative mutation, or the
Heaven Trigram, from phenotypic results, the
Earth Trigram, and natural selection, the
Flame Trigram, from the order and regulative
feedback selected, thus, the Water Pit
Trigram. Out of this comes the emergence
of genetic expressions, the Thunder Trigram,
and the genetic set points and adaptive
peaks that guide that expression, the Wind
Trigram, the gene pool of those genes and
their recombination, Lake Trigram, and the
isolation of unique species, organisms, and
organs as the separate entities in which this
genetic and environmental information is
segregated and stored, thus, Mountain
Trigram.

As discussed elsewhere, these Trigrams are
the tetrahedra of the Greek Elements and
the tetrahedra of their opposites. Earth =
Earth Trigram, opposite Heaven, Water =
Lake Trigram opposite Mountain/Salt, Air =
Wind Trigram opposite Thunder/Noise-dust,
Fire = Flame Trigram opposite Water
Pit/Pottery from Kiln, Metal Bowl from Forge.

They are the Conflicts of Transcendental
Ideas (Kant, Critique of Pure Reason), thus,
a world with no beginning, the romantic
temper is Heaven and limited world, the
realistic temper is Earth. The next conflict of
transcendental ideas involves the
phenomenological observer as a simple part,
Mountain Trigram, the impressionistic temper
against the complex mixture, the
post-impressionistic temper that is fashion
art, or Lake Trigram. The third conflict of
transcental ideas, per Kant, puts the focus
onFreedom as a causal mode and the cubist
da da temper, Flame Trigram, and no
freedom, or the baroque, the absolutist
temper, and the Water Pit Trigram.
The final conflict involves the necessary
existence of an ideal being,here we bring up
the Wind Trigram, the classical temper
against the lack of such an ideal being, the
Thunder Trigram, and the expressionist
temper.

These polarities can be matched to the
economic orientations developed by Fromm,
Flame brings out exploitation and Water Pit
is associated with its receptive orientation
opposite. Heaven and Earth are the
aboriginal and industrial utilitarian
polarizations of the productive orientation.
Wind is hoarding and refining, and Thunder
is marketing. Mountain is a segregating
intermediate between exploitation and
hoarding and Lake is its mixing and
recombinant opposite.

So we see the evolutionary model at work.
From the gene pool comes recombination of
genes and sexual reproduction and finally
various maladaptive expressions.
Competition between species works to
generate extinction and natural selection.
Genes are isolated and segregated into
species through various forms of genetic
isolation and speciation. This allows the
development of highly adaptive genetic set
points in a hierarchy of levels of organized
emergence. Gene pools are extended by
mutation to a maximum of variability.

Adaptive set points establish goals against
which regulative feedback maintains
homeostasis and measurable phenotype
traits. Input and analysis generate stored
data. Traits are selected for and the
segregated genes that code for these traits
are isolated and stored in the genome. So
that the genetic set point is the Wind trigram
opposite of Thunder trigram maladaptive
expression.

Regulative feedback is the Water Pit trigram
opposite of Flame trigram natural selection.
Heaven trigram mutation is the opposite of
Earth trigram phenotype. Mountain trigram
segregation and isolation is the opposite of
Lake trigram genetic recombination.

mutation is opposite of phenotype
gene pool is opposite of trait
recombination is opposite of segregation
reproduction is opposite of store geneome
maladaptive expression is opposite of
genetic set point
competition is opposite of gene set goal
extinction is opposite of regulative feedback
homeostasis is opposite of genetic variation.

evolution                               biosphere                                evolution
                 gene pool                                          gene pool
                       mutation                                recombination
variation                 hierarchy   goal       hybridization               reproduction
                     genetic set point    regulative feed back
gene stored information         code         homeostasis              population
                    segregation                       phenotype
variation                 isolation      trait         demonstration          reproduction
       extinction natural selection                 maladaptive expression
                 competition                                      competition
evolution                                  organ                                        evolution

Whole=biosphere opposite part=organ
self=gene opposite group=population
flux=evolution opposite fixed=code

source=mutation opposite result=phenotype
ideal=genetic set point opposite expression=maladaptive expression
analysis=segregation opposite synthesis=recombination
open=natural selection and extinction opposite closed=regulative feedback

ground=gene pool opposite form = trait
purpose=goal opposite action=competition

individual= isolation and speciation opposite collective=hybridization
transcendent=hierarchy opposite manifest=demonstration

variation=variability opposite sameness=homeostasis
conservation=stored information opposite development=reproduction

What we see above is the ultimate abstraction, the point where mathematics,
reason, art and design blend into the metaphysics of everything. There is a
pattern of pattern, the systems pattern that operates the opposition of order
and chaos basic to natural selection. This pattern is the infinite flux that
makes the improbable probable and causes the emergence of gene and
code and language based set points at every level of organization. At each
new level of organization there is less struggle and more harmony, less hate
and more love, less sadness and more joy. Each new level of organization
displays a new aspect of the good, the improbable ideal.

That ideal is the classical and its expression is the expressionistic. The
infinite flux that makes it possible is the romantic and the results of that flux
are the realistic. Mental activity generated by this process is the
impressionistic and emotional the post impressionistic, the order generated is
the baroque and its opening up is the cubist.

EVOLUTION AND THE TRIGRAMS

Evolution and the Trigrams