representational inquiry regarding meaning » concrete conditions » community
The symbols for L-phase nodes are horizontally oriented disks, but they're wobbling disks, and so they extend more or less into the vertical dimension, marking out levels in a developmental progression. The C-node occurs mid-way between the horizontally flattened black disk representing ideally-opaque materiality and the vertical axis representing ideality; it thereby represents a middle stage—the third of six—in a developmental progression.
The letter C is used to represent this node primarily given the relation of its traditional numerical value (3) to the other L-phase nodes as arranged in a triangle. See letter L for an explanation.
The letter C was derived from the Semitic letter gimel which may have originally meant throw-stick. A throw-stick in use makes an active connection between thrower and that toward which the stick is thrown—an active connection between self and other. This fits nicely with the Project's C-node, which involves sociological conditions, and especially the activities of sharing and exchanging. Moreover, a throw-stick is often a boomerang. This fits even more nicely with the Project's C-node, indicating a reciprocal (back-and-forth) action of exchange, communication, and sharing between individuals in a society.
