Patterns & Metaphors

Stick

Other Names:
Pole
Lever
Club
Stave
Staff
Template:
As one of the first tools, its usefulness emerges when it is distinguished as an object with two distinct ends lying on the principle axis of symmetry. In the simplest case, something is done with the proximate end which imparts an analogous motion or force (or a complementary one) to the distant end (and to whatever the latter is applied). The distance between the ends augments certain effects, especially when the mass at the distant and is increased (as with a club) or when a fulcrum is used between the ends (as with a lever). Sticks and poles are basic elements in the simplest form of construction of shelters or bridges.
Metaphor:
One of the first conceptual tools emerges when a dimension is distinguished in the light of two distinct but complementary conditions (hot/cold, wet/dry, good/bad, big/little, etc). In the simplest case, value is attached to the favoured condition which imparts an analogous (or complementary) weight to the unfavoured one (and to whatever the latter is applied). The degree of polarization of any such diachotomy increases certain effects when it is used, especially when the charge on the unfavoured end is increased disproportionately or when some intermediate value is used as a standard of comparison against which the favoured value appears in a disproportionately favourable light. Dichotomies, polarities, antinomies and dualities are basic elements in the construction of the simplest social structures.
[Features] The simplicity of the device and the extremely wide variety of uses to which it can be put.
[Contrast] Although stick is used as a metaphor in various forms (e.g. using a 'big stick', not touching someone with a 'large-pole', 'staving someone off', organizational 'staff' (?), and acquiring and using 'leverage'), no attempt is apparently made to distinguish the different ways different kinds of dichotomy may be used as a tool within the social environment. In particular, with the exception of some psychoanalytical approaches, there is no awareness of how several dichotomies may be combined as the necessary basis for a more integrated psycho-social structure.
[Keys] Kinds of sticks and range of uses to which they may be put. Finding or making a suitable stick. Methods of tying sticks together.<