Complexity of Human Life
Vlad Dimitrov
1 Introduction
From experience we know that the life dynamics are complex. Life phenomena, events, and processes emerge spontaneously out of interaction of many interwoven factors. Complex is the physical organization of our bodies; extremely complex are our emotional lives and the functioning of our minds. Quite complex is the organisation of the human society, complex (intricately tangled and interdependent) are the dynamic processes unfolding on our planet, in the solar system, and in the universe. So complex that the contemporary science can see only a tiny little bit of this overwhelming complexity! Experts belonging to different branches of scientific inquiry do their best to divide this ‘tiny little bit’ into even tinier granules, to analyse some of them and draw conclusions, then to repeat or extend the analyses and re-write these conclusions, then again to explore the granules, break them into smaller parts, analyse some of them and come to new, possibly entirely different conclusions, and so on.
To divide, separate and analyse - this is what science does very well. To unify, unite, and synthesise into an organic and indivisible wholeness is not easy for the fragmented scientific disciplines.
The paradigm of complexity is centred in the rich conceptual basis of the non-linear inquiry – the inquiry into turbulence and chaos, emergence and fractals, self-organization and criticality: the inquiry of complexity. At its focus is the unbreakable wholeness (integrity, unity, totality) of existence sustained by its self-propelling dynamics.
When working within the paradigm of complexity we try not to divide but to explore the interconnectedness, interrelationships, and interactions of the existential dynamics as manifested at various scales (levels) of their self-organization. With the research tools of complexity we try to understand the characteristics and laws of behaviour that are common for all dynamical processes. And as far as non-dynamical processes simply do not exist in life, the paradigm of complexity helps us understand something very essential and universal in the nature of the life dynamics.
2 Integrated Ecological Space
In order to capture a sense of the inter-relatedness of the life dynamics, the concept of integrated ecological space, IES, has been proposed (Dimitrov, 1998). In terms of this concept, every living entity represents a network of mutually connected agents or interdependent constituents, which constantly interact with one another and with the environment to ensure that entities survive and evolve. The networks of living entities are not separated, but imbedded in the dynamic web of interrelationships and interactions that covers the whole existential space.
In IES the life dynamics of the species and the environment are considered inseparable. Plants and rocks, animals and planets, humans and stars, societies and constellations - they all change and co-evolve due to activity of the same universal forces.
Like the famous butterfly attractor of Lorenz, one can imagine the existence of a chaotic attractor in IES consisting of two inseparably connected regions (butterfly wings): one is the region corresponding to the dynamics of the non-animated environmental forms such as rocks, minerals, planets, stars, and so forth; the other region corresponds to the dynamics of all the animated living forms such as micro organisms, plants, animals, humans. Neither of these two regions have independent existence: the complex evolutionary dynamics of the living organisms are coupled with the similar type of dynamics of the non-animated environment. Moreover, the dynamics of the living forms release their energy into the non-animated region of the attractor every time when a ‘death bifurcation’ occurs, and the dynamics of the non-animated forms pour their energy into the animated region to support the emergence and growth of the living forms.
The directed and persistent changes in the existential forms are driven by self-organizing and self-propelling forces arising from the multitude of whirling galactic sources in order to support with energy quasars and stars, planets and comets, oceans and volcanoes, atoms and molecules; these are the forces responsible also for the growth and reproduction of the species, for the pulsation of our hearts, and for the rhythm of our brain waves. As we cannot predict the outbursts of a supernova, the number of the fruits on a tree, the number of the off-springs of an animal, the amplitude of each beat of one’s heart, the moment of occurrence of one’s birth and death, so we cannot predict the exact realizations of the rhythm of the natural forces. Being inherently chaotic (unpredictable and sensitive to perturbations), these realizations express the self-sustained harmony in IES.
3 Dynamical Autopoiesis
Maturana and Varela introduced the concept of autopoiesis (auto meaning “self” and poiesis meaning “making”, “creating”) in 1973 as ability of biological systems to reproduce their organization in a co-evolving ‘structural coupling’ with the environment. Changes in the environment give birth to changes in the species, both structural and behavioural, and vice versa: the changes in the species lead to changes in their environment. (Maturana and Varela, 1987).
The butterfly attractor, which holds together the dynamics of the animated and unanimated forms in IES, is responsible for realization of a kind of autopoiesis, which we characterize as dynamical.
Dynamical autopoiesis refers to the ability of the natural forms to co-adapt and co-evolve in tune with the rhythm of the self-organizing forces in IES. This type of autopoiesis manifests the unbreakable unity of IES and illuminates a new perspective in understanding complexity of the life dynamics as sustained by interactions of an infinity of life-creating, life-preserving, and life-destroying processes mysteriously harmonized together through the rhythm of nature.
4 Seven Principles of Complexity
“Complex” as a characteristic of wholeness and totality differs from “complicated” (originated from the Latin word complicatus meaning “folded together”). A complex adaptive entity, such as an organism, cell, ecosystem, human being, organisation, intelligent machine, becomes incomprehensibly complicated when studied dissected into parts or disconnected from the web of dynamics in IES – a web of ever-changing interdependencies, interrelationships and interactions - to which this entity inseparably belongs. To research into complexity means to reveal and explore the emergent properties of this web, its capacity to self-organize, evolve, reach stages of criticality, and transform, as well as the principles sustaining its wholeness. To work with complexity means to act in harmony with these principles.
Our research in complexity has revealed the crucial importance of seven principles 'ruling' the all-embracing web of complex interactive dynamics in IES:
(1) Principle of Change: No matter what the nature of the changes of the web of interactive dynamics, it (or each of its constituents) can change only into something that is already inherent in its own nature. This principle closely relates to the next vital principle – the principle of emergence.
(2) Principle of Emergence: No matter what the nature of an emergent phenomenon or process arising in the web of interactive dynamics, only an emergence in potentiality (in a state of ‘implosion’) can transform into emergence in actuality (in a state of ‘explosion’).
(3) Principle of Attraction (Repulsion): The behaviour of any dynamic process unfolding in the web of interactive dynamics either gravitate to (or is repelled from) relatively stable dynamic patterns (called ‘strange attractors’ and ‘repellers’ in chaos theory). Being in the 'basin' of a strange attractor (or repeller), the behaviour of the dynamic process continues to be extremely sensitive to changes in its initial conditions and, therefore, unpredictable. What is predictable is that the trajectories describing the process ‘stay’ at the attractor (or run out of the repeller).
(4) Principle of Dynamical Autopoiesis: The web of interactive dynamics self-creates and evolves by ‘pulling itself by its own bootstraps’. It is the emergent phenomena and processes constantly produced by this web that perpetuate its capacity to self-propel, self-organise, and self-transform. Although the external conditions may stimulate or impede the ‘bootsrapping’ of the web, they can never replace its own inner impetus for changes and evolution.
(5) Principle of Growth-from-within: The web of interactive dynamics expands and grows (or shrinks and implodes) from within. In the similar way as the wholeness of a seed grows from within, while revealing the power of its imploded potential, so does any complex adaptive entity and the web as a whole.
(6) Principle of Self-organization: The web of complex interactive dynamics tends to self-organize into self-similar dynamic patterns (‘fractals’) at various level (scales) of manifestation: micro and macro, organic and inorganic, animate and inanimate, natural and simulated, individual and social, plant-like, animal and human.
(7) Principle of Vorticity: Vorticity, the ability of the web of interactive dynamics to give birth to forces supporting its self-organizing processes, cannot be less than the sum total of the vorticities of its constituents. More about this important principle will be discussed in chapter 3.
The above principles help us navigate through the tides and ebbs of our lives’ dynamics.
5 Attractors of Human Life Dynamics
The unfolding of the trajectories of human lives reflects people's activities. Driving forces of these activities are human desires.
In the civilised societies people's desires are usually directed towards achievement or acquisition of power (in material or other kinds of expression), freedom (to think, express and act), and knowledge, as well as towards experience of pleasures, love, and longevity.
These kinds of desires relate to the image that people create about their highest ideals endowed with the following magic qualities:
· immortality
· omnipotence (possessing unconstrained power)
· unlimited freedom,
· omniscience (possessing infinite knowledge)
· all-embracing love
· ever-lasting bliss and happiness (experience of pleasure).
When projected on human life, the above qualities imply six relatively stable dynamic patterns in the seemingly chaotic flow of activities, which pull people’s thoughts, feelings, dreams, longings, endeavours, and actions in a similar way as the strange attractors described in chaos theory act upon chaotic dynamics. These dynamic patterns are:
* longevity: securing one’s survival
* power: striving for and exercising power in various forms (economic power, higher social status, fame)
* knowledge: expanding one’s understanding, intelligence, wisdom
* freedom: limitless search for new possibilities to realize one’s skill, creativity, talents, dreams, etc.
* love: experience love in its various manifestations: mother’s love, sexually expressed love, platonic love, unconditional love, love to relatives, nature, country, kind of activity, etc.
* pleasures: thirst for experiencing pleasures of various kinds.
Longevity, power, knowledge, freedom, love, and pleasure are six attractors of human dynamics. These attractors may appear in various combinations with one another in different life periods of an individual.
Although one cannot predict any specific life trajectory of an individual or group, it is not difficult to reveal the attractor (or attractors) which this trajectory is pulled to in a certain time. The emergence of an attractor (or a combination of attractors) of human activity is its own proof; there is no need to seek other proofs for the existence of the attractor. If an individual goes every day to gamble in the casino, it means that his or her activity is pulled towards the attractor of pleasure (expressed through the pleasure to gamble) and this is enough to prove its existence; no other proofs are needed.
Each attractor strongly influences people's behaviour, thoughts, emotions, moral behaviour, cultural development, and spiritual beliefs.
There is also one fixed attractor for the flow of human dynamics - the attractor of death. As far as the energy supporting our activities dissipates, every attractor eventually 'shrinks', and gradually (or suddenly) disappears. When this happens, the life dynamics fall onto the fixed attractor of death. The pulling force of this attractor is intensified through the emergence of smaller-scale attractors (‘subattractors’) related to experience of chronic pain, stress, and suffering, as well as to persistent expression of destructive emotions such as fear, hatred, animosity, jealousy, envy, etc.
Although death is a fixed attractor on the physical plane of existence, many spiritual practitioners consider it a phenomenon which may open experiences at another plane. In the light of such consideration, death can be seen as a ‘strange’ attractors of the same type as the other six attractors of human dynamics.
It makes sense to ask the following question: Are we destined to spend all our lives ‘stretching’ and ‘folding’ at the dynamic attractors described above, that is, pursuing power, pleasure, knowledge, love, freedom, longevity, and finding eventually only old age, suffering, and death? The answer is “yes”, if our dynamics are ego-centred or delusive, and “no”, if our experience is energized by the dynamics of enlightenment.
With the first two types of dynamics, ego-centred and delusive, we are far from understanding the enigma of human life and reveal the reason for us to be born and then die. We are unable to see our mission other than a mere search for satisfaction of ever-emergent desires rooted in the ego-entity of our nature. We move from one attractor to another, without comprehension how the changes of the attractors may affect the development of our consciousness.
5.1 Change of an Attractor
The experience shows us that to fight with the pulling forces of the attractors, particularly when these forces have roots in the unconscious of our psyche, is extremely difficult, if not impossible. The studies of alcoholism and drug addiction - complex phenomena with dynamics stuck at the attractor of pleasure, demonstrate that fighting against addiction not only fails but has totally opposite effects: fighting intensifies the degree of attraction, that is, makes the attractor more robust and statically stable. The energy feeding an attractor puts into operation special kinds of self-protecting and self-justifying mechanisms which produce impossible to untie 'double binds' eventually reinforcing the drive to addiction (Batson, 1973).
With the ego-centred dynamics and the dynamics of delusion it is possible only to move from one attractor to another. With the dynamics of enlightenment it is possible to transcend the power of those attractors which are detrimental to our health.
5.1.1 Jump to Another Attractor
Human dynamics can jump from one to another attractor if the latter appears more powerful. For example, there are many practical cases showing how a deep experience of love may help people with drug addiction. In these cases, the strength of gravitation towards the attractor of love becomes great enough to resist the temptation of the attractor of pleasure associated with the use of drugs.
There are practical cases when the attractor of knowledge becomes more powerful than any form of addiction (considered as a pull exercised by the attractor of pleasure). However, this may occur at some earlier stages of addiction, when the brain of the addict is still able to function normally enough in order to assimilate or explore in a rational way what has been written or said about the potential threat of going too far with the addiction, or exert some kind of self-analysis eloquently exposing to the addicts the damages already created in their emotional or intellectual life.
The main problem with the attractor of knowledge is that the logic of human reasoning can hardly resist the ‘fire’ of emotions irrationally erupting at the attractor of pleasure where the seeds of the strongest attachment abide.
Survival of any newly emergent attractor crucially depends on its energy supply: for how long this supply will be higher than the supply of energy feeding the old attractors? For example, for how long the intensity of the emotions, desires, and passion related, say, to the attractor of love (or knowledge) will remain higher in comparison with the intensity of the still living emotions, desire, and passion to experience the pleasure of an addictive. Reversible jumps, that is, jumps from a new attractor to an old one happen often in human life.
5.1.2 Exhaustion of Attractor’s Dynamics
The attractors emerging out of the turbulent human dynamics are dissipative dynamic structures – they need to consume energy in order to exist. When the energy supply decreases and stops, the attractor shrinks and disappears. When the rate of energy consumption by an attractor is higher than the rate of its energy supply, the attractor’s dynamics gradually dies.
In the examples with the addiction, if the intensity in manifestation of an addiction increases up to such a degree, that the organism of the addict becomes unable to deal with the effects emerging as a result of this increase, then the addiction 'naturally' approaches the zone of its exhaustion. The addiction to nicotine usually leads to irreversible changes in the function of the respiratory system that can eventually bring forth diseases which makes it impossible for the addict to continue. Similar is the picture with the exhaustion of the addiction to alcohol, drugs, gambling, and every other manifestations of the attractor of pleasure. When a gambler loses everything: friends, relatives, and the means for self-subsisting, the gambling stops and the attractor of pleasure fed by the gambling becomes exhausted. It is clear that such 'natural' exhaustion is disastrous for those who experience it.
To passively wait until the attractors of human dynamics exhaust themselves is the most unhealthy way to escape from their basins, often leading to fatal consequences.
5.1.3 Transcendence of Attractor’s Dynamics
Much healthier way to overcome the pulling power of an attractor is by transcending its basin - not by fighting with the attractor's dynamics, neither by yielding to them and passively waiting for their self-exhaustion, - but by cultivation of an awareness about the forces operating at the attractor, while constantly trying to understand the sources of energy feeding these forces, and watching what conditions (both internal and external) make these forces stronger or weaker.
A calm and indifferent observation of the interplay of forces, both emerging from and contributing to the attractors’ dynamics, helps to discover that unique combination of internal factors (state of mind, emotional state, attitude, and spiritual experience) and external conditions (surrounding nature, people, relationships, and activities), which makes possible the process of transcendence of an attractor.
The transcendence of an attractor cannot happen without the following preparatory phases:
* recognition of attractor's activity and its supporting sources of energy;
* exploration both of internal and external factors affecting (strengthening or weakening) attractor's activity;
* seeding gently changes in individual's emotions, thoughts, attitudes, spiritual beliefs) so as to develop and strengthen individual capacity for self-awareness, alertness, and self-control.
This capacity for self-awareness, alertness, and self-control is decisive for the transcendence of an attractor to happen. It is the capacity that empowers an individual to become free from any routine activity. It is the capacity for deliverance from any habit, from any mechanical and repetitive way of existence, from any addiction.
The capacity for self-awareness, alertness, and self-control characterises the dynamics of enlightenment. This type of dynamics sustains an inspired way of living: when we ourselves, and not the attractors, assume responsibility for the realization of the evolutionary dynamics of our own lives.
5.2 Example
Let us consider an example demonstrating the stages on the way of transcending the attractor of pleasure.
(1) Recognition of attractor's activity and its supporting sources of energy
The chaotic attractor of pleasure acts in the life dynamics of every human being. It is the most difficult for transcendence attractor. Its driving force is enormously powerful as its source is in the human search for happiness. Through experiencing of pleasures, people look for happiness.
(2) Exploration of factors affecting attractor's activity
Happiness comes spontaneously, so one cannot repeat it. Pleasure can be repeated. The more one tries to repeat an unrepeatable moment of happiness, the more one repeats the repeatable moments of pleasure, and the stronger becomes the desire for repetition of those moments. So, the desire for pleasure is nothing but one’s past experience in search of another repetition again.
Happiness is a deep personal experience which depends on one’s inner emotional, mental, or spiritual states. The experience of pleasures always depends on something (or somebody) outside us. Such dependence inevitably (earlier or later) brings pain. Dependence is always a misery and those who depend in their experience of pleasure on this or that, are reinforcing their own misery.
Any accumulation of pleasure (usually related to an excess in eating, drinking alcohol, use of drugs, gambling, sexual indulgence) has a tendency to become a bad habit, a degrading practice, an immoral way of conduct.
(3) Seeding changes
The process of seeding changes starts with understanding the transient nature of pleasures, their unsatisfactoriness for the development and growth of one’s individuality, their self-propelling potency to impede individual potential for self-fulfilment.
For alcoholic and gambler anonymous crucial for transcending the attractor of pleasure is acceptance of a specific spiritual attitude leading to deliverance from the addiction.
6 References
1. Mturana, H and Varela, F (1987) The Tree of Knowledge, London: Shambala
2. Batson, G., (1973) Steps to an Ecology of Mind, San Francisco: Chandler Publ. Co.
Copyright, 1998, V.Dimitrov
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