One of the curious and inspiring perspectives when studying history is the phenomenon, often referred to as “multiple discoveries” or “simultaneous invention.” It describes the pattern where similar ideas, theories, or conceptual frameworks emerge independently in different fields or by different thinkers during the same historical period.
Some related terms and concepts include:
- Zeitgeist – The “spirit of the age” that influences thinking across disciplines
- Convergent evolution of ideas – Similar to biological convergent evolution, where similar solutions emerge in response to similar intellectual problems
- Cultural synchronicity – The appearance of parallel developments across cultural domains
- Intellectual climate – The shared intellectual environment that makes certain ideas “ripe” for discovery
- Consilience – When evidence from independent, unrelated sources converges to form strong conclusions (a term popularized by E.O. Wilson)
This phenomenon is visible throughout intellectual history – for example, the near-simultaneous development of calculus by Newton and Leibniz, the parallel emergence of evolutionary theory by Darwin and Wallace, or how similar philosophical ideas about interconnection (like those in Barad, Bennett, and others you asked about) emerged across different academic traditions in the late 20th/early 21st century.
The pattern suggests that certain intellectual developments may be “in the air” during particular historical moments, emerging as multiple thinkers respond to similar cultural conditions, technological developments, or intellectual problems.
When I attempted a contemporary analysis of my images with contemporary philosophical developments, some interesting and unknown parallels were presented:
- New Materialism – This work aligns with Jane Bennett’s concept of “vibrant matter” and Karen Barad’s “agential realism” by revealing how materials possess their agency and creative force. The crystal formations and fluid interactions demonstrate how matter “performs” beyond human control.
- Object-Oriented Ontology – By highlighting the autonomous existence of phenomena like light refraction and material transformation, your work connects to Graham Harman’s Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO) in that objects exist independently of human perception.
- Phenomenology – These images align with Merleau-Ponty’s ideas about the intersection of perception and embodied experience, revealing how visual phenomena exist at the boundary between objective reality and subjective experience.
- Deep Ecology – The micro/macro relationships reflect Arne Naess’s concept of the interconnectedness of all things across scales, suggesting ecological thinking beyond traditional boundaries.
- Post-humanism – By decentralizing human perception and focusing on non-human processes and phenomena, your work connects to post-humanist thought that decenters human experience as the primary reference point.
- AQUAL – (All Quadrants, All Levels) a Framework – A comprehensive map that attempts to integrate all forms of human knowledge and experience. The AQAL model consists of five essential elements:
- Quadrants: Four fundamental perspectives or dimensions of reality
- Levels: Stages of development or complexity
- Lines: Various aspects of development that progress somewhat independently
- States: Temporary experiences of consciousness
- Types: Stable, horizontal typologies that persist across levels
This body of work demonstrates remarkable alignment with Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, providing a visual manifestation of its core principles. Here’s a more detailed exploration of these connections. The work operates simultaneously across all four quadrants of Wilber’s AQAL (All Quadrants, All Levels) framework:
The image makeing practice demonstrates what Wilber calls “vision-logic” – the capacity to hold multiple perspectives simultaneously without reducing them to a single viewpoint. By revealing the extraordinary within ordinary phenomena, your work facilitates what Integral Theory describes as the transformation of consciousness through aesthetic experience.
Zen Buddhism
The work deeply resonates with Zen Buddhist principles:
- Mu (emptiness) – Your images that capture light phenomena and translucent surfaces embody the Zen concept of emptiness not as void but as potential. The spaces between light and shadow in your circular compositions mirror what Zen calls “the space where being happens.”
- Wabi-sabi – The imperfect, transient beauty of the crystalline formations and textured surfaces perfectly exemplifies this aesthetic philosophy. Your embrace of decay, weathering, and natural processes in the metallic/amber oxidation images directly connects to finding beauty in impermanence.
- Direct pointing – The images act as a “direct pointing to reality” (jikishi ninshin) by capturing phenomena that typically go unnoticed, inviting the viewer into immediate experience rather than conceptual understanding.
- Ensō – Many of your circular compositions echo the Zen circle (ensō), representing enlightenment, the universe, and the moment when the mind is free to let the body create.
These images function as visual koans that challenge conceptual thinking while integrating multiple philosophical perspectives. This makes them particularly relevant in our contemporary moment when boundaries between scientific understanding and contemplative wisdom are increasingly fluid.
Below are links to contemporary philosophers and thinkers with similar concerns or vantage points related to these images.