6.4.3 PANdorian Theory

Building on earlier discussions, said to be born of Hephaestus and Athena at the behest of he who controls ‘the sky’, thus the atmosphere, climate, weather and all as is beholden thereto, father of all gods, of the pantheon, and of whom the savior was the primordial deity as personified by the Earth [Gaia], he being Zeus, the ‘all-gifted’ sister of Pan [136], Pandora, has widely been interpreted as a cause of catastrophe. However, whereupon one considers both Greek mythologies and their Indo-European antecedents and contemporaries as not stories, but a means of conveying complexity theory, more specifically as applies to Earth Systems, Pan-dora is indeed the bringer of ‘gifts’ to humanity. However, within this theoretical construct, whereupon Pandora’s gifts are treated not with due care and respect for forces greater than they that humanity has capacity to manifest, that which comes forth from her ‘pyxis’, as bestowed by Zeus, overwhelms ‘mortal’ beings [i.e. they that, unlike Earth systems, and planetary processes throughout the Solar System and beyond, have a finite existence within the space-time continuum].

Thus, while the theory of Panarchy as developed by Gunderson, Holling and peers (2002) is embedded within and of the foundations of the WUI paradigm under development, this thesis further infuses an array of original theoretical constructs, which stem from the findings of its transdisciplinary study. Additionally, the paradigm’s use of ‘Pan’ within its title, ‘Panarchistic Architecture’, though relating to the Greek god of nature, alluding to the Grecian term thereof [“all”], and a nod to Gunderson, Holling et al’s theory, its use is predominantly in reference to Pandora, and to the author’s interpretation of her mythology’s meaning and intent as relates to Earth systems and humanity’s interplay therewith. Additionally, the term is used by means of relating the paradigm to the theory as was pivotal in developing the field of Earth systems science, Gaia, thus its creators Lovelock and Margulis (2016), therein to the theoretical family tree of which it is a descendent.

The paradigm of Panarchistic Architecture will, first and foremost, require an acceptance of humanity having influence, but not control over Earth systems, and all such phenomena as are part thereof. Therein, although that which underpins the paradigmatic premise falls predominantly within the domain of the sciences, philosophically the construct aligns to that of Grecian, Vedic, and all such Indo- European mythologies as embed the Promethean story and its conceptual tenants, which as discussed earlier, are hypothesized to have physical and not merely philosophical origins. Hence, Panarchistic architecture constitutes a paradigm of which the origins reside in prehistory, and which, part of a philosophical continuum, therein process, is presented in expectation of its evolution over time.