Week 7 Assignments - Chaos Theory

On "Ordered Chaos":

What is interesting to me is the paradox of order and chaos - and the seeming oxymoron of these two terms being used together to describe their dynamic relationship. Order arises when a system becomes too chaotic - and conversely, chaos is required when a system has become strangled by too much order. Both rely upon each other in the constant struggle for balance, or homeostasis. In fact, I don't think I really like the word "struggle" - because this also seems to imply that the process is in some way negative or adversarial. In fact, this is just the natural state of dynamic systems (healthy ones, anyway); they are always in motion, always changing and always flowing into one another, becoming each other. Here again, the concept of Yin and Yang comes to mind...

Fractals as Patterns of Complex systems:

First of all, I have to say that I TOTALLY dig fractals!!! I have been looking at them online, and I haven't found one yet that wasn't really beautiful and fascinating - and I am equally enamored of those found in nature as I am with the ones that are computer generated. I also wonder if the mandala is a form of fractal - one which is used to train our minds and bodies for changes of consciousness...the ultimate "complex system", IMO.

There is something amazing about the fractal's "random uniformity" that speaks to the creative side of me. I have also always been fascinated by the "butterfly effect" and in much of my spiritual practice I have found this concept to be the way that things work - one AHA moment, or leap of faith on my part will then lead to other ideas or events which will eventually take me wherever it is I am supposed to go - and often this will ultimately entail a complete life changing experience for me which is never anything that I originally planned on or expected; and yet, there is somewhere within it the kernal of an idea or truth that makes sense to me, and I can always trace events back to that original moment or action which set everything in motion.


Consciousness out of Chaos:

So which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Does chaos create consciousness as suggested above - or is our consciousness the random force which drives chaos? Are the chaotic events in our lives the catalysts that lead to leaps of consciousness and self awareness and would we cease to grow and change if for some reason chaos were to disappear from our lives? I think the answer to that question is yes, that consciousness requires chaos in order to grow and thrive. However, I think that due to the dynamic and "coupling" nature of order and chaos, that it is also true that our consciousness and process of self-awareness is what gives rise to that chaos in our lives. If we are self-aware (which is one aspect of how I view "consciousness") then we are looking for random ideas and events which don't fit into the norm of our existence or which give us a fresh perspective or direction - and which challenge us to move in a different way or direction than we have done before. When we take up that challenge, when we follow an idea or event, often as an act of faith - big and beautiful things can happen in our lives; or sometimes big and not so beautiful, but it has been my experience that ultimately I am grateful for the lesson learned and I always end up somewhere new and unexpected.