Tag Archives: systems

I Love CHAOS! And YOU asked for it? (The Extropist Series – Part III)

I have often pondered over chaos and control. What is the point of chaos? Why do we have it in our lives? And how does it relate to being an Extropist? Then one day it came to me. It’s there because we ask for it to come into our lives. And when I understood this I realized that I love chaos. This new idea about chaos came when I learnt something about evolution. EVOLUTION REQUIRES CHAOS. When something in the environment is destroyed and removed from the eco-system it creates space for new beings in this system to come in and take advantage of the change. The new being evolves to then thrive in this new system structure and be more effective and powerful than before.

Changes precede chaos

This is the same thing that happens in our own lives. Something comes along and throws the stability out of our world by changing the environment. It is then up to us to best develop and evolve ourselves in order to better handle the new environment. We are forced to reassess the structure and workings of our world, tear it down and rebuild it as a new and stronger, more effective system. So you might begin to see that chaos is a good thing, but people don’t see it that way.

The Problem of Chaos

Several things make chaos seem like a bad thing. Firstly, we are hesitant to break our world down as we have become comfortable in the world that we have created. Next, rebuilding the system of our world takes energy and work. Energy that we may not have or are reticent to spend on reconstructing our world to take into consideration the change in our environment. And finally, it is the resistance that we have to the chaos and change that limits our ability to properly function and motivate ourselves to use our energy in the most effective manner to make change.

Calling Chaos

The only difference to what we see in the larger phylogenic (or species) evolution is that people can consciously create change from an ontogenic (or individual) evolution that feeds the change for the species. What this means is that we call chaos into our lives so that we can evolve our individual system. That’s right! You literally ask for chaos to come in and mess up your world. WE CREATE CHAOS! Chaos is simply disordered energy. We need more energy to increase the size of our life and perpetuate our evolution. But this energy wont just come on a platter as a ready to plug-in battery pack. Sadly, that’s not how it works, nor would it be fun if we didn’t have to solve how to evolve.

When chaos enters into our lives, there is a greater overall amount of energy now in our lives. However this disorder is causing the current system to become inefficient, as it has not been calibrated to handle the new energy. This is why we often feel unstable and out of control with it’s introduction and so we often have to completely change the whole system in order to handle the new incoming energy. It is this reordering that causes the system to be more evolved as it has learnt how to better work with the new energy in the system. This can then have a trickle down effect for the whole species because then when another person sees how this new way of being is more advantageous they may choose to follow the new system. Then another. And another until critical mass is reached and there are more people using the more advanced system than the old. So you see that chaos might actually be a good thing for not only you, but everyone.

Karmic Chaos

But you may ask “how can we call chaos into our lives? And why would we?” Well, I’m certainly not advocating forcing chaos into your life by doing something dangerous such as jumping off a cliff, but rather begin to listen to the natural ebb and flow of life. Chaos is partially karmic, as it is a consequence that mirrors the amount of energy that you have put into your life. You are actually asking for the injection of new energy because you have used up all your energy in the system and now you are getting an equivalent amount of energy back to work with. Its kind of like pushing the pendulum. When you push it away from you, you get the fruits of the upswing, but slowly it reaches the top and eventually stops moving. So we need more energy to bring into the system to continue the growth and that comes back to us in the form of chaos. It is this energy from the back swing that you get to work with to evolve the system.

With each swing you get stronger and so you can push the pendulum farther. This in turn creates a greater experience and use of the energy in your life. A bigger swing also brings back more chaos into your life. You, however, are now stronger, wiser and more able to handle the introduction of greater chaos into your life. Some people resist and deny the chaos in their lives while others embrace it. There is a great saying, “Small life, small problems. Big life, big problems.” But know this: You can only bring into your life as much chaos as you are able to handle and never more. This is a very important point. This is because you can always handle the force of the return swing because you created the first amount of energy. Therefore the only time chaos can overwhelm you is if you feed into the old way of thinking and tell yourself that chaos is a bad thing due to one of the three points earlier. This will limit your ability to work with the new energy, to evolve the system and create a more amazing life.

So you can see that chaos is intrinsic to creating anything in our lives. Progress requires chaos. We must not be afraid of chaos, but understand it as a natural part of the growth process in life. When you feel the all too familiar feeling of change in the air, that something is happening that is out of your control, trust ultimately that you can handle it. You don’t need comfort and security all the time if you know things will turn out for the best. When you can trust in life and the process of it, you will be able to control the chaos. You can KNOW this because you called for chaos to come into your life. Instead of shying away from the small problems and living a small life, embrace the big problems when they come so that you can live the biggest life you can dream of.

Chaos gives birth to a divine star

The Dynamic Systems of Extropy (The Extropist Series – Part II)

When we want to make a change in our lives, we know as extropists that we must create a system of structured energy in order to move into an experience that better serves us. This energy injection has many different names. In science it is called “work”. It is this work that we give to a situation that helps raise the integrity of the situation by overcoming conflict and creating resolve.

This work however requires a balance of energy within the system dynamics otherwise there can be a system failure because the system is being under or overwhelmed by the amount of energy inserted into it. Every part of our lives, whether it be relationships, career, health, or anything else, is impacted by system dynamics. However, it requires an awareness of the kinds of systems that you are working with rather than assuming that all systems operate under the same specifications. Do not assume, but get in tune.

Keep up the energy

It is important to go through how the systems in our lives can become imbalanced and what that can lead to. This allows us to be aware of each dynamic in order that you can then understand where you may need to tweak the energy in order to bring it back into balance.

Sometimes you can overwork the system by putting too much work into it. This may apply to relationships when one person is giving too much to the system and therefore expecting something more than the other person can give back in return. Consider these two people are two elements giving energy to create the “relationship” system. With an imbalance of energy, this could cause person A (the input) to blow a fuse from taking more energy that it can handle or cause person B (the contributor) to burn out from working too hard and not getting enough energy/ output back to continue with or validate their work.

To further explain this, imagine that person (B) likes person (A) a lot and this person (A) is hesitant to get too involved. They are limiting the flow of energy, whether it’s because they have restricted the flow of energy they allow into their experience from person (B) or because they have been hurt previously and they have a damaged emotional structure to process the attention and energy being given to them. This person (A) receiving the energy will be hesitant to take the energy, thus limit the flow and will only give back the energy they are willing to receive.

great relationships learn how to treasure the differences

Otherwise, if person A, takes on more energy that they can handle it can also damage the system as they are taking in more energy than they are able to handle. This will cause person (A)’s fuse to blow and they may either derail in the relationship or elsewhere in their system (career, health) depending on how the composition of the overall structural integrity of their psyche is and where their weak points may be.

Additionally, the force of energy from person B could be so great that it begins to back up and cause A to not be able to take in any of the energy offered to them at all. This could frustrate and be very hurtful to person B, because B is trying to create a greater system by forcing energy into the new structure. Without reciprocation from person A, person B is doing a lot of work and not getting a reciprocal output. As B’s energy begins to deplete, due to the failure of the work to get the desired result, this may create feelings that invalidate person B as they are not able to maintain the system and again results in a system collapse.

These types of energy dynamics exist in any system whether it’s your work or your physical body. You can be overworked and become burnt out or you can try to give too much and destroy the connections that you have built by giving too much to the system. It is important to constantly evaluate the system be aware and give and take in order to work with what the system can handle. Often people create an ideal of what they think the system is and try to force the system into that place rather than allow the system to grow into that place. Be aware of what and who you are working with. Remain conscious and try not to force your beliefs and ideals on people through the energy and work that you give because this will cause your energy to be depleted and no work to get done. Change comes from the inside, and therefore we must allow people and ourselves the room to move and grow. Otherwise the system will collapse under the rigidity of the perceived ideal structure rather than allowing the actuality of the more fluid organic structures to work with what we hope to create. To create an ever better and evolved system.

The Way of Extropy (The Extropist Series – Part I)

There is a road we all must walk. There is no denying it. We each step on it as we are born and we continue to be on it until the day we die. This road is the road of life and we can choose where it will take us or we can go along for the ride and let it take us there. That is up to us. Whether or not we end up where we wanted to or not comes down to choice. A choice of whether we are extropists or entropists.

Entropy comes from the second law of thermodynamics which states that all systems leak energy to spiral down to an inevitable state of chaos and disorder. This is the most common form of existence, as we find that more often than not the things we have created or try to create often end up in disrepair. Whether its relationships, our careers, physical and mental health, these are all systems that are ultimately overcome by the forces of entropy. An example of this may be we fall in love, we get married and then we begin to take our partner for granted. We have put in the amount of energy required to win their hearts and now things should just coast along. Right? Wrong. Entropy states that there will be a natural dissipation of energy that will ultimately cause the system of your relationship dynamic to begin to degrade, collapse and fall into chaos. So how can we stop this from happening? Extropy.

Entropy

Extropy on the other hand is putting a stop to this energy leak caused from entropy by injecting more energy into the system than its losing which results in an evolved system dynamics of using this energy. Extropy may come in the form of a couple in a failing relationship putting the time and effort into build new communication channels which result in a clearer dialogue and a happier time between the couple. Or it may result in a person studying outside of their work in order to have a greater understanding of their job so that they can do their job better which results in a promotion. Extropy ultimately leads the actor towards a system of greater organized complexity, rather than greater disorder and chaos. Ordered complexity here might sound uncomfortable but what it is referring to is ever greater functionality offered to the system with the most effective and efficient use of energy. The system can constantly evolve. There is no limit.

Evolve with love - MLK

The greatest from of energy that we can offer is love. Love comes in many different forms, shapes and colors. Two experiences of love to mention are gratitude and giving. They require the person to actively choose to involve themselves with good thoughts, good words and good deeds. Gratitude is the internal manifestation and experience of love and giving is the external manifestation and experience of love. These forms of love are a way in which to give energy to a entropic system in order to inspire change and elevate it to greater functionality and purpose.

Therefore we need to think about how and where we put our energy and use our time. When we operate unconsciously and automatically we give energy to our habits, which are behavior patterns we apply to try to use the least amount of energy. These autopilot holding patterns may keep us feeling like we are safe but very soon we will run out of fuel (energy) and will be forced to act very fast and put ourselves in very stressful situations. So take control of your destiny and use the free will that you have been granted in order to create the destination for your road rather than have it direct you to a failed destiny. Ensure that you strive to remain a conscious creator of your life in order that you are continuously giving more energy to a situation than letting what you have created leak entropically out into the Universe around. Instead, as an extropist you want to constantly address your life with love and ask how may you give to it in order that it may evolve into a space of ever-greater ordered complexity and profound purpose. Good luck on your Journey!

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Calculating the Love Connection

Isn’t it wonderful that there is someone in life to think sweet thoughts about, whether or not you are in a relationship with them. I was at my best-friend’s wedding, and in his speech I gained an amazing insight into what the feeling of love really is. He helped me understand that this person you are focussed on is a person that inspires you to want to be the best person that you see yourself becoming. It is that feeling of inspiration, of wanting to be the best that you can be for this person and the world that we call “In-Love”. But it is equally important for you to realize that it is not the person themselves, it is the connection between the two of you. You are the person that feels the love “IN” you. Love is not given to you, it is conjured within, and is up to you to accept and acknowledge that experience of it within. You recognize love from your connection with another person. This is because whatever you put out you always get back.

The Love Equation
Newton’s third law of motion and force states “Every action always has an opposite and equal reaction”. Love is an e-motion or a force that motivates us. This means that the only way you can experience love is by giving love. It is reflected back to you. Therefore the more love you give, the more it will reflect back.

The Love Mirror
The amount reflected back to you depends on the reflective surface onto which you are shining. The person that you are sending your love to needs to be able to accept the love within themselves in order to be able to reflect it back. You will only be able to receive the amount of love reflected back to you as the person is able to absorb. It is the same as saying “you can only love another as much as you love yourself”. For example, let us say that you are providing a stadium light worth of love but the person only has a mirror the size of you palm. You wont actually receive that much back. Furthermore their mirror might actually be directed at someone else so that even more will be lost. Therefore it is important to make sure you are always giving to yourself as much as you are giving to your partner.

Give without Expectation
Here is one trick to ensuring you will get love back though. Give without expectation. If you give love without expectation of receiving back, you will always walk away with a smile in your heart because you have not limited yourself to the single connection but given for the sake of the whole universe, of something much bigger than the both of you. When you give for something bigger than yourself you will always and truly receive that which is equal to that which you have given” You can use this love equation for anything, for a connection with a person, for a connection with a thing, for a connection with an action, for a connection with a thought, for a connection with anything and everything. Lets say you love playing guitar. By giving to the action of playing you are getting a much richer love for yourself and the music than if you merely listened to it on the radio. You will find new understandings about where the music can go and where it can take you. This is all because of the millions of different variables that exist between the player and the music: The tone, the pitch, the timbre, the rhythm, your emotion, your content. So many different ways that these variables can come together that you will be able to create such a rich and fulfilling experience. Now think about this connection and all the variables that exist between two people and you can times the richness of connection by infinity. Which is why I might add it is so difficult to define “Love”, because there are literally infinite ways for it to be experienced and it is the same for wisdom.

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The Love Connection
When we think of romantic love between partners, we can see how the love connection is developed from your experiences and interactions, your support and intimacy, your absorption and your teachings, from anything and everything that bounces between you two between each of you individually and the outside world and between both of you together and the outside world around you. All these things add up and build the love connection. I like to think of it like an internet connection. The more experiences you share, the more intimately you get to learn about yourself, your partner, what they want and what you want. And as we know more information you have access to, the more bandwidth you have built into that connection. The greater the connection the richer the experience and the more mature the love that you will feel.

Equating your Love Connection
Upon deciding on our partner, we take into considerations the things that have worked for us in the past that we have built and we ask for those things to be equally present. We also acknowledge those things that haven’t worked for us and it is when we have shone the light on these things that we can then better help understand what we need to build a connection this next time to better serve us in creating a richer love connection. Sometimes we aren’t always aware of what does and doesn’t serve us and other times we believe we want things built from a reactive state. The only place you create your life from is your present not your past. Therefore build your love connection from this moment. (For more on this see Shifting paths – Shifting lives). When you have found this someone that your unconscious has calculated as matching the requirements that you need to satisfy the building of the love connection you are looking for, you will begin to feel stirrings of wanting to connect with this person. This feeling is so exhilarating and profound that we naturally feel it is the person that is causing such feelings. Please remember, that they are merely the conduit, the mediator the mirror. Treat it kindly and shine the light of love on it and you will feel the experience of love. Build the connection by learning about each other and you will have ever-richer experiences of love.

The Love Connector
The best way to create and connect to an experience of finding the person that can satisfy the personality variables you are looking for is through a love poem. Write a love poem about the perfect partner. Imagine this perfect partner is on their way over to your house and you want to give it to them as a sign of love and gratitude. Do not have any one person in mind but simply write about how grateful you are for them. Write about the way they make you feel. Write about what things you adore about them. Write about the things you do, say and share with each other. Write about how you communicate and how you support each other. Write it so that you feel it as the Truth within you. When you have finished writing you will be one step closer to your partner. Whether it is a person you have your heart set on or another unknown in the Universe that you know you will attract, because you will be clear in what you want. Your subconscious will have revealed to you what is meaningful and what makes up your current love connection. When you are clear on what you want, you won’t fall into pitfalls of connecting with people that don’t make up the values you are looking for and so you will save yourself time and heartache. When you finally connect with your partner it doesn’t hurt to rewrite the poem of what new love connections you are building at the moment so that you are clear within yourself as to how you want it to grow. The fun part here is that you actually get to give it to the person that you love!

So remember your love exists within you. You build a love connection between you but the love always exists within. The trick is to build a big enough connection that the sharing is quick, easy and inspiring. Give and be open to receive. This goes for anything you do. Walk into any situation by giving without expectation to receive and you will always walk out with a mile on your face. Live from a force of love and you can create anything. Just write exactly what you want and why as if it’s on its way to your door and you will open up to your dream life.

The Space Between Space: The Wisdom of Silence

This inspired film by Jeff Scher is an example of silence. It’s funny how even in silence we find noise, but many a time the only way we can find silence is to have noise. So why silence? And why noise? Lets start with silence. But first please click on the image and explore this short and powerful piece.

Silence is the space in between all our thoughts. Like the space between the rain drops and the sound between the notes of a piano. Silence is where our wisdom and intuition reside. This wisdom is the collective power of our whole body system, and thus is the accumulated efforts of our subconscious. The subconscious is infinitely more powerful than the conscious mind, because it is not restricted to form but instead understands the universe in a logical, but non-linear fashion. It doesn’t require lines, labels and definitions of the forms that it is working with. Anything and everything exists in all time and space and so it is in silence that our complete biological system realizes its full potential of the computing power of its entire energy structure which enables it to fully understand this world.

We recognize this world through our feelings and subtle images, not through the incessant self-talk that churns through our thought space, distracting us from a greater thought. This incessant talk is noise. But it is a chaotic noise; it is a reaction to our experiences. A noise without structure it bubbles up haphazardly from the stories we have of ourselves from our multiple identities of who we believe ourselves to be. These stories constantly reaffirm our reality, ensuring that we keep to the illusion of who we are. We have these identities so we can feel safe, so we can be in control, so we can know what is and what isn’t. But this noise does not serve us. We need noise to give shape to the world and help us know what is from what isn’t through the use of words and thoughts but often this is merely a distraction and for the most part a farce. Noise forms us but doesn’t necessarily serve us. However noise has another role if we condition it through our breathing, through a mantra, a repetitive motion or any other meditative form you desire. By using this structured noise we can quiet the chaos and create a space in which we can connect to the silence. We remove the typical overbearing chatter that drowns out the subtler feelings that contains so much wisdom.

Silence exists in the present moment. Whenever you are thinking of the past or the future you are in a space of thought. Thoughts of who you were and who you should and could be. In the present moment you can create a white place; a clean slate. It is from this place free of the untangled world of the past and the future that there are no preconceptions, existing forms and ideas that you have to adhere to in order to create. Instead your canvas is free to create afresh and anew any world that your deepest self dreams to be true.

This space, induced by structured noise, is often associated with slower frequencies in our brain. When considering sleep, the slower our frequencies get the deeper we are into sleep and the less our conscious faculties are in play. Early on in sleep we often reach a stage in which our waves slow to what is called Alpha frequency. This stage is a powerful stage as it has been to show that we can operate powerfully without the use of our conscious mind getting in the way. We often use our conscious mind to understand things, which are great for when we are first learning something so we can build the necessary neural connections, but then we continue to rely on this conscious mind rather than trust the wisdom that exists beneath this conscious process. A much more powerful processor. There is research which shows how mind when wandering or day dreaming we often reach our greatest moments of inspiration, so too in that period just before we wake, where we look at the world in the borderland of our sleep and waking worlds. It is in this space that we are in the Alpha wave state and it is in this period where we have shut down enough of our conscious faculties to open ourselves to the power of silence.

Find a moment to yourself when you are ready to discover yourself or something in your life. Take a breath and then take another and listen and feel what happens in your breath and between the breath. Listen to the rain and see the rhythm of it in motion or stop for a moment and play this piece and find the peace you need to move to a powerful place. So don’t think you need to think your way through life all the time, but instead take a moment and access the space of silence. And remember, “Silence is Golden”.

How are you connected to the Universe?

This video shows you the simplicity and complexity of your connection to the Universe.

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The Powers of 10

We are a single integrated system. From the microscopic to the galactic, it is the same system. We can see this as we go out or in, the same laws the same patterns continue to emerge. The Universe is visible and knowable in the drop of a single moment; you simply need the eye to see it.

The universe is a holograph. Shine a light on the holographic plate and an image appears. Take a small part off the plate and when you again shine the light on it you will still see the image but at a lower resolution. Consciousness is a continuum. As it evolves so to does the resolution of life. So think about where you are shining the light of your consciousness. Look through what see and realize that everything exists in everything. We exist in everything and so we are simply seeing ourselves. Give to others and you give to yourself. Look at yourself and you will see the world.

Meeting the Walrus is a ‘Profound Whatever’!

This video is so astounding for me. Not just for the visual element but for the wisdom that John was espousing all the way back in 1969 and the insight from the 14-year-old Jerry Levitan. Two points in particular I would like to talk about.

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The Power in Being the Change

The first point begins with the current context of the US involvement in the Afghanistan and Iraq military campaigns. As Lennon so rightly acknowledges the large groups that have a major influence over the government don’t want peace. America’s Military Budget is consistently as much or more than the rest of the world (Ref 1 & 2).  War is good for the institution of the USA. Smash it down, build it up again and hang onto it to become the establishment. To hear this realization from a time long past is inspiring and sad. Sad, for the fact that this knowledge has been in the public mind for many years and still we have not been able to eradicate such useless violence bred from greed and corruption. It is inspirational, however, because we are reminded that there were great people back then willing to stand up and talk about ways to eradicate violence through non-violent means.

It is the power in protesting non-violently that enables a change in the current regime. The governments are all well versed in using forceful resistance but they don’t have a weapon to use against non-violent action. It has worked time and time again, with Gandhi to Martin Luther King Jr. and onwards. But it is not just about non-violence it is the same for anything you want to create in the world. It is about giving what you get. It is about being the change you want to see in the world. Which part of yourself will you feed. That which resists the world or that world which that you can flow with. It is by resisting something that we make it more real. Giving is the best way to receive. So if you want to see the change in the world, be that change, encapsulate it and without expecting it from others but doing for the love of what you believe you will inspire people through your leadership.

We need to be the change we wish to see in the world.

– Mahatma Gandhi (1869 –1948) Indian Political Leader and Social Activist

Don’t sit there and just blame people who are doing the “wrong”, but instead, act in a way that promotes a greater harmony.  It is not their fault that an evil has been begotten because they knew not. The same way a child breaks something, even with malicious intent, it is not their fault. It is simply an unconsciousness that we must work to educate in how to behave in a more conscious manner. Our governments are not to blame, we put them there, and if there is something that acts in discord with the evolution and sustainment of the world then there is an opportunity to educate but being that education.

The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.

– Edmund Burke (1729 –1797) Irish Philosopher

The world is in a natural entropic cycle. It is part of the laws of thermodynamics, in which there is a constant move to a state of chaos however we can choose to be the carp that swim upstream. It takes more effort but we have the ability to insert some energy into the system and from that point we can move into the opposite direction of a chaos state and instead towards a more organized, evolved and harmonious state. One stroke at a time. And that’s the point, no great person went out with the intention to be great instead they try to do the small things as great as they can.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

– Lao Tzu quotes (6th Century BCE) Founder of Taoism


The Power of Tuning in to Broadcast out

The other “profound whatever” that John talks about are that messages are there on all levels. Many profound philosophers, over the millennia, have realized that the same Truths or Laws of the Universe exist on many different levels, simply operating at different scales. But these Laws are one in the same they just are aimed at affecting the relevant elements at the scale of force of which they are operating, whether it is a person, a planet or an abstract concept like Love. These Truths are all the same.  It just takes time to open your heart to the greater scope of life to further awaken your consciousness and realize how connected it all is. I will talk about this further next week.

It’s the same in a flower it’s just there, and if you look long enough all answers are in it, same with the music.

– John Lennon (1940-1980) Songwriter and Political activist


Tuning in Exercise

An exercise I recommend is that in each interaction you have with a person or event, ensure that you are Giving. Feel in your Heart earnestly that in every action you are giving to the occasion and not just taking. Taking can include only partially giving yourself to an action. In fully giving you are fully present to your actions, because you are fully giving of yourself and hence your attention. From this you will open yourself to receiving greater understanding about your actions and the dynamics of your interactions. In an interaction that you are fully tuned into you will be able to get the most out of. It’s like listening to a song on the radio. You have to be properly tuned into the right frequency to be able to get the most out of the song. And that frequency is the frequency of Giving.

“This is the sum of all true righteousness: deal with others as thou wouldst thyself be dealt by. Do nothing to thy neighbor which thou wouldst not have him do to thee hereafter.”

– The Mahabharata, c. 150 BCE

HUMANS ARE AN INFINITE SYSTEM

The human organism is made up of a system of cells working together to make a grander system. This system develops from two primary elements: Cultural and Hereditary. Hereditary elements are when the system’s ancestors have donated a part of themselves to help discern the type of system that will develop. This gift will lead to the development of its traits, dispositions and strengths, creating how the system functions as well as its inevitable purpose in life. However there is the cultural element that is also needed to be taken into consideration. This Culture relates to the external world and its influence on the individual cells. The cells are required to adapt and evolve to their changing world. Culture has shown to have a major impact not only on the content but also the structure of the new system. This is evidenced by a group of American researchers who have recently shown how the brain develops differently due to different cultural upbringings. But it is quite intuitive to understand that, by this larger system (or human) living its life, it learns and develops, as it goes to different places and experiences different emotions, understandings, germs, foods and all matter of experience. This experience is what the body needs to learn from and adjust to, in creating new combinations and understandings (or thought technologies) to deal with its evolving world.

The Evolving System

To gain an understanding of a larger system I like to first understand the constituent parts which help make up that system. The benefit in understanding these preceding systems is that they are quite similar to the ultimate functioning of the greater system at hand. For example, we are for the most part an evolved system from our parents. They contained certain physiological and intellectual matrices which they had developed and advanced from their forebears and passed them onto us. We (who are reading this) are now evolving our physiological and intellectual systems to surpass where our parents have developed. While we can look at the ontological story, or the evolution of the individual system, we as humans also develop as a species and share a grander story of a collective advancing system. We started off having evolved from a system of single cell life forms into multi-cell life forms and from there the system has kept on evolving all the way to humans as we know it and inevitably beyond. All systems evolve from systems preceding it and therefore you can gain many understandings of the current system by delving back into the past and looking at where you have come from. You can’t see where you are going without knowing where you came from.

Where it began

So let us look at what we can learn from the single cell – where it all began. The way I best find to understand this is through analogy. What I found interesting is the likeness of the human cell to bee colonies. These share very similar operating systems in that they both have a central nucleus, which in the case of the bee is the queen, as well as many other constituent parts to keep the system running such as membranes, receptors, messengers and so on. Contrary to popular belief the nuclei in the cell and the queen, are not the central processor but instead more similar to the sexual organ. They contain and retain the genetic history of the colony and feed the updated information collected from the male messenger counterparts to understand the true needs of the system or colony. This central unit then proceeds to direct the creation of the necessary elements of the cell that will best serve the system. I would like to reiterate that the reason why I use the term ‘system’ for the cell here is because as the cell is part of the human system, so too is the human part of a larger system like a community or country, and thus the individual parts make up the system of the cell itself. We are therefore an outward expansion of complexity based on ever-increasing layers of symbiotic simplicity. Each advancing level corresponding to its previous simpler counterpart as well as many counterparts before. The human, as part of the global system, feeds back into a national system, a cultural system, a communal system and so on. These parts still feed out into many other systems well past the next advancing stage of the system. Thus again we see the importance of understanding the system from the simplest levels.

So if the queen and the nucleus are not the brain of the system then what is, and how are these systems aware of the changing external world. Bruce Lipton talks of the cell membrane as the main processing unit. (My next blog will be on Lipton’s ideas expanded). He says the membrane (or outermost shell of the system) is that which experiences the external changing world and perceives it, deciding and sending back the relevant information to the entirety of the system which best realizes the reaction, not just a central nucleus but the entire system. Therefore he purports that the membrane, that which is connected to and assesses the outside world, may be the central processing unit. However as the central processor, it is not necessarily that which experiences as the Mind. The Mind is separate from the brain. It is all-pervasive and the culmination of the system which is able to experience itself.

Sum of the Parts

The Mind is a collective of all the parts in the system. A system can be a system in itself (a cell), but it can also be a part of a system (a neuronal cell). Each system connects into other relevant systems to feed and share information and understandings. As a collective sum of all these systems, a level of consciousness arises. With each advancing level of systems connecting into each other, comes greater functionality, and thus greater tools to interact with and understand the world. The tool, or functionality, that we most recently developed as humans is metacognition ,which is the awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes. This has taken up much of our philosophical understanding and religious explorations with names such as the soul, the ego and as many other forms. It is important to remember that each system has its own level of mind. The mind or consciousness of the cell is much less conscious than the Mind of a human as there is a smaller complexity and functionality to the system due to a limited sum of the parts to make such an advanced whole. But the wisdom and functionality of mother earth and the human collective is much greater than the individual human.

One amazing idea that we can draw from this is that as an individual we may be great, but as part of a larger system we are amazing. Many of the world’s great leaders, such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., have created revolutionary change not because they were great men but because they were acting for a system much greater than themselves.  It is why when people work together to make change they will be so much more effective than if they tried to do it on their own. When we look at our lives as an individual many people become overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy but when we look at ourselves as part of the greater system and a contributor untoward that we find a sense of peace and satisfaction in what we have given. The same way a multi-cellular life form has much greater capacity, and therefore potential to make greater change, so too are humans as collectives in comparison to individuals. That is where our greatest power comes from by working together.

Through the Mind’s Eye

So the Mind exists as the sum of the system and we can therefore make use of this by looking at the ways in which the mind perceives the world. It does it physically through direct contact as in an external element that is touching up against the sense membrane and the system then responds to it accordingly. Whether it be air waves, light waves or a more tangible element, the system registers through the sense organ and responds appropriately. However we are beginning to understand that there is another form of communication in these systems known as indirect communication. We see this in bees that communicate through a special dance to denote what is happening at far distances away from the system and we see this in cells that communicate electromagnetically. It has also been recorded by researchers that our heart has an electromagnetic field that stretches out and can be recorded several feet outside of our body. Over the last few years scientists have been considering the role of quantum mechanisms, in which it has been shown that it is possible for the mind to exist, communicate and perceive from distances outside of itself, through processes such as entanglement, that allow it to still perceive its external world. In its simplest sense it is most probably a combination of the quantum and electromagnetic processes of the system which help to explain some of those intuitive feelings people have like sensing someone’s presence in a room, danger to a loved one and other intuitive understandings that the human system is able to determine outside of the sole control of direct communication.

Intuitive wisdom can ultimately be considered a product of whole body functioning and therefore cannot be understood solely through the brain but by feeling how your body reacts to situations. It depends on the subtle messages and signals that the individual systems in your body are attuned to and how they translate that for your brain to understand. This can occur through gut feelings, dreams, reoccurring themes in your life, etc. there are many different ways that the greater wisdom of your whole body system will be able to communicate with you. Therefore it is important take time, to find stillness in which to feel the movements in your body. Notice the way that the subtle feelings in your body move with the ebb and flow of life. Synchronicities are thus multiple whole body systems operating on a harmonious frequency, communicating and interacting to create greater understandings. A space of stillness is crucial in best creating for your life as it not helps you to better act but also stops you to react. Finding space in your actions and not being so quick to react will mean that your decisions are based on your own consciousness rather than feeding into another persons. Often we also act from a place of the subconscious, when you react; you are simply perpetuating the inherent cycles of your life and not allowing for a space in which to grow. It is by taking a breath and connecting with how you feel in stillness of the moment that you may be able to break non-serving trends in your life and instead sense actions that may create actions that serve you as you create anew.

Mind is the Master-power that molds and makes, And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes the tool of thought, and, shaping what he wills brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills: — He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: Environment is but his looking glass. – James Allen “As a man thinketh”.

You and Optimal Systems – Part 2

The Hypersensitive body

Let’s consider what would happen on the flip side of the creative restorative scales and see what the overly defensive system looks like.  The system that places greater emphasis on the defensive mode can become overly protective in which it ultimately starts attacking itself because it spends all it’s resources towards the defense. It needs to utilize all these defenses that it has dedicated, because the resources that have been designated need to fulfill their purpose. This means that a system that is too defensive can ultimately start attacking elements in the system that are beneficial for it. For instance any foreign element that can be introduced to it such as a piece of food will ultimately be rejected. And a defensive stance will be taken.  This is akin to what is known as the allergic response. An allergic response is when an otherwise harmless environmental substance is introduced into the system and the system has an inflammatory response due to the hyper or oversensitivity to that element. Not all environmental substances, but some that are introduced during a time when the system is on high alert, may be coupled with and from then on, will elicit this hypersensitivity. The body mistakenly thinks it is the foreign food that is what is putting the body into disarray rather than the situation surrounding the person, such as a stressful event.

We have seen this explained by the famous Russian Psychologist Pavlov and his dog, who described the concept of classical conditioning (CC). CC describes a process where an unrelated stimulus such as a bell when paired with a related stimulus such as food will make a dog salivate even when the food isn’t present and only the bell is rung. The same thing happens with allergies. A person’s body goes into a defensive mode when a food element coupled with a stressful event enters their system. Medical professionals may have an explanation for ‘how’ it happens but their ‘why’ never seems to place any relevance to the mind, instead hereditary or environmental factors are blamed. However with the introduction to our understandings of the mind on placebo, stressor-immune response and genetics, we see that there is a viable cognitive model for the mind on allergies.

The Hypersensitive culture

We see this hypersensitivity rear its head in the sociocultural systems as well. Take for instance the great nation of the USA. This system started as a well-functioning and evolving system very similar to an advancing human. It had both the capacity to advance in its understandings but at the same time have in-built a competent defensive functionality that had the ability to protect itself from any foreign bodies with malevolent intent.

I am not condoning aggressive behavior, however as we see in the human body the necessity of having an adequate immune response to invading elements is necessary so too is it worth having an adequate defense force to protect a societal system.

This US sociopolitical system however recently moved into the aforementioned allergic response in which the system put more resources into its defenses. It has ultimately begun to paralyze itself with the defensive stance that it is taking and attacking elements that can lead to greater advancement in the system such as the introduction of new cultures and new ideas into the system. Anything new is seen as a possible attack, treating it accordingly and sending the system into disarray.

This can be described as a fear based system in which the strangle hold on the illusion of what the country had for a certain period of time stops the momentum of progress. A great saying that refers to all elements in life is one to be remembered at this point – Love let’s go and fear holds on. Say it three times and understand it. Love let’s go and fear holds on. We hold on in our bodies, in our relationships, in our sociocultural systems. It stifles the progress and advancement of the evolving system. The system needs to grow otherwise it will feel the wrath of putrefaction born from stagnancy, a space of resisting the flow of life and fighting its current at every turn. So let life flow through you and those surrounding you and you will ride along to new heights.

You and optimal systems – Part 1

Recently I was considering the idea of optimal systems and what is required to keep them operating functionally. What I now feel is that systems require an allocation of resources both to the advancement of the system as well as to the restoration and protection of it. We as people, and as systems, need to keep an elevated tone in creation but require a harmony with its restorative functions. This is seen in the body as a balance between the sympathetic system which elevates and the parasympathetic system which restores. Both are necessary for the optimal functioning of any system whether it be one element of the human body, the human body as a whole, or a collective of people.

There is such similarities between the dynamics of systems. If you stop and take a step back you will see how the systems are operating under the same physics. It doesn’t matter what, who or where you are, you will find the synchronicities. It all just depends on what level you are looking at the world from. Whether macroscopic or microscopic we are all but different resolutions of the same picture.   Let us consider the balance below.

Woes of the Elevated culture


The Athenians were an advancing and creative civilization of the ancient world that gave us many of the seeds of our own thinking and advancements of the modern-day. Ancient Athens was a center for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato’s Academia and Aristotle’s Lyceum. Athens was the birthplace of democracy as well as Socrates, Sophocles, and its many other prominent creators of the ancient world. Athenians operated truly harmoniously as a civilization, but without placing resources into the defense response, they were more susceptible to attack. Whilst they were progressing as a creative system, advancing moral and civil ideas and functionality, they had not addressed the defensive elements in the structure of the civil system properly to anticipate any offense. They were eventually overthrown and dissolved into the many succeeding empires.

Woes of the Elevated body

This balance is seen similarly in the body of a high performance athlete. When they train their body to optimal functioning the majority of their resources are being placed into maintaining the high functioning of the system. When the high functioning system is attacked by invading pathogens the system typically has not dedicated enough resources to maintain an equilibrium in the face of the high level of functioning required while balancing the immune defensive response. The body ultimately gets sick and injured more easily as it is operating at the brink of peak performance and it’s limits.

This high level of functioning is quite unlike a body that is constantly punishing itself, for instance with booze, unhealthy foods and lifestyle habits, the system knows to place more emphasis on the defensive/ immune response and in turn removes resources that would otherwise be placed into higher mental faculties.

If we look at the system from the perspective of high performance vehicles versus the old jalopy. Old Jalopies were built from much denser material and were very crude compared to modern-day, clunking along through the oil, dirt and grime of the system. Whereas the high functioning motors, whilst made of light and well lubricated systematics, a speck of dirt can throw the whole system out. The maker eventually learns how to treat the system and how to counter for the effects of the minutiae which can throw the system out. In this same way we too learn what ways don’t serve us and our progress in this world and how to change, and remove elements that reduce the efficiency and harmony of our lives. Unfortunately, sometimes people address the situation too late and many of the parts have worn down. We have now begun to replace to parts but even then we have dramatically reduced our potential.

When we this mechanical perspective it becomes clear how when we enter into a space of chaos, clunking and spluttering our way through life, we feel a general life discordance. Some life event and our reaction to it has led us to the question “why this?” However such chaos can be offset by acknowledging that we are hyper functional beings and in this chaos we have just pinpointed a speck of dirt which has thrown out our system. Through this we remove ourselves from an attachment to any end point, for as we know there is no end point, and instead insert ourselves back into the process of life – aka the flow. Through the acknowledgment of the process in chaos you now have the ability to adjust your perspective to a more powerful place by knowing instead of whats gone wrong, where you need to fine tune the system. Chaos in our lives is a blessing as it shows us where to grow. So love the process of adjustment because it is good to be happy in the good times but it is truly living to find happiness in the bad times.