8. THE TRIAD
"Intuition
At the peak of concentration
Propels a spark of Attraction across
The divide between the initial system
And the verbal networks.
Pulled back
The offshoot leaps again
And falls again
Leaping and falling
At the speed of a flywheel
Till the spin momentum releases
A deep hypnotic hum that permeates
Both systems at once.
As soon as the two vibrate as one
The offshoot associates—
Grooves a shortcut between
Related energy imprints stored in
Sensory and verbal memories.
The intuitive leap is
Sparked by friction
Between the two realities.
The stance of introspection—
The search for clues—
Setting the course.
Speed and silence—
The absence of verbal sounds—
Are the flywheel's main assets.
Its mission—to intellect:
To streamline the link between
Experience and its verbal interpretation
To integrate
The initial and the extended systems
Into one coherent whole.
As soon as the spin momentum
Wears down wings folding
Intellection collapses in on itself
Back to the mirrored chamber
From where it sprang.
In these processes
Lies the wisdom of children.
Discouraged early intellection rests
In its drowsy pre-human state
Dreaming of flight."
*
"So there you have it—
Three faculties together
Emotion Reason and Intellect creating
The Extended System of energy movements.
It blankets the host system
The noise of constant chattering
At once smothering and safeguarding
The primary system from
External impulses.
In the extended system
Each faculty has a thrust and pull
Which translates into will:
Emotion derives will from
The self-balancing forces
Active within the initial system.
Reason derives will from
The logic of cause and effect
Deduced through observation and
Intellect is Attraction itself.
All three
Draw energy from the host system.
Strung on a loop of energy they behave
Like the string in a cat's cradle—
Each responds to
Is regulated by
And in turn regulates the inclinations
Of the other two faculties.
Unlike the initial system which is
Self-sustaining and self-balancing
The extended system is
Self-regulating—
Therein lies the triad's strength
And its weakness."
*
"Enter Intellection
And the most rigid lines of reasoning
Start making illogical jumps—
Association dealing the wild card.
Faced with thoughts that defy
The linear logic of cause & effect
Reason attempts to
Weigh the un-weighable
Plumb the un-measurable
Divide the indivisible.
In spin intellection
Distills common human experiences
To ideas and ideals—
Truth Beauty Liberty Freedom Justice—
Each a summation of
Common personal experiences
Condensed by intellection to
A single word—the abstraction
A shorthand in communication
Subjected to this day to
Personal interpretation.
Intellection is a cerebral affair
A closed circuit event.
Unlike Emotion
It has no natural outlet—
Intense intellectual activities
Generate a restlessness so acute
So deep-seated so pervasive
It is hard to pin down
Or define.
The unrest is sustained by
A hunch a notion or suggestion
To make changes
In what you see or taste or hear.
Unless you intuitively reach for a material
Receptive to manipulation—
Clay color sound movement words
Thoughts or people—
Any raw material is a means
To engage the intellect
In self-expression.
Relief is in the hands of Reason.
The urge forcing it to act—
Either dismiss the notion outright
Or enact the changes envisioned.
If so inclined
Reason then supplies the means
To discharge the unrest.
Relief is at hand when
In the act of handling a material
The energy spilling into the medium
Mirrors that restless expressionless
Innermost self
Eager to emerge."
*
"In these ventures
Reason lifts the gates that spill Intellection
Into the usual emotional channels
The rush engaging emotional drifts as well.
And as the two forces
Intellect and Emotion line up
In a symbiotic relationship
The two empower each other.
Reason in the background may
By remote control
Even regulate the rush by
Keeping the two flows in balance.
The same disciplines apply
When Reason rides Emotion.
Then Intellect in the background
Moderates their opposing inclinations.
Also when Intellect and Reason
Work hand in hand
Emotion in the background
Sustains motivation and brings
The interaction to fruition.
As soon as the spin momentum collapses
Reason—the midwife—
Looks at what it has delivered.
It may admire or censure the results
Or suggest an adjustment
And following a hunch
Incite another bout of spin.
But suppose Reason insists on
Controlling the results and
Instead of watching what is evolving
Directs the hand to follow
Some preconceived ideal—
That's when Intellection collapses while
Emotion rushes on spilling itself
In explosive disruptive actions.
In these processes
All three faculties engage imagination:
Emotion uses imagination
To sustain motivation—
Regulates the momentum by
Tuning the expected results
Sprucing them up here
Inverting them there
To heighten the engagement.
Reason uses imagination by
Bending association to will.
Treated like a handmaiden
In the hands of Reason
Imagination complies unwillingly
But it will convert appearances
Into what they are not—
Dress up an ugly image or idea with
Adornments plucked from different sources
Or replace attractive features
With borrowed repulsive details.
Reason's pickings are intended to clinch
Some rational point in question.
In the hands of Intellect
Suffice a glint a nod in any direction
And imagination responds
Like a maiden wooed—
In the blush of excitement
Eager to please and tease the mind
Into ever greater expectations
It rushes to embellish
What an image already possesses—
Render an alluring object
Hauntingly attractive,
An unpleasant image
Fabulously ugly.
In the making
Details familiar but unrelated before
May come together in ways
That bring to life a thing
New to the world.
These high voltage activities
Reach fruition when in a medium
Leap after leap
A hidden human potential
Unfolds a world
Uniquely its own.
The results however bear no witness
To rational input—Reason
The attending midwife
Leaves no footprints behind
To justify the product's existence
Spun of unearthly air."
*
"But suppose Intellect's magical forays
Intimidate or threaten Reason and
Instead of lending a hand it dismisses
Intellectual offerings outright
By keeping the flood-gates shut.
Given no outlet
Intellection will either wither or
Embark on a venture uniquely its own—
Invade the rarified atmosphere of
Encrypted images and feelings
And conjure up visions—
Image by image event by event
Build a personal world so intense
So immediate so close to heart
The world created in the mind
Overshadows the world outside.
In this high octane atmosphere
Select words and thoughts
Fuel the delirium
While Reason
A pedestrian caught in high traffic
Rendered impotent by feverish visions
Is left dangling.
In hindsight
Reason may see Intellection as harmful
And grow shy of its ventures.
Or it may detect in visions
Amusing possibilities and
Taking a chance
Forgo rational proof and
Use the uncharted shortcuts
To advance its own objectives."
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