World Futures Studies Federation,
WFSF, Nairobi 1995
Eco-Philosophy and Environmental Ethics, Section III

The Optics of Ethics
Scales, Patterns, Scales, Horizons, Proportions, and Consequences in Shared Perspectives

Abstract
The paper argues for a more adequate basis for conceptualisation and communication by making use of common cognitive spaces, and suggests how simple frames of references can be used for more complicated issues such as environmental concerns or eco-philosophy.

One central concern is Babel's mis-understanding, when people think they know, but don't and fight for their truth or school of thought. The author sees a need to share the context of terms and concepts. How a term is meant and understood very much depends on whether the frames of mind match and whether we find ways to address issues like values, scales and domains in one comprehensive frame of mind.

The paper reviews old terms as Gestalt and Wholeness and tries to establish a global index or Conceptual Superstructure as a general orientation layout providing overview and rough orientation.

The main challenge is to address the integration or at least friendly co-existence of reductionistic and holistic ways of thinking, helping us to address broader issues instead of neglecting or fighting them - Man is very much the enemy of what he doesn't know - Exchange and futures make him afraid, and other territories and realities are alien as long as there is no idea of co-existence and connectedness. With a broader umbrella, fighting fences and the battle of perspectives we might be able to learn to edit and design flexible new layouts to match selected positions (from where we look). Finding a place with common land marks and directions might help to see coherence and "common grids" in concepts such as GAIA, holism, and synoptism.

Highlights

Reflections on the Medium and Mode of Inviting and Sharing Position, Perspectives, Horizons, Scales, Proportions and Consequences
Proposing an Ensemble of Spaces or Panorama of Known and Unknown Domains to share Common Context and Frame of Reference needed for Synoptism and Synthesis
Pondering on how we see the world and how the nucleus of ecological and ethical thinking can help to foster integration and systesis - counteracting fragmentation and isolated reductionism.

key-words:
orientation, ethics, overview, world-views, wholeness, holism, responsibility

Foreword:
The Indian legend of the 'seven blind men and the elephant' is one of the many which tells us that searching for knowledge is not enough and that we have to watch out what and which senses speak to us and whether can they form a coherent and simple impression, fitting the criteria of harmony and beauty. The selection and priority of senses has given rise to many stories, such as the question, even Confucius could not answer! The question was if the sun is closer in the morning and evening as it obviously larger in diameter during this time of day, or whether the sun is closer to Earth at high noon, as the sun is obviously much warmer then (Obviously the essence of the question is, as obviously means 'being in the way', if objects are physically or visually 'in the way' and if we can gain from adding and checking perceptions through cross/reference - forming a bigger multi-sensorial picture - an deep (German) Anschaung, Schau ! or 'flat' modern show ?

To integrate these perceptions we need common frameworks, shared references allowing shared understanding. Not in the way as Descartes has put it, I think therefore I am, instead I communicate - so we have to realise "that the Universe is not a collection of objects, but a communion of subjects" and "that the universe is the only text without context, every particular mode of being is universe- referent and its meaning is established only wihin this comprehensive setting" (Thomas Berry 1993 in "Earth and Spirit"). So trying to link to an open and flexible map of or possible knowing about the universe might be one possible approach.

To make our riddle and mission more complicated again, humankind has to learn that we have in a modern multi-medial world more things than meet the eye, hidden dimensions everywhere, the more we encounter spaces and places outside of our environment and direct touch, but as relevant to survival as the elementary, direct and obvious factors in earlier times.

Principle Responsibility and Hope
The "Environmental Ethics" and "Principle Responsibility" author Hans Jonas stressed these point by putting Responsibility "into the "Heart of Ethics - with a space and time horizon! " So we are well advised to follow up on these lines by embodying the "Heart of Ethics" designing a space and place to have a continuum where issues, values and positions can meet .

The main section of this paper is to summarise briefly the design of Panorama of interconnected Spaces, -real, synthetic, design for cognitive and conceptual realms, as it was first presented in 1990 in the German Chancellery. The questions this summary will raise on mental mobility, illumination of dark spots in the "Blackbox Nature", and motion visualisations can not be covered in this paper in detail. We therefore need to refer to other publications ( ************ ). After some ontological and epistemological question relating to how such a view of "life and nature" fits into the philosophical domain and quest for orientation, some very real and practical experiences and reflections, on world-views, tolerance, education, knowledge organisation and information management in the times of multimedia and cyberspace follow. Needed is some reflection on technological and societal evolution and how imagination and extended representation schemes, symbolical, sub-symbolical and schematical, plus image schema (metaphors) might help to paint a more comprehensive and coherent picture.

Why use the metaphor and the world of optics?
According to Howard Gardner (1983), Gardner who is also author of "Frames of Mind", we can clearly identify seven intelligences. Rudolf Steiner claims that we can distinguish a windrose or mandala or spectrum of twelve senses (adding the sense for balance and weight for example). We might need to be aware of other frameworks and systems which help us to survive and find orientation. The challenge put forward in this paper is to look for a friendly co-existence and some exchange between such different systems and how they can be cultivated and made to learn from another through integration and by forming more comprehensive pictures or umbrellas. Needless to say that the above senses are not to be considered meta-physical, rather as other frameworks which need attention and might help to bridge between the inner and outer urges and drives. The use of terms from visual perception provides interesting ways to help us consider integration of different views into poly-scopic and poly-morphic "deep" and coherent designs.

A Coherent Problem, Solution and Learning Space/Map
The Problems of Modelling and Creating Concern How can we see and share the same thought, if the subject is not there, is not real? One answer is that we create models. But conventional models in, forecasting, for example have many dimensions and parameters and are therefore are not transparent or easily understood. Typically visualisations are reduced to line graphs or thematical maps which present distributions in different phases, some selected results, but not the how and why, the basic ontological and epistemological questions.

Embodying Thought
In childhood we learn that we should use a figurative language, taking words and situations out of the physical environment and then carrying and transferring meaning metaphorically to other (abstract) situations by helping to recreate the pictures in the mind's eye of other persons. Most of our language and reasoning is rooted in such physical senso-motor schemes and are described in figures of speech (metaphors or image schema) and body language which can signify and secure proper understanding. Just as we use body language to support and underline verbal language, our thinking and reasoning is easily to be understood in a plastic and embodied form,

Immersion into an ensemble of Pictures or Models
To embody can also mean to visualise and we want in this text not to create imaginary and virtual realities, which are nice to have for fun and fantasy, but embodied conceptualisation with the help of spa(c)tial metaphors in a conceptual superstructure, which helps us to see and share positions, proportions, views and perspectives.

The Three challenges - magnitude & detail, time & change, and terms & ambiguities.

Traditions tell us to step back, get distance and remove our view-point, detach ourselves and look for coherence, but this only works if we have a flexible belief system which allows us to share and integrate, develop tolerance and perspective, and do not avoid unifying visions.

The basic dimensions to be integrated are quite clear. First, the dimension of magnitudes, E.F. Schumacher saw for example the key challenge in the focus on size. Whether 'small is beautiful alone is enough, or we we need to be aware of other scales as well, is another question as rised by Tourough and Carl Amery requueting to also care for the larger or planetary scale. Secondly, the dimension of time and change, Thirdly, the dimension of terms and ambiguities within and between languages

Integration into the blackbox - CUBE

"Environmental Applications" Global Understanding and Awareness - Challenges to World- View Compositions In particular in Environmental Research; Management and Education the communication and orientation of scales involved is needed to share Levels, Perspectives and Consequences. As the need of having the same co-ordinate system for fast and slow processes was already mentioned above it should be only mentioned that the proposal of the Eco-Cube or Blackbox Nature "evolved" out of the embodiment and construction of the definition of Ecology (integration and interaction along and across the dimensions: domain, scale, and time, and that this definition is used as the switchboard or translator between syntactic and semantic spaces, or objects and subjects. Ecology seen as a meta- discipline seems to be able to integrate and be an example to combine inner and outer perspectives.

It looks like Nature is increasingly complex, the more we know and question! If we only collect and assemble the parts we do know, while we are ignoring the gaps and holes of what we do not know, we have the other effect, building up a feeling of competence and control, but surely and with some faint awareness know that we neglect the unknown and unknowable segments. As we seem to be unable to fit the pieces of the puzzle together we give in and become dogmatic to secure our "argumentation". By discrimination of pieces which do not fit, instead of stepping back and trying to find another design or picture to assemble the pieces, we harden internally and feel fixed, frustrated as we can not live up to our most exciting capacity - our mental mobility, our urge to avoid any chains, walls or narrowness, depriving ourselves from seeing compositions of bigger coexistent pictures. We are unable to see a bigger picture.

Reasoning and decision sharing by reducing complexity
The philosopher Hans Jonas wrote in his "Principle Responsibility" that Ethics has to be seen with a space and time horizon. But this requires a new kind of thinking, a thinking in a speculative or conceptual realm we call a "Space of Meaning" or "Situation Spaces " (see also below). In such an imaginary or cognitive space we might be able, as in a physical space, to find a (common) orientation and share it with others! The requirements for such a space are: Coherent layout, simple and easy to memorise design, and acceptance. But only if we agree on it as a common layout or map can we navigate together and share the new artificial overviews, "land-marks" and other means for better orientation. The categories and subdivisions of the Blackbox Nature match with the hierarchies of constitutions by Stephen Jay Kline (****) as we found out recently when studying his text The Power and Limitations of Reductionism and Synoptism. Maybe this is a basis to go beyond narrow discussions over categories or cells.

Another example of integral wok is the paper on Robust Paths, Group IV, Futures and Economy Section at this conference **************. As we need to come down to credible and sharable argumentations and scenarios, the paper reflects on robust modelling and robust paths, paths which can be understood and shared! Reducing the number of variables in modelling and visualising alternative trends, their domains, proportions and consequences might be a necessary approach. As the history of modelling clearly shows, no progress can be expected by presenting vast numbers and fighting over details which can not be communicated and only resulting in aggression or absenteeism. The above approach of "robust modelling", by reducing the complexity by using only a few "governing" parameters they communicate either the short-term, and **??????????????****** linear obvious, or with more factors involved, become increasingly perplexing, full of non-linear surprises, with hard to understand and questionable results. This might be one reason why the outlooks based on models have found little acceptance and credibility in the public. Another is the above opacity, that there is no way to conceptualise different scales into one picture and results seem to be artificial, vague, and in any caseanyway one to be observed as spectator, not involving, touching and resulting in action items for actors.

Overview and Sharing in Situation Spaces
The author is very much indebted to Robert W. Lamson for introducing him to his work on Situation Rooms. As some readers are aware of modelling and use of advanced visualisation techniques in the field of manoeuvring as presented not only at public military graphics exhibitions, it is obvious that tactical and strategic spaces can not only be physical spaces, but also virtual or cognitive spaces as defined before in the Conceptual Superstructure (***). The Situation Room typically uses a sand-box kind of representation in cyberspace. This can be used to jointly immerse persons into scenes and participate in a Situation Space . Such technology is well advanced for fun and play applications, creating fantastic environments, a layout to plot and map alternative societal paths in a participatory way is far from realisation.

The design and layout of the PANORAMA Bridge
According to the philosopher Karl Popper we need to design a comprehensive picture within which knowledge and observations are integrated. This suggests the need for a knowledge reference system which covers not only physical objects, but also issues, abstract dimensions, and concepts, and which eases access, exchange and interaction. Such an umbrella "Dachsystem" or umbrella will serve to order the global store of information and to develop a process which facilitates the meaningful and rapid retrieval of information. It is possible to combine data structures and scaffolding yielding a multi-dimensional superstructure or meta-base of relevant information. For example, in a system of co-ordinates in "knowledge space" and a set of "data landscapes" effective use of metaphors like "mapping orientation" and "knowledge warehouse" will enable a) efficient indexing and storage of the original material, b) filtering and locating information according to conceptual and logical screens, c) combining and storing this information in the meta- base.

FIG 1.: The Panorama Bridge The paper presents the state of development of a cubic and sharable framework bridging syntactic and semantic realms with help of another cubic frame which works as a translator and interface. The connected spaces, joined through time, called (3Space/Time) help to identify and configure knowns and unknowns. Basic (to the idea) is the exploitation of the assimilation potential of visual access and design, and the use of pieces of Art and Natural pictures to portray situations, invit-e(ing) and ignit- e(ing) new, diagonal thinking.

The subject-box enables us to map out how we are looking at the objects in the object-box and the context-box enables us to map the metaphors of understanding the kind of reality in which this is taking place. Cognitive images provide means of transport between the different elements of the display, representing movements of thought. By having such an extended space-representation of our concepts, it is possible to discover patterns of thinking that are dynamic and integrative. The Panorama design uncouples the rigid connections that usually operate in our thinking, giving the elements space to breathe and produce new life.

The centrepiece of the proposed Panorama of Knowledge and meta-knowledge is called Blackbox Nature and can be understood as a mirror or translator between objects and subjects (see Jung/Pauli). The proposed architectonic of open real or abstract spaces links entities (real and abstract objects) and concepts into a common context or layout (PANORAMA) and makes use of metaphors as spacial image schemata .

It is appropriate to note from the spa(t)cial metaphor and interface design paper below, that mnemonics was a highly developed art prior to the widespread availability of paper - and especially to facilitate the task of orators of renown. A major feature of this art was the distribution of information onto visual surfaces which could subsequently, be walked through and interrogated for the next points in an argument. Typical surfaces were so-called "memory palaces" and garden scapes (mandalas should also be seen in this light). It can now be argued that there is an analogous need for such visual metaphors to enable individuals to handle information overload and retain some control over the information they endeavour to possess. Spatial metaphors can be seen as vital to retaining possession of information and avoiding "memory leakage" or the effective "dismemberment" of one's information space.

Comparable with the physical eye exploring a scene or landscape, the mind's eye is employed in exploring imaginary mind- and theme-scapes (Fig. 3). Both the physical reference and the mental reference must be united in a global research paradigm (Fig. 4), one which is desperately needed to allow us to uniformly address critical environmental issues.

When attempting to configure data and knowledge in one universal system one has to make compromises; but, as we can see with the Ekistics grid projected in time, it is both possible and feasible to organise information logically and to access it an uniform and easy way. Similar approaches to allow bridging between specific fields and to learn by vacant-cell analysis in grids or multi-dimensional matrices can be found in many fields. The field of bionics, for example, is gaining attention due to its ability to integrate hitherto unrelated concepts and subjects.

In search of a systematic and harmonious layout, focusing on internal order, we have given some thought to harmonisation within and between domains. It is necessary not only to make use of expertise and results in other domains, but also to compare and evaluate different methods and approaches. This approach is reflected to some extent in the "T-personality" concept (Machol, Ropohl, Duerr): an idea which combines 1) the horizontal overview and analysis of other fields (i.e. the generalist approach), with 2) the vertical view and in-depth exploration within one discipline or subject (i.e. the specialist approach), thus supporting the required harmonisation and cross-disciplinarity. For further details one can study the work of Budin in the field of Terminology and Knowledge Organisation, using the concepts of bridging the compatibility and comparability gaps as developed in the above mentioned UNEP Harmonisation Project based on the mandate of the Environmental Advisors to the G7 Economic Summits .

The concept alluded to here invites the fluid combination and recombination of cells, accompanied by further detailing and focusing "on the fly". This is the only sensible approach given our interest in problems where, to begin with, neither the questions nor the target knowledge are fixed in a formal conceptual framework, and where, finally, we don't understand the problem for which we are ultimately looking. Hence our difficulty in structuring and informing appropriate and productive projects to solve environmental problems. When trying to bring data and knowledge under one overall umbrella, we have to impose a degree of structure and order. Our languages provide clearly differentiated for terms such as knowledge, as an area of expertise, a body of knowledge, a knowledge landscape and a knowledge Gestalt.

An optimal metaphor for storing and exploring data and knowledge is a scape (deep structured spaces) FUSSNOTE BENKING BRAUER !!****************** as found in Nature. We can define knowledge topologies, even a panorama, ranging from particles, areas, bodies, scapes to a Gestalt. We gain by expanding the perspective by agreeing on views in given frames (superstructures ) by the mind's eye.

In such a virtual space, previously only available in an aperspective mode, we can orient ourselves by locating and interpreting virtual entities and objects. To immerse or "dive" into such a topography of information, may be compared to roaming through a multi-storey information warehouse, and requires the use of at least three dimensions and an internal deep order.

We must be able to navigate in and among bodies of expertise (domains), exploring the knowledge depths and hidden or invisible structures on many levels, and not merely restrict ourselves to 'skimming the surface'.

Hyperspace landscaping like this will allow us to create virtual spaces of articulated regions of knowledge which, in ideal situations, can then be explored like children having fun. However, it is very important that these are scapes of reality, not (as in virtual reality games) escapes from reality; they represent a profound step ahead in our ability to conceptualise and understand knowledge, and thus to cope better with reality. The metaphor should then take the form of Nature Space, which has features of enfolded (or fractal) ordering to carry other levels of information.

The cube is intended to provide a scale-independent and elastic reference system which would allow panning and zooming, as well as the conceptual combination or configuration of selected cells and cell clusters into irregular 3-dimensional knowledge domains. The aspect of transparency, which allows one to overview knowledge, to connect ideas, and to relate issues, is of central importance, over and above the flexibility of perspectives and foci.

hyperframes !?? ********************** check CUBE concept of nested orders

Imagination, Manipulation and Education Challenges
The author selected the term optics as the counterpart to ethics in the title of this paper, as the approach is making use of, perhaps enhancing our native powers of visualisation, imagination, assimilation and synthetisation , helping us to speak to the point and to point with our finger to shared issues which are imagined but in some way real. The issue is to become aware of positions, points of focus and direction of view and develop tolerance and understanding for other aspects and perspectives. And all this in physical and virtual realities, making use of the talents and skills we develop as children exploring space, but now in wider strata exploring new vistas. Learning to look more consciously at our language and body-language helps and is most revealing! - But again, coming back to the question, why using optics or visualisation, even when the author warned against the misuse and manipulation possible with modern computer graphics techniques and coined the term "Visual Demagogy in 1987 Footnote GI). All senses are subjective as we do not extend the scope and touch by sharing and in this way reassuring! ??**********???

With the advent and invention of the Renaissance Perspective humanity entered a very essential evolutionary direction. The essence is to be conscious about space and positions and how to form and share synthesis or synopsis. Maybe we should call it holism ******* SMUTS*** or the capacity to form a Schau-Logik - forming coherent, simple, participatory deep models with the inner or third eye, gripping and groping. The development of optics, as the art of the right view or perspective, gained through agreement and exchange! The concept of a conceptual superstructure or conceptual spaces might be seen as deep, extended meeting places or places of interaction in the sense of McLuhan�s definition of INTERFACE or interfacial in natural sciences. Relevant for the authors is a design close to nature, building harmonious, mnemotechnical paths to follow in phantasy to make use and sense out of the potentials of sharing media, even cybermedia . Ethics is closely connected with knowing a terrain and securing values a given (thematical) terrain. As we can point at objects we can do it also with themes and issues. As we can build walls we can create categories or domain and most importantly make designs for given purposes and then take wall areas away, building new structures for new objectives. It seems that the topographical and topological topic is a thematic area which we can outline and fill and see how it is represented, giving rise to the question why in times of Logic, the representation, form and position/location issues have been so severely neglected. It may be that seeing thematic areas and bodies, and how they are interconnected will help to free ourselves from the urges to possess, fence and control themes, topics, or thematic areas, as we realise that these only exist when they are shared. Future research and sciences are very much concerned with mapping where we are and where we go, the scope, compass and temporal scope. Without sharing in common frames futures do not get real as our pictures, perspectives and visions do not meet, obviously can not be found along common routes.

Lessons learned for the author are: It is the mode and cognitive space of our thinking which needs to be enlarged and shared! Hierarchical knowledge trees can grow and we can even grow a lot of different trees of knowledge in a modular way, but this will not provide us with overview, seeing the woods, the plains and the planet, the Whole and getting an idea and awe when looking at the interconnectedness, beauty and fragility. Space as and orthogonal design allows 3 independent views or directions/dimensions, 3 interconnected spaces might be a simple way towards holarchy, but we need to keep in mind not to mix the model with territory and that the question is to find shared orientation and understanding, not to reinvent the wheel or focus on popular or technology driven solutions when the real issues are in the field of widening the spectrum and looking out for barriers in our thinking within terms or thinking.

EINSTEIN ZITAT not WORDS but Aesthetics..! MC LUHAN ZITAT !?? VAN GOGH SKY ENSTEIN GROUND ZITAT

Summary
The analogy of microscopic and telescopic exploration of nature is used in this article to suggest a visual approach to information processing. This permits references to diving into new realms, as well as to panning and zooming. Such interaction along and across virtual, elastic, non-linear scales will bring about new realisations, and will enhance our understanding and experience of the relative importance and urgencies of the issues which continually emerge from our interaction with the world s complex and dynamic ecosystems.

Our highly differentiated and complex environment requires more awareness and sensitivity; we urgently need to build models and other thought-support structures to help us achieve greater insights and awareness of the dangers which the natural environment is facing. We must utilise the holographic paradigm which postulates an internal, harmonious, universal and transcendent order, and which combines structures observable in different domains. Environmental research is clearly in search of a common language and understanding The fundamental barriers to integrated research and management, as well as to education, are over-specialisation, territorial thinking and sectarianism, i.e. concepts diametrically opposed to concepts relying on interdisciplinary linkages and inter- relationships. Consequently, it is critical to the knowledge models mentioned above that we begin to focus on the linkage of scapes. The environment is an area in which this approach is critical, as are related subjects such as education, law, ethics, policy, and management. The time has come to overcome artificial barriers and professional territories and to work more consistently on the harmonisation of values relating to both nature and culture. Knowledge organisation, by triggering integrative insights, can provide maps and landmarks for better orientation and understanding. Knowledge organisation is also a field beyond discipline-oriented sciences and encompasses all domains of scientific enquiry. Our primary objectives must be to learn, to become aware, and to increase in our understanding of the environment. We will assist in this endeavour by integrating scales, patterns, and structures, by expanding our network of knowledge-scapes, by giving priority to logical and practical methodologies, and by providing insights into virtual realities and interconnectedness. Linking, bridging and overlaying (superimposing) such representations (analogue and digital) and scapes is very exiting and provides hitherto unrealised access to high quality, integrated, and comprehensive environmental knowledge. The psychological and philosophical aspects and developments can not be covered here to a larger extend. Readers are invited to check for the references given below . Zitat DOPPLER !!

References:
Berry, T.: (1993) Into the Future, In: Earth and Spirit - The Spiritual Dimensions of the Ecological Crisis, (ed. Hull.F.) The Continuum Publishing Company; New York Gardner, H.: (1983) Multiple Intelligences - The Theory in Practice Benking/Schwitte

Heiner Benking is Creative Member of the Club of Budapest and co-founder of the recently re- established Infoterm. He works in Vienna on terminology, technology, communication research and presently looking into knowledge organisation, education and layouts for multi-lingual documentation, access, and archiving solutions. He is since 1993 Senior Associate of FAW, a Research Centre for Applied Knowledge Processing in Ulm and partner in GIVE, a section of ZSI, a Centre for Social Innovations in Vienna. He worked for fife years in Arabia as database expert and co-ordinator to establish an organisational framework for a Ministry for Municipal and Rural Affairs and later focused for some years on computer graphics applications and technology marketing, management consulting and investment goods market research. He consulted International Organisation on issues such as Harmonisation and research co-ordination. The following homepages will provide a more comprehensive picture, covering developments which took place after the WFSF conference in Nairobi. http://www.newciv.org/ISSS_Primer/seminar.html, http://pconf.terminal.cz and http:www. nko millennium, COB HOMEPAGE !???

author presented (Benking/Schwitte) at the honorary event which was planned by Hans Jonas for his 90th birthday in Hofgeismar, Germany. This event unfortunately had to take place in decency "in memoriam" so only his widow Eleonore could follow up on the ideas which Hans Jonas liked so much and she herself found in exchanges with the author "to be so close to her husbands ideas, heart, and drive". Eleonore Jonas arranged at that time also to meet with the "Principle Hope" author, activist and futurist Robert Jungk, but unfortunately "time was running out"... for Bob, Hans and Eleonore. hier auch OISCHER !??************** Spektrum der Sinne, IKOS Institut fuer Kulturoekologie, Berlin, Dr. Alf Ammon, in the exhibition Tore zur Welt - Openings to the World, for details check with the Institute or the author Robert Lamson****** in the WORLD FUTURES community has extensively worked on this theme and is involved with the author in the field of Panetics - a science to reduce suffering by looking at different forms and times of suffering and how they could be seen in one stratagem. Panetics is a system based on old Eastern decision support and weighting schemes taking into account qualitative, quantitative and temporal aspects. See Panetics Trilogy by Ralph. * Siu. See also WACR ***** Conference, Munich 1996 (Benking 1996) (in print). A conceptual superstructure, or mapping for knowledge and ignorance was proposed (see: Design Considerations for Spatial Metaphors, reflection on the evolution of viewpoint transportation systems, co-authors, A.J.N. Judge).

A distinction was made with the Editor of Kluwer`s Academic Publishers GeoJournal Wolf Tietze. The proposal is to make (more) sense and ease understanding of notation concepts, if we consider spatial as flat and two-dimensional and spacial as deep and three-dimensional representations (****). Spacial is the old form of writing only used to some degree in British English but is widely understood by Non-English-English speakers. "Bridges and a Masterplan for Islands of data. " Paper presented at the ICSU CODATA conference 1992 in Beijing but unfortunately not included in the proceedings due to personal, policy, and political decisions by the former Secretary of CODATA Paris (Benking, Kampffmeyer 1994), and in line with the later refusal to print the CODATA Chambery 1995 paper of Benking, Grossmann, Brauer). Both papers are available on request from the author. See Benking 1990 preparing international database design expert meetings and proposing meta- datapases for multiple & spacial access strategies. UNEP-HEM Report (****) and BENKING, 1992, 94 *** ISY ESSIS etc...) Much thought has been given in the 1960s to such a Conceptual Superstructure concept by Douglas Engelbart (Augmenting the human intellect: A conceptual framework) and Frances Yates 'The Art of Memory'. Many disciplines have structured their domain know-how for faster and easy access. Ekistics, the science of the human settlements (Doxiadis, 1968), has busied itself with structuring domains of data and ideas which are easily recognised, including the replacement of journal article abstracts by 2- dimensional, content-depicting grids. While Doxiadis even proposed the projection of the grid into a third dimension, time, it is only now that information technology has given us ways to display poly- metric and poly-scopic perspectives. Ken Wilber in his recent book on SEX, ECOLOGY and SPIRITUALITY, SHAMBALA, San FRANCISCO (FUSSNOTE !! SEE IVAN ILLICH: GUARDING THE EYE IN THE AGE OF SHOW AND OTHER PERSONAL DOCUMENTS THE AUTHOR RECEIVED FROM IVAN Illich). Sinnwelten oder Fluchtweltten, Cyberspace als Spielzeug oder Orientierungshilfe, (in print FINK VERLAG). Already Aristotle uses the play with words: topos and topic in Organon V. He bridges topica vs. scripta and uses space relations for semantical and physical locations and even relates physical and ethical issues and sees "neighbourhoods". The author has been investing some more time and space into the subject of bridging the gab between forms of presentation and representation in WORLD FUTURES and the seminar on Wholeness mentioned. As there is not enough space and the subject is very much evolving as one mayor aspect of the work of the author, we hope we can refer to more some publications reflecting to greater on the work of Schopenhauer, Husserl, Popper, Lovelock and others.

The author presented (Benking/Schwitte) at the honorary event which was planned by Hans Jonas for his 90th birthday in Hofgeismar, Germany. This event unfortunately had to take place in decency "in memoriam" so only his widow Eleonore could follow up on the ideas which Hans Jonas liked so much and she herself found in exchanges with the author "to be so close to her husbands ideas, heart, and drive". Eleonore Jonas arranged at that time also to meet with the "Principle Hope" author, activist and futurist Robert Jungk, but unfortunately "time was running out"... for Bob, Hans and Eleonore. hier auch OISCHER !??************** Spektrum der Sinne, IKOS Institut fuer Kulturoekologie, Berlin, Dr. Alf Ammon, in the exhibition Tore zur Welt - Openings to the World, for details check with the Institute or the author Robert Lamson****** in the WORLD FUTURES community has extensively worked on this theme and is involved with the author in the field of Panetics - a science to reduce suffering by looking at different forms and times of suffering and how they could be seen in one stratagem. Panetics is a system based on old Eastern decision support and weighting schemes taking into account qualitative, quantitative and temporal aspects. See Panetics Trilogy by Ralph. * Siu. See also WACR ***** Conference, Munich 1996 (Benking 1996) (in print). A conceptual superstructure, or mapping for knowledge and ignorance was proposed (see: Design Considerations for Spatial Metaphors, reflection on the evolution of viewpoint transportation systems, co-authors, A.J.N. Judge).