Chaotic Humanus

I am intrigued by how the scientific/mathematical understandings of chaos and order might be connected to understanding human behavior. If "patterns" of randomness and order occur (in nature) how might that effect human interactions, systems of order, laws, rules, successes, failures, civilizations, rise and falls, marriage, divorce, happiness, sadness, thought, emotion, wealth, poverty . . .

My initial thought is that there may be an important aspect of scale involved: how (from where/by whom) the experience(s) of life are being observed may flush out the details of explaining how and why things happen in the lives of humans. For example the rise and fall of a civilization may come about from reason or randomness depending on what scale you are observing it from -- there may be "real" causes to explain the collapse of a civilization at one level; however, when taking a look from a different perspective it may be that civilizations simply come and go without there being reasons (that the behaviors of humans in effect become like the cosmic dust of matter separated into ever smaller parts . . . cantor dust of behavior and perhaps even emotion). If there is a sensation that can be broken down into smaller parts -- let's say a feeling of good/bad and you break down the components of the experience does the meeting point between good/bad become as significant as the sensation itself -- what I am trying to get at here is the examination of concepts like good and bad? like matter in physics they become ever more illusory as you begin breaking them down . . . It may be that from "our" perspective a civilization rose and fell (rises and falls) because of relatively clear causes: i.e. lack/abundance of natural resources; however, when looked at from an alien sociologist's perspective looking at the patterns of civilizations across the universe it turns out that the rise and fall of any civilization ends up being part of a pattern that has both randomness and order swirling about it . . . Part of my notion is taken from the idea of shifting perspective and how this might effect dimension the other part is taken from the idea that as you look at something on a larger/smaller scale there may be evidences of both order and randomness at play . . . does that make any sense? . . . and that patterns of order and randomness are involved in behavior . . .

Part of this simply looks Zen to me . . . i.e. the idea that the "emotional" concept -- hell moral concept -- of something like GOOD may shift depending both on perspective and scale is not that far removed from the Zen notion that our labels construct our experience of things . . . but considering human relations within the framework of history and "large" scale human organizations in particular there seems to be something else at play as well -- history need not be seen as simply ordered nor need it be seen as simply the product of its actors . . . what if within order there is chaos? again within chaos might not order exist? an individual goes crazy and kills a bunch of people -- order and chaos intertwine -- shows up as a random dot on the overall map of human behavior . . . what if things as painfully absurd as genocide are caught up within these universal patterns? what if there is a certain randomness and order to human atrocities? on a smaller scale how about a fight taking place between two people suddenly becoming violent? is it possible that their argument/their fight are intertwined into the behaviors of the universe through both order and chaos? what does this say for/against free will? are their actions that (going towards the infinite) are examples of free will? could these same actions from the point of observation also seem like prime examples of a deterministic universe? can a universe be simultaneously free and determined? chaotic and ordered? even emotional states like love could be looked at within this framework, highlighting the potential for order and randomness to effect us directly as humans . . . I'm not even thinking about the more abstract idea that we are both matter and space, both finite and infinite within our physical/mental construct (that is the human construct) . . . the physical and mental construct which classifies us as human nothing more than an abstract concept depending on the observers' perspective (I am starting to get the feeling that Berkeley's singular observer may have been overly simplistic -- multiple observers, multiple perspectives, and we and our behaviors are changed by the varied perspectives: we are both a dot and a line depending on the view, we have both chosen and had our choices made for us depending on the perspective) . . . how about the interplay between the "purely" physical and the "purely" emotional/mental? if we are space then what is thought? is thought confined? could "we" by shifting perspective become lost in the haze? as the social understanding of the universe changes how does this effect life? what I mean roughly is that as revolutions in science drift from the scientific world to the "world as a whole" how is the "world as a whole" effected? are patterns of behavior that appear to represent the breaking down of social order in actuality symptomatic of a changing universe or at least a changing view of the universe?

in particular how might a perspective of the world that moves away from the traditional sciences change our "human" understanding of ourselves? even guilt and innocence (or at least how we phrase these terms) might change . . . this isn't necessarily a new concept (Darwin not only changed human understanding of the world but he in effect changed how we view ourselves within the world, Einstein's relativity changed not only physics but in effect the very fabric of how humans saw the universe) but there needs to be an awakening to the way in which this process continues on . . . these scientific revolutions weren't one time events they continue to ripple throughout our experience . . . we literally live in a different universe from our parents . . . once you start "seeing" things from a new perspective, that new perspective will help shape your understandings and behaviors . . . again I can't help but flash back to "mental" concepts like morality and how our very judgements might be changed by our changed views of the universe . . . but what I am most intrigued by is the notion that we are a species in the process of being transformed by our own experiences and our shifting judgements made in regards to these experiences . . .

Shopping Treadmill

Just saw a cool cartoon on Colbert Report: Work, Shop, T.V., Work, Shop, T.V., Work, Shop, T.V., The American Life Treadmill.

Economic Realities?

How does an economic system based on the concept of ever-expanding markets thrive in a world of shrinking resources? Is it the case that the basic principles of capitalism are at odds with the fundamental realities of our finite existence? Can the economic platforms of the United States (and much of the "western world") be realigned with the planet itself? If these realities are not brought into line with one another, is our future necessarily bleak?

A quick reality check: the United States consumes roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day, while producing a little over 8 million barrels a day . . . China, the second greatest consumer, swallows up about 7 to 8 million and this number grows as the Chinese economy grows . . . The Law of Supply and Demand suggests prices will continue to rise as demand increases and supply decreases . . . Meanwhile, the U.S. purchases the products of China and China loans out the money needed to keep the U.S. economy plodding along in order to consume . . . Debt and Consumption.

I am not in the most optimistic of moods today: a number of global puzzle pieces seem to be collapsing inwards/outwards, and I am genuinely uncertain how long the good times can last. I don't believe in the end of the world, but I do believe in cycles of rise and fall . . .

Intro

The purpose of this blog is to put down my thoughts as they run along. I am a teacher and a closet environmentalist and the basic content of this blog will be focused on those two topics with the majority of my dribble being -- I suspect -- on how I envision a shifting world.

I believe the world is always changing, and I believe the environment is in constant flux. However, we need to take responsibility for what the world is becoming and learn how to work toward a "better" existence. I tend to see the environment, education, community, politics, and a thousand other topics as necessarily intertwined. If we fail in raising ourselves into a citizenry capable of running a peaceful democracy then we will have failed in the great american experiment.

Today:

I have this crazy notion that neighborhood running could save the planet . . . well maybe that's a gross exaggeration, but I suspect that walking, bicycling, running, and generally being out in the world can help create healthy neighborhoods. We need to see our fellow humans. The world is way different from our childhood, but it still exists. We can see our community and function within our community by simply being a part of it from time to time. In my rather self obsessed world this has involved occasionally trying to jog "locally" from place to place and see what is going on around me. Too often even our social existence takes place in the relative isolation of our offices, our stores, and perhaps most significantly our automobiles. We fly by our neighbors on our way to somewhere else, and generally miss the good and the bad happening around us. Instead of smelling the roses, we are driving past them at who knows how many miles an hour then sitting completely still in front of the television that almost never tells us what is really happening outside our door. In somekinda crazy world that I'm imagining, people would come first. Human beings would have the right of way over cars -- no I don't mean to incite radical jaywalking. Instead, I am trying to explain a concept that has been rolling around in my mind about making sure that thoroughfares don't prevent foot-bicycle travel or cut neighborhoods off from one another. Roads need to be designed in such a way as to allow for long distance travel without disturbing or reducing opportunities for local foot travel. We can see examples of this realization in communities throughout the world, but I imagine cities being designed in such a way as to actively encourage outdoor activity and to help foster community through their very design rather than having these notions plugged in at the end as side notes. We are a world apart from the one our parents and grandparents lived in: we live in virtual worlds, we move from job to job, from hometown to hometown and often from one country to another and back again. Perhaps our ties to the local community where we live TODAY do not run as deep as previous generations (more likely they are simply different kinds of ties) but in either case the differences surrounding us make it more important than ever to enhance our experience of life. We need to make our cities livable.

Specific Example:

Salt Lake City: 700 East between 900 and 1300 South is an excellent example of a road that needs to be reshaped to enhance local community experiences rather than cause divisions and obstacles to existence outside of those felt in cars driving somewhere else. There have been improvements in recent years including bike lanes running both east-west and north-south; however, this particular street still works as a divide in part because of its size and in part because of the dramatic lack of safe crossing areas. There should be pedestrian crossing areas that move with fluidity and that perhaps even include engineering changes such as pedestrian bridges/tunnels. In particular I have often thought that the city has made a mistake in not connecting one of its treasures, Liberty Park, with a smaller park on the other side of the street (running just east of 700 East to the south of 1300 South). A bridge could directly connect the two parks and the overall park experience could be enhanced with the continuation of the cedar path in the smaller park making a second loop for people using Liberty Park as a place to engage in activities such as walking and running. The idea is not original -- it is in fact based on a number of parks in Paris that have used a variety of tricks to create larger open spaces than those existing within the "natural" confines of the city. I believe connecting these two parks in Salt Lake City would create a sense of enhanced urban open space and ideally increase the overall Salt Lake urban experience by enabling the park(s) to in fact become a keystone to connecting/bridging communities that are sometimes otherwise separated.