Quantum Theory of Conscious Cities
From the desk of Vitasta Raina
Time: Irrelevant
If we look at Bertalanffy's growth equation, we know that "Land" itself is the limit to growth. In the case of the Sun, it is the Cosmic Space, and in the case of the Self-Animal, it is the space occupied by the Super-Ego. In the case of the City, it is the "Ruban-Region"- Sprawl itself, leads the death of a City.
As a city evolves, it's processes and systems get more complex. Just like the evolution of a microorganism, say a single celled protozoa into a multi-celled organism, the biological and supporting chemical processes of the city get diversified, more structured and intricate. But perhaps thinking of cities as a single organism is not valid, since it is a a large social super organism. However, by pitting it against a Stellar object like the Sun, we can factor in certain mechanical processes such as Gravity as well. One can assume here that a stellar object's gravity is an analogy for 'migration, or the attraction of objects, people, things, and ideas' towards itself. While main sequence stars can support life, notice that as the star evolves into a giant, not only does its luminosity decease but along with it, the habitable zone (the area where it can support 'life') itself disappears.
Hence, the larger the sprawl, the lesser the livability, but the same time, the greater the 'attraction' for being closer to the CBD, leading to an amalgamation of chaos. But interestingly, this works both ways, because to continue living in the 'habitable zone' you need to move further away or find another star- leading to the growth of satellite towns, and smaller cities, and to the death of the City.
While we refer to cities as 'engines of growth', and I think it's time that we stop looking at both the 'ecological- city as an organism' and the 'mechanical- city as a machine' approach, and start moving towards an age of quantization where instead of a 'wave or particle' duality, we can have City as both animal as well as machine duality.
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PART 2: A GAME OF CITIES
Game of Cities: Defining Conscious Cities:
This I believe is an important notion while moving towards a theory based on quantum realities of cities, which begs us to question the very notion of humanness in cities, where no one definition of what constitutes a city remains, instead each entropic machine can define the city as a part of their imagination, and since not every machine has the ability to communicate it's narrative, the work of an architect, or an artist, that is sensitive enough to be able to feel and understand the different voices and silences of these city organisms/machines, is to bring out all these definitions, and the work of the modern 'urban planner', or city CEO would be to bind these together, into a framework or a guideline that can incorporate all these voices.
While I have nothing against 'democratic' organizations, I find more often than not, that the voice of the silent is never represented, or at least in my individual experience, particularly with the intelligentsia, the keepers of the urban planning and architectural intelligence of places, a voice like mine is seldom heard, never understood, and often sidelined, muddied, copied and reproduced in a bastardised fashion that almost no one ever stands up to question, since it suits the majority narrative.
Coming back to the Quantum Theory, the idea of multiple truths essentially presents different sets of "realities", all equally powerfully and all encompassing, but required to be read with each other, and their subsets across time and space to be able to fully grasp their fundamental reality- the absolute reality of a city.
The process of overlaying the City-Stellar objects on the Suspended Figure of Shiva (Time), allows us to look at the overlapping realities, all equally divergent, and all equally true, for if humanity is a myth, the city is the crypt where myths accumulate.
Hypothesis: Quantum Theory of Conscious Cities:
1. If humanity is a myth, then a city is the crypt where myths accumulate.
2. Each city is made up of five complex layers: people, their interpersonal relationships and social systems; land and its geoclimatic conditions; built-form whether spontaneous, unbuilt or designed; information; and time, cultural entropy and, causality.
3. The interrelationships between these layers extrudes a life-energy over a city that makes it come alive, not as a biological being, but as a complex transsocial organism.
4. The manifestation of social systems through built form give a city its primary identity made up of smaller cultural persona that speak in different architectural dialects. The older a city, the more multilingual its built form.
5. Built-form and all its components enable people to grasp the complexities of time and understand the hidden games of land dynamics that shape its ugly underbelly. Through the enigma of architectural imagination, people can either escape this reality of a city, or confront it contextually.
6. As a city decays through time, its systems evolve incessantly. Across city regions, structure rise and disintegrate simultaneously, leaving behind stories, mythologies and memories that get embedded in built-form.
7. These stories live past the death of the social systems that created it, and are narrated to us as we seep through the porous membranes of a city's consciousness. Architecture as an assemblage of stories, histories and technologies allows us existence in the passage of time, making places souvenirs we carry with us, and cities characters in the renderings of our lives.
8. Within a city's quantum mind, the information shared between and created by the interaction of different city layers and their components creates dynamic areas of social cognition, but it also creates patches of urban wilderness, fringe areas without stimulation.These dark jungles of a city's mind are the domain of the elusive city organism.
9. The conscious city organism moves across its spatial region at three different time paces: a fast moving time where games of life are played, a slower shadow time where games of legend occur, and the slowest time where nature moves. These movements and games of causality keep a city in a constant state of flux.
10. By studying the neural networks of a city's mind, we can uncover the empty truth framework of a city's consciousness that presents each individual residing within it, the ability to trace out their own unique narrative of city life. And though the city organism remains anonymous, its stories can be heard across city regions.
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SECTION 3: THIS IS NOT A PIPE
Thus, we begin to form a model of the self-city on the basis of these identities by placing them onto city layers. One key idea here is to understand that there are always 2 Vitastas- The observer V1 (researcher) observing model V2 (subject) where V2 has been broken up into identities and sub-identities, while the same also exist for the observer, like a mirror image perhaps, or perhaps the inverse of polarities, or maybe yet just the same. They say that the human mind is capable of many feats of mental gymnastics: and in this case, one perhaps just needs to understand, that it is the “self” analysing a “model” of the self, but the self in itself, is different from the model. [The Treachery of Images or a similar concept.]
Thus, a paradigm for the city-self is formed:
Time: Irrelevant
~For Hermann Hesse, the Steppenwolf~ Background: This is a very personal theory, a story perhaps, a vast poetic adventure and an inner journey into discovering myself and in that discovering also the space I inhabit, this boundless imaginary city that I live in, mostly in my own head, but sometimes more physical, with spatial elements I can touch, the pavements I walk upon, and the highways I traverse. I have broken the theory into parts, the basis of which is 'belonging', and because it applies to me personally, perhaps you, the reader, need to undertake a similar exercise (if you ever feel the insane urge to) for yourself. It all began with a dream I had, where I found myself slipping and falling through the grains of the observable universe, gliding past stary super-clusters at the speed of light through the partial vacuum of space, I came to a crashing halt at the horizon of our solar system. And there, I found myself stuck behind an invisible mesh. As I floated gently through that cosmic barrier, I found myself afloat over planet Earth. Then sitting down to observe the Earth from the moon, I began to see the outlines of a figure buoyant in free space, expansive, still, unblinking, he lay there facing upwards, well, facing me, since I was sitting above his immense figure. His body was transparent, marked by a delicate silvery outline, like a chalk figure drawn by the police to suggest a fallen body on the road. As the outlines of his figure sharpened, I watched the Earth becoming the three-dimensional iris of his see-through eyes. I began to see before me the suspended figure of Shiva, and our entire planet as his dull blue eyeball. I gazed upon his dark radiating figure, wondering what happened on earth when he blinked. * PART 1: CITIES AS STAGES OF STELLAR EVOLUTION Introduction to a basic understanding of 'Consciousness': Before I begin this, I am going to list down my limitations, as a human being, as a person who has a world view carved from the knowledge, both lived and acquired, and read and assimilated. I acknowledge that there is a wealth of information out there that is not known to me, that I am perhaps swimming blissfully in a shallow pool of ignorance, and therefore if there is someone who reads this and knows better, I would be a fool to argue unnecessarily and without weighing the merits of that outsider-information. Secondly, and this is an important point. My beliefs about consciousness are ground within my own "birthing condition"- the fact that I am a Kashmiri Pundit, and the theology that I apply for carving out my framework of the world is based on this. I chose Kashmir Shaivist philosophy (or rather the philosophy chose me merely because I inherited it by birth), to understand the essence of Universal Consciousness. According to Kashmiri Shavism, a philosophy I am still discovering everyday, there is an all-pervasive Universal Consciousness, The Etheric Template Energy of Shiva, that contains within itself, the known universe and also that which cannot be observed. According to the philosophy, the world that we see around us is in reality a 2 D holographic image of the essence of Shiva that is projected to us from the vehicle of Shakti. Or rather, the known universe and all of us within it are reflections of Shiva-Shakti. Shiva is the 'Male', while Shakti is the 'Female'. Shiva or Siva is derived from the sanskrit root word Si, which means Auspicious. It can be further read as 'Name of the disintegrating (or destroying) and reproducing deity.' Another meaning is 'that in which the universe 'sleeps' after destruction till the next cycle of creation starts.' According to TN Sethumadhavan, the 'destruction' of the universe can be described as a 'dissolution' or the thinning out of the universe. This could be looked at as a pretty accurate description of the 'Heat Death' of the Universe. Now, According to Mr. Sethumadhavan, at this heat death, there is a 'boundless void' that is created from which the cycle of universal creation begins again. Further, according to the 'Heat Death theory', after the universe has reached thermodynamic equilibrium, random quantum fluctuations can restart the creation of another universe. Shakti is slightly easier to define. Shakti literally means Power or Energy. For instance, and this is a famous definition used everywhere, if Shiva is 'Fire', Shakti is the 'Heat' that we feel, or in the case of this example, the Heat Energy, where Shiva is the 'Fuel'. For me, Shiva represents Universal Consciousness, which incidentally is called Citi, the absolute self in the philosophy of Kashmiri Shavism. * "Shiva as Time" - a theory of time as a stage of consciousness: I need to briefly describe my theory of time as a stage of consciousness before I can dive deeper into this theory. I have always felt that we move in 'Time' through a series of 'Spaces'. Time for me almost has a box-like quality, and I draw on the concept of prahara. But more than anything, I sometimes feel as though time is a heavy mass under which I constantly move. If the world is measured in three dimensions, then the weight of the world I feel constantly on my being is time, and it gets lighter and heavier, and lighter and heavier, like a cycle. Life itself is then a measure of time, and distance no longer a measurement linked to the three dimensions of space, but space itself, so while I sit in front of my desk and write, I am still moving forward, though perhaps not in meters or feet. Time (t) is calculated as as the distance (d) you travel by the speed (s) at which you travel, or t=d/s. I propose then, that time is the distance you travel between the breath you take when you wake up and the breath you release when you fall asleep, at the rate of your respiration, or t= (di + de)/B Where t= your lifespan di= distance of your inhalation de= distance of your exhalation, and B= breaths taken per unit of time Thus, you start to look at time as a unit of life, say L, B is considered x breaths/L, then (di + de) = x, where the greater the numerical value of x, the farther you ahead you move. When x = 0, you are stationary, no longer an entity of life. The more you breathe, the closer you get to death. On the other hand, if you never breathe, you were never alive. And if by chance you manage to reverse the process of breathing itself, you can move backwards in life. Now, in my readings of Bertanlaffy’s General Systems theory and the concept of entropy, this does ring true, you die because you breathe, slowly wearing down the machinery that supports you, unlike a rock or stone, which has no such internal process. The imaginary distance di and the imaginary distance de when divided by the total number of breaths, or the sum of di + de over the course of our life, is the time for which we are considered a living being. That is perhaps the equation of life. I propose we experience Time as a state of consciousness, or awareness. From my thought experiments, I have experienced Time as a 'radiant hum', the hum before clarity, or the hum at the beginning of madness. There are spaces within spaces, consciousnesses within consciousnesses, an open jungle in our minds, and there are times within times. A fast moving time, running, galloping; a slower time shadowing, an even slower time stalling. The first consciousness moves with the fast time, the second with the shadow, and in the third, at the slowest time, Shiva moves. In the shadow time, we move like beings of radiant heat, white light, a glow through a cave of darkly lit fast moving time; we share the same physical space, but the shadow time moves so slow and so bright, creatures in the first time will never see it. It is perhaps, a different dimension. The last consciousness moves at the slowest time, so slow, that perhaps it never moved. It becomes then, like Shiva-the universal consciousness, the “unmoved mover”, the first cause. That last consciousness moving at the slowest time, or not moving at all, is Nature, the consciousness of Shiva. Creation of the Self: Projection Systems Before we can try and attempt to understand our 'consciousness', it is important that we have a fair idea of ourselves as complete human beings. And for me, to undertake this inner journey of discovery, it has taken many years. Over time, I developed a framework of Humankind, and tried placing myself within, but then, I gave up and focused solely on trying to understand myself. Freud gives the basic structural model of the psyche as the Id, Ego and Superego. But for me, I always viewed myself as an assembly of systems. I had a core-entity, a self, and the space I occupied. my core-entity could be my ego, my physical self (self-animal) my id, and the space I occupied (intangible space) would be my superego. I concluded that I was made of a series of projection systems, or that my entity projected itself into the space that it occupied, and thus onto other people, those who chose to share their space with mine. Now these systems, I classified into 4 essential categories, and a 5th classification that was my Birthing Condition, my Kashmiriyat- above and beyond the entire reason for my being, was my condition, even before I was born. The four classifications for the systems apart from the birthing condition would be: Animate Nature 1. The Physical Self or bodily conditions: This system is most accessible to others (what they see), and the most accurate description of the self animal. It is however, the most inaccurate description of the core-entity Inanimate Nature 2. The Inert or Rigid Self or inborn conditions: This system is the most inaccessible to others and the most accurate description of the core-entity removed from self-animal. Fluid Nature 3. Family and Social conditions: This system is accessible to others and a largely accurate description of both the core-entity and the self-animal. 4. Cultural conditions:This system influences family and social conditions and is largely an inaccurate description of both the core-entity and the self-animal, for an Anarchist Observer anyway. 5. Intellectual conditions: This system influences educational choices, self-learning and the need for self-actuation. This is largely accessible and an accurate description of the core-entity removed from the self-animal. Found Nature (These systems are the key projection systems of self expression, and are largely inauthentic, or inaccurate descriptions of the core-entity and the self-animal. However, they are the most accessible to others after the animate self (physical self)) 6. Professional work: including social work 7. Physical expression including Sports, Games, Puzzles, Outdoor trekking, and other forms of recreational activities such as Dance and Theatre. I have clubbed these together. 8. Mainstream and counter culture (Baseline Human Needs): Including Clothing, Food, Beverage, Addictions, Sexual Orientation acceptable in the mainstream and taboos (counter culture) 9. Religion: Thievery, Hatred, Murders, Madness, Wars, and sometimes acts of faith, kindness and humanity. 10. Music: including Multi-media, films, television 11. Language: including literature, folk lore and mythologies and built-form (Architecture) 12. Art: including Iconography, drawing, photography
However, I concluded that despite an accurate knowledge of these systems of self-projection, there is a void between the animate and the inanimate nature, a gap in the system between the self-animal and core-entity, and this leads to the creation of a 'boundless void' within ourselves because we are often unable to pinpoint the exact area of discomfiture between ourselves and our true selves, unable to determine even the brims of our conscious and subconscious streams of thoughts, emotions and associations. Since Supranatural systems exist beyond our control, they occupy a space outside of our self spaces. diagram below reflects the self-entity model with different spaces occupied by different systems within the space of our psyche.
City as the Self: Systems as Stages of Stellar EvolutionLayer 1: People Component 15: Causality a) Explanations of cause and effect through time (history) b) The Unmoved Mover : The Suspended Universal Shiva (Time in which Nature moves) |
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| Layers of a City (Stellar Object/ Self-Entity). Boundless void created between Land and People |
Stages of Evolution:When we look at the birth-death-rebirth cycle of an individual, in comparison to the City-stellar object, we find 7 key stages of growth. A city takes birth as a hamlet, at this stage of evolution, there is no consciousness. Consciousness in a city, much like in an individual, is attained in Infancy and youth- here the city grows from hamlet to village to town. True awareness is attained in maturity, and the city grows old as a sprawl, much like a star grows into a red giant. Table below describes the stages of a City-Stellar Objects evolution over time.
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| Stages of City Evolution as Stages of Stellar Evolution |
Hence, the larger the sprawl, the lesser the livability, but the same time, the greater the 'attraction' for being closer to the CBD, leading to an amalgamation of chaos. But interestingly, this works both ways, because to continue living in the 'habitable zone' you need to move further away or find another star- leading to the growth of satellite towns, and smaller cities, and to the death of the City.
While we refer to cities as 'engines of growth', and I think it's time that we stop looking at both the 'ecological- city as an organism' and the 'mechanical- city as a machine' approach, and start moving towards an age of quantization where instead of a 'wave or particle' duality, we can have City as both animal as well as machine duality.
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PART 2: A GAME OF CITIES
Game of Cities: Defining Conscious Cities:
More often than not, cities are looked upon as complex and elusive land development games played out by multiple agents over indefinite periods of time. Since the long term goal of the games are rife with uncertainty, not all players are rational agents. Further, since the game is inherently a Non-cooperative Game, each player (individual or set) acts with internal motives that may not lead to a desired long term outcome for 'winning' the game (Tragedy of the Commons). This is what occurs primarily in most debates centred around the development of cities.
However, I propose that there are two types of games that are played in the Game of Cities (land development games): Zero-Sum games or Game of Life that is played by agents with less power in the social framework of the city systems, and Non-sum Zero games or Game of Legend, which is played by agents who have more power. Power asymmetry shapes the Game of Cities.
Agents in the Game of Legend are invested in the continuity of the Game of Life to avoid a scenario where Game of Lifers form coalitions that lead to a distortion in the Legendary Game. Though Game of Lifers are vaguely aware of the Legendary game being played in the Game of Cities, they lack the motivation to form coalitions, either because of deindividuation or due to imperfect information. These games form Component 15 Causality of the Layer of a City or explanations of cause and effect through time (history).
People play the Game of Cities (Causality) on Land through Built Form using Information as a weapon. The Game of Cities is an extensive game with imperfect information and infinite action space. Land is the quintessential Move by Nature.
However, I propose that there are two types of games that are played in the Game of Cities (land development games): Zero-Sum games or Game of Life that is played by agents with less power in the social framework of the city systems, and Non-sum Zero games or Game of Legend, which is played by agents who have more power. Power asymmetry shapes the Game of Cities.
Agents in the Game of Legend are invested in the continuity of the Game of Life to avoid a scenario where Game of Lifers form coalitions that lead to a distortion in the Legendary Game. Though Game of Lifers are vaguely aware of the Legendary game being played in the Game of Cities, they lack the motivation to form coalitions, either because of deindividuation or due to imperfect information. These games form Component 15 Causality of the Layer of a City or explanations of cause and effect through time (history).
If we consider the Game of Cities as a game with a high degree of information asymmetry played between different agents, the Game of Life would be similar to playing Poker, where you can cheat using psychology and math, while the Game of Legend, is real-life examples of Prisoner's dilemma, such as the negotiation for the Okhla waste-to-energy plant, or the dispute over Ayodhya Ram Jamnabhoomi. The move by Nature, would be the setting out of the board game itself, or the arena on which all these other games are carried out. In the slowest time, in which the consciousness of Nature (Shiva) moves, the City Consciousness would move and upset or reset the Power Games that are carried out by the various agents. Since this move occurs at the slowest time, most players in both games may not necessarily be aware that such a movement has occurred. This is the key premise of the Writer's Block.
UN Habitat has listed 14 groups as the primary constituent groups of a city, namely-Women; Local and Subnational Authorities; Civil Society Organizations; Grassroots Organizations; Parliamentarians; Children and Youth; Business and Industries; Foundations and Philanthropies; Professionals; Trade Union Workers; Farmers; Indigenous People; Medias; Research and Academia.
I propose to add a 15th Category, The Citi, the Absolute Consciousness of a City.
In order to quantify this idea of a city-consciousness, we need to perhaps isolate the many layers and components of a city and study the inter-relationships between them. Some questions then need to be raised; if a city is conscious, does it have a soul? Does the soul-energy of a settlement change when the density of human beings increase there? Does a new settlement have the same soul-energy as a old settlement? What are the factors that define the consciousness of a city, or any human settlement for that matter?I propose to add a 15th Category, The Citi, the Absolute Consciousness of a City.
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| Layers and Sub-components of a city with their interactions. It is proposed that the domain of the 'elusive city organism' or Soul of the City exists within the boundless void. |
In order to locate the soul of the city, I started the process of looking at dynamic functional corridors of the brain and correlating it with the flow of information in cities. If we were to correlate a city to a neuron, the dendrites would become movement corridors, the axon, a key transport highway or railway corridor, and the synapse, would become the ideal location for a growth center between two neurons. In between the two neurons a vast array of urban agriculture or an urban forest would develop, not necessary 'area of information exchange' but important for the structural integrity of the neurons. Within the wider urban expanse, there may exist an array of different human settlements, formed over different time periods with different socioeconomic mixes, different urban characters and different architectural dialects. Within their membrane walls, they are social entities that transact for employment, food, water, energy and entertainment with the outer urban entities.
Within the larger expanse also lie areas of 'urban wilderness', undefined areas between these cohesive social areas of cities and villages. These dark areas get bypassed between the city's neural network, but are needed for structural integrity. There are also needed because they provide a safe haven for forgotten stories, myths and legends in of a city, and are the last exclusive domain of the elusive city organism, acting like a bridge in the city-brain.
Within the larger expanse also lie areas of 'urban wilderness', undefined areas between these cohesive social areas of cities and villages. These dark areas get bypassed between the city's neural network, but are needed for structural integrity. There are also needed because they provide a safe haven for forgotten stories, myths and legends in of a city, and are the last exclusive domain of the elusive city organism, acting like a bridge in the city-brain.
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| Dynamic Functional Corridors of a City. When we isolate the sub-components, social systems move into the layer of Built-Form since systems become more rigid. They move from being motivated by Human Needs to being motivated for machine-living. This leaves behind a boundless void in the place of the layer meant for People. The individual in this case, moves closer to the Elusive City Organism, the soul of the city. |
While there are many studies that look at the discipline of Regional Planning by combining the theories and systems from the fields of economics, mathematics, demographics and statistics, sociology and behavioral studies, very few have attempted to combine neurology and planning. The experience of a city or a region is at the base level, a human experience, and perhaps a mass human experience as well.
As we move forward into a brave new world, we need to accept human settlements for what they are, a collection, large or small of people and all their chaotic systems. In the new world, we must rewrite our systems, and when we do that, we can replace existing divisive ideas of settlement types. They will be different of course, based on their own cultural identities, but they will not be gauged merely through the lens of economic orders as we do in the Census of India today.
Quantum Realities:
While there are many studies that look at the discipline of Regional Planning by combining the theories and systems from the fields of economics, mathematics, demographics and statistics, sociology and behavioral studies, very few have attempted to combine neurology and planning. The experience of a city or a region is at the base level, a human experience, and perhaps a mass human experience as well.
As we move forward into a brave new world, we need to accept human settlements for what they are, a collection, large or small of people and all their chaotic systems. In the new world, we must rewrite our systems, and when we do that, we can replace existing divisive ideas of settlement types. They will be different of course, based on their own cultural identities, but they will not be gauged merely through the lens of economic orders as we do in the Census of India today.
Quantum Realities:
When we think about the Consciousness of Cities, of whether the citizens living in a settlement, rural or urban, extend a Collective Soul to their habitats, a life-energy that makes these settlements come alive, not as a biological being, but as a complex trans-social organism, we must think of this idea as being significantly different from the idea of Collective Consciousness, the hive-mind of The Borg for instance. The empty truth framework (bracketed absolute truth or consensuality) of a city, the outline of absolute truth that changes depending on who has drawn the outline, provides individuals living inside conscious cities the ability to trace out their own unique ideas of truth, while those living inside the Borg collective share the same thoughts. There may still exist with the conscious cities, various small hive-minds.
Within the empty truth framework, an individual has the ability to rise to a higher plain of consciousness, to be able to create for himself, in no small measure, pieces of art and works of science that defy common logic and belief held by many, the paradox of consensus, and remain yet, on its own, outside the parameters drawn by the keepers of manuals and guidelines, an independent idea, complete and incomprehensibly sane in its own right, demanding nothing, seeking nothing, neither validation, nor credit and attestation, it remains for itself, a constructed absolute, the "other side", the single point of view that defies the popular notion held by many.This I believe is an important notion while moving towards a theory based on quantum realities of cities, which begs us to question the very notion of humanness in cities, where no one definition of what constitutes a city remains, instead each entropic machine can define the city as a part of their imagination, and since not every machine has the ability to communicate it's narrative, the work of an architect, or an artist, that is sensitive enough to be able to feel and understand the different voices and silences of these city organisms/machines, is to bring out all these definitions, and the work of the modern 'urban planner', or city CEO would be to bind these together, into a framework or a guideline that can incorporate all these voices.
While I have nothing against 'democratic' organizations, I find more often than not, that the voice of the silent is never represented, or at least in my individual experience, particularly with the intelligentsia, the keepers of the urban planning and architectural intelligence of places, a voice like mine is seldom heard, never understood, and often sidelined, muddied, copied and reproduced in a bastardised fashion that almost no one ever stands up to question, since it suits the majority narrative.
Coming back to the Quantum Theory, the idea of multiple truths essentially presents different sets of "realities", all equally powerfully and all encompassing, but required to be read with each other, and their subsets across time and space to be able to fully grasp their fundamental reality- the absolute reality of a city.
However, in all cases, only one fundamental truth can be ascertained, that while the layers and players in the over all scheme of things in the city, are active participants, the 'Voiceless' entities, the individual and the elusive city animal, are needed for giving the city an essence of being 'alive'.
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1. If humanity is a myth, then a city is the crypt where myths accumulate.
2. Each city is made up of five complex layers: people, their interpersonal relationships and social systems; land and its geoclimatic conditions; built-form whether spontaneous, unbuilt or designed; information; and time, cultural entropy and, causality.
3. The interrelationships between these layers extrudes a life-energy over a city that makes it come alive, not as a biological being, but as a complex transsocial organism.
4. The manifestation of social systems through built form give a city its primary identity made up of smaller cultural persona that speak in different architectural dialects. The older a city, the more multilingual its built form.
5. Built-form and all its components enable people to grasp the complexities of time and understand the hidden games of land dynamics that shape its ugly underbelly. Through the enigma of architectural imagination, people can either escape this reality of a city, or confront it contextually.
6. As a city decays through time, its systems evolve incessantly. Across city regions, structure rise and disintegrate simultaneously, leaving behind stories, mythologies and memories that get embedded in built-form.
7. These stories live past the death of the social systems that created it, and are narrated to us as we seep through the porous membranes of a city's consciousness. Architecture as an assemblage of stories, histories and technologies allows us existence in the passage of time, making places souvenirs we carry with us, and cities characters in the renderings of our lives.
8. Within a city's quantum mind, the information shared between and created by the interaction of different city layers and their components creates dynamic areas of social cognition, but it also creates patches of urban wilderness, fringe areas without stimulation.These dark jungles of a city's mind are the domain of the elusive city organism.
9. The conscious city organism moves across its spatial region at three different time paces: a fast moving time where games of life are played, a slower shadow time where games of legend occur, and the slowest time where nature moves. These movements and games of causality keep a city in a constant state of flux.
10. By studying the neural networks of a city's mind, we can uncover the empty truth framework of a city's consciousness that presents each individual residing within it, the ability to trace out their own unique narrative of city life. And though the city organism remains anonymous, its stories can be heard across city regions.
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SECTION 3: THIS IS NOT A PIPE
Duality and Identities
While we spend so much time in analysing the external world we inhabit, seldom do we take the same amount of time and effort to look inwards into our selves. The Quantum Theory of cities forces on to look at one-self when is studying an urban form, because the form of the city, is also the form of the self. When I think about that ‘elusive city organism’, of the boundless void formed between my own core identities, I question on how I could proceed to close the gap, and to find that elusive being found roaming through these spaces of wilderness that exist within my own mind.
For quantifying my beliefs, I decided to analyse my own self first, and to set the table for a journey of self-discovery that might lead me to some answers about a city’s quantum mind. I believe in duality, in a true self (positive) and a false self (negative). Much like a map can be represented in two ways, one of the architect-symmetrical, detail oriented and exact, and one of the artist- metaphorical, narrative driven and ambiguous.
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| Two ways of representing a map of a city. |
Both maps are equally valuable and tell the tale of the same city in two different ways, and perhaps it is only by looking at the two together that one can begin to understand the complexities and boundaries of what makes a city unique.
I feel that perhaps I can be represented in two ways as well. One, the inert observer, and Other, the subject of observation. For the purpose of the study, I decided to isolate my identities and identify which layers of the city-space they belong in. I believe that I have 3 key identities or personalities:
- The Poet – Ego (Layer- Core Entity, Sun, Core City)
- The Architect- Id (Layer- Self-Animal, Earth, Suburban Space)
- The Artist- Superego (Layer- Self-Space, Cosmic Space, Rurban Region)
Thus, a paradigm for the city-self is formed:
Outside-looking in:
Observer [V1] – Identity Placement on Layer ‘Time’ (birthing condition, outside world)
Inside-looking out:
Subject [V2]- Layers and Identity Placements of V2:
Thought Experiment
Observer [V1] – Identity Placement on Layer ‘Time’ (birthing condition, outside world)
Inside-looking out:
Subject [V2]- Layers and Identity Placements of V2:
- Layer ‘Media’ (self-space/superego): Identities- O1 and O2
- Layer ‘Built-Form’ (self-space/superego): Identities- null
- Layer ‘Land’ (self-animal/id): Identities- A1 and A2
- Layer ‘People’ (core-entity/ego): Identities- P1 and P2
- Boundless Void- Identities: X
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| Model of self-city with Identities |
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Thought Experiment
(Note: This experiment was conducted over a period of 2 year between 2016 and 2018)
Once we have laid out the identities on the city-self, I tried to try and isolate the Unknown identity X through a thought experiment based on my personal experiences through life. This I have tried to represent through a series of Phase Diagrams indicating the movement of identities across the different layers of the city-self and the changes that were brought about by them. Like I have explained at the beginning of this treatise, this is a personal theory and an inner journey, and it will be different for each individual. This is my journey of discovery into consciousness.
Phase 1: Filling Gaps: In the beginning, since there was no identity present in the Layer Built-Form, A2 (Urban Planner) shifted into the layer to take control, and O1 (Outsider Artist) was transferred in A2’s place into the layer Land from the Layer Media.
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| Phase 1: Movement of A2 into Built-Form + Transfer of O1 into land. |
Phase 2: Marriage of Identities: After O2 (Illustrator) was left in-charge of the Layer Media, and A2 (Urban Planner) was left in-charge of the Layer Built-Form, there was a bond that developed between the two identities resulting in the merger of the two identities into a Super Identity (A3) and the dissolution of the barriers between the Layers of Media and Built-Form, leading to the expansion of the Rurban space, creating a Sprawl like situation.
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| Phase 2: Merger of Media and Built-Form - O2 and A2 (Super Identity: A3) leading to expansion of Rurban Space (sprawl) |
Phase 3: Death: As the spread of the sprawl increased, there was increasing pressure on the Layer Land, which kept squeezing under pressure, leading to the merger of the identities A1 (Rural Architect) and O1 (Outsider Artist). However, unlike the merger of the negative identities into a super identity, the merger of these positive identities led to the death of both identities. One of the reasons I can garner for this happening is that between the two selves, True and False, while being equally true for me as a human being, the difference likes in ‘being’ and ‘performing’. I believe my true selves or positive selves are inherent in me and are for myself, while my false selves or negative selves are a reflection of the positive selves but are true for others who interact with me, or based on my performance of myself in the larger arena of the world. We perform ourselves to others as a form of communication. It becomes our learned behaviour. I’m not saying this is a form of deception, just that seldom do we perform for our own selves in the absence of an audience. After the death of two principle positive identities, there was a further reduction in the Layer Land, leading to an increase in the Boundless void.
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| Phase 3: Increased pressure on Land-merger of A1 and O1 (disappearance of both identities)-death of both identities-Reduction of Land Layer- Increase of Boundless void. |
Phase 4: Madness: With an increase in the boundless void, the inert entity X began to pulsate and started radiating. This lead to a situation of pressure on the Layer People, and both identities P1 and P2 felt the beginnings of a latent, transient madness. Meanwhile, in the now combined rurban space, super Identity A3 continued to expand with all indications leading to an imminent explosion.
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| Phase 4: Activation of X- beginning of radiant hum (madness). Pressure on P1 and P2. Increase of A3 (imminent explosion) |
Phase 5: Breakdown: To bring back a balance into the city-self, P2 (Poete Maudit) was transferred to the Layer Land, which P1 (poet) trying to close the now large boundless void. However, once P2 was transferred to Layer Land, it quickly attracted Super Identity A3. The merger of P2 into the already unstable A3 lead to an explosion which destroyed the framework of the city-self. After the explosion, there was a dissolution of the rurban space and all present identities barring P1 in the Layer People (Core city area) and unknown entity X in boundless void were left. Also present was Observer V1 in Layer Time.
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| Phase 5: transfer of P2 into land to balance equation. However, too many negative identities in close connection leading to merger and explosion of A3 + P2 leading to their disappearance and dissolution of Rurban Space. Left with boundless void enclosed by Layer Time with X (boundless void) and core entity (inner city) P1. |
Phase 6: Escape: With an increasing radiant hum and pulsating unknown entity X, an already fragile P1 (Poet) completely disintegrated into madness and escaped from the confines of the known world into the outside world i.e. Layer Time. Inside the world, this lead to the dissolution of the Layer People into the boundless void leading to a situation of Wilderness completely taken over by the pulsating, radiating unknown entity X.
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| Phase 6: Increase in radiant hum, escape of P1. Dissolution of Core Entity into wilderness enclosed by time. Take-over of space by radiating X. |
Phase 7: Dilemma: Once both V1 (observer) and P1 (Poet) were on the Layer Time, there arose a dilemma- doe the observer engage of remain neutral? This led to the creation of Biased Observer V3, as P1 was inducted into V1. At this stage, 2 things occurred:
One, “fulfilment of V1” :- With the induction of P1 into V1, the Boundless void with unknown entity X’ was closed, and P1 acted as an attainment of self, of bridging the boundaries between the animate and inanimate self. What would this mean for cities? P1 was the true representation of the Inner City Areas of the City-Stellar object through the Layer People. By adding an additional (+) Positive value to the existing framework of the city-self, V1 (observer) was allowed to attain momentarily a glimmer of ‘universal consciousness’, the completeness of being. Thus, for a city, a rejuvenation of the inner city area, an addition- redensification, renewal or revival of the core city would act in a similar vein, bridging the gap existing between people and land. This becomes important as cities continue to grow into urban sprawls, becoming less cities meant for people, and more, cities meant for machines.
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| Phase 7: Induction of P1 into V1: Movement of P1 into Boundless Void, shift of unknown entity X only Layer Time. Right, a rendering of the map of V1 (observer). |
Two, Mad Dancing Entity X, radiating energy: The Soul of the self. What is left if we take away the ego? :- In the end, in the wilderness, bound by time, is the dancing entity unknown entity X, much like the Cosmic Dance of Shiva .
According to K P Shashidharan, there are two dances of Shiva: 'Rudra Tandava' or the dance of destruction, and ‘Aananda Tandavam’ or the dance of creation. Both these dances take place in the ‘Chidambaram’ or in the sky of the mind, portrayed as the centre of consciousness situated at the altar of one’s heart.
It is said that Shiva dances in the atoms throughout the universe, that his dance brings the universe in and out of creation. Fritjof Capra, in his book ‘The Tao of Physics’ observed that “Every subatomic particle not only does an energy dance, but is also an energy dance; a pulsating process of creation and destruction...without end...For the modern Physicists, then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter.”
As far as the city-self model of V2, we rest assured in the knowledge that that which was destroyed by the Shiva (Unknown entity X), will also be reborn through the boundless void.
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Some Conclusions
This exercise was conducted to get a better understanding of cities, of what makes them unique, of their historical value, of why it is important for us to reflect on built-form and ask questions about their development in the wake of New India’s Smart City Missions. What will we leave behind as a legacy for coming generations, soulless tall glass tower blocks, or public spaces with meaning? I have already written about the importance of creating souvenir spaces in cities. Perhaps the soul of the city can also be found there.
This exercise was also undertaken from a personal front, to understand myself and my abilities, my own fallacies and the reasons of my failure to sometimes look beyond my own biases. In the end, this journey of the Quantum Theory is also my journey, and in its working, I found a kind of inner peace. I will continue reading about consciousness, Kashmir Shaivism, and I will continue writing about the cities that I love.
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Peace
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