Ming the Mechanic:
Things that happen by themselves

The NewsLog of Flemming Funch
 Things that happen by themselves2004-05-27 05:37
6 comments
picture by Flemming Funch

I am particularly fascinated by phenomena that "happen by themselves". OK, maybe not entirely by themselves, but stuff that emerges somewhat surprisingly and constructively from its component parts. Phenomena like:
  • Emergence
  • Flow
  • Synergy
  • Collective Intelligence
  • Dialogue
  • Synchronicity
  • Paradigm Shifts
  • Memes
  • Self-Organization
  • Smart Mobs
  • Creativity
  • Resonance
  • Collaboration
  • Evolution
  • Ecology
  • Life
  • Consciousness
  • Diversity
  • Harmony
One can say things about it, and one can do certain things to help them along. But generally they just happen, without us being able to say anything terribly coherent about why or how. And that is the very hopeful part. If it were up to us and our individual mental faculties to make the world work, the picture would be really gloomy. We manage to accomplish a lot of things, but at the same time it is our own mental and emotional mixups that put us at war with each other, and at risk of driving ourselves to extinction. The wonderful thing is that, despite that, there are some things that sometimes happen that make things go right, without it being entirely clear how that came about.

Of course there are still plenty of people who would insist that these are either delusions or perfectly logical and predictable phenomena that our scientific minds know all about. It doesn't really matter, because, luckily, we're talking about phenomena that happen whether one really believes in them or not. A person who thinks he's a chemical reaction in a brain will still get creative flashes. Evolution takes place even if it is misunderstood. Groups of people sometimes do great things together, even if their members might think it is a matter of conditioning and chance or of mental logic. But maybe we'd accomplish a lot more if we were more aware of how emergent phenomena happen.

Personally I don't doubt that there is something more. And it is that -more- that will save us. We will understand it more along the way. But it seems to require almost the opposite approach to how we often go about things in our societies. Letting go of our fixed ideas, being open, being present, being comfortable with the unknown, being respectful of that which we don't yet understand, allowing bigger intelligences than our own to manifest themselves.

Possibly, if we look at things from another angle, we can let go of the heavy burden of trying to fit things together that don't seem to fit. And instead allow an implicit order to emerge. Maybe realize that the universe isn't such a bad place after all, and it is inherently structured to allow us to succeed beyond our wildest dreams. If we can discover how to be in harmony with how things work, rather than trying to fix what never was broken.

We're not smart enough. But something is. And it might still be us, but it is a paradox. If we can get our self-centered pride a bit out of the way, we might notice when it happens. Relax, pay attention, get in sync with what is possible. And surf its waves, rather than trying to dam it up.



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6 comments

27 May 2004 @ 06:29 by swanny : Ah the mystery....
Yes very astute ....
I noticed that too...
just when you think you got something figured out
You get or it ? "trumps" you.....
and after awhile you just sort of
come to accept that.
Not that it helps much all the time
you still fall down and skin your knee
from time to time....
and the ladies still break your heart.....
and you break theirs at times
but the dance goes on....
Tis the flow of not life persae...
the flow of light and love.....
and you learn to laugh
with not that phoney
laugh but an enlightened chuckle
That is the nature of harmony then
and harmoniism.....
learning to dance on the water....
Like a dolphin perhaps.....

sir  



27 May 2004 @ 07:22 by spiritseek : Go with the flow...
What a concept! The main problem is tripping over one's ego from time to time. I suppose quit thinking so much on how to fix things,especially when its not broke in the first place.  


29 May 2004 @ 08:26 by skookum : Cool
I think you've got it!  


1 Jun 2004 @ 22:15 by Don Dwiggins @24.24.160.198 : The living universe
Elisabet Sahtouris takes this to perhaps its logical conclusion in her treatise "A Tentative Model for a Living Universe", in 2 parts:
http://www.via-visioninaction.org/articles/authB/A.htm
http://www.via-visioninaction.org/articles/authB/B.htm
... a compelling alternative to the tattered old mechanist, reductionist model.  



2 Jun 2004 @ 01:22 by ming : Bayes
Well, applying statistics to ones own life is a sure way of screwing oneself up. "The numbers say there's a 1 in 1,000 chance I'll be hit by a bus when crossing the street. Please, please, don't make it this time." Where, really, you get hit by a bus only if there's one there, and you don't look where you're going, at exactly the right time for it to hit you. Nothing much to do with the average of what happened to all other busses and people. Only one person and one bus matters to you.  


4 Aug 2004 @ 14:15 by Quantum Mechanic at Large @24.98.1.76 : Things that happen, making them happen
These are of great intrest to myself as well. Well this is great because these are things that make tools. The tools I want to use anyway.....And the list, also the basic activitiy of lower life forms, how they achieve survival ,reproduction and adaption,and eventualy,transgress and evolve to consciousness. Then once percieved , higher life forms call it learning and the word list discribes the common roots of process of learning. They do happen by them selves or by concious choice and they create new nural pathways or the nerual pathway, or the genetic code.Things comunicate and learn in many ways ,at atomic level, at cellular level, at concious level, at colective level. on any level and between all levels.Thinking does not have to occur for comunication to occer. Psi field' s can be measured around the one celled creatures, conscious creatures and even whole planets , between spiecies brain language is a universal to life here.You can watch the one on the other side of the dish react to stimuless the first recieved. How do molusks figure out things and perform adaption on opposite sides of the planet at the same time, why do Lemmings all decide to run of the cliff at the same time.Is it mokey see monkey do.Molusks do not see and I dont think Lemmings talk in the coventional sense of the word.Understanding a few things about telepathy might make it easy to understand this list or its mysteries, not all of it. Telepathy goes on all the time ,,,between all of us,, between all life. yes something is smart, life itself ,it being the oppositte of non life, decision starts with the first life, and so does telepathy.  


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