Week 7: CHAOS

"Ordered Chaos":

Entropy is increasing, disorder abounding, order just a fleeting experience. Oh how I wish we could hang on to those moments in which we feel as though there is some order around us, moving us, guiding us forward. But instead we must participate in this dance between order and chaos. Again, the idea of balance comes to mind. One must truely set a goal to achieve some sort of balance within this increasingly chaotic world we live in. An intention each day to live within the chaos but not become part of the chaos. We must live in the world but not of it. In this way, we are the observer of the surrounding process of chaos, not accepting choas as a state of being. We manage the level of chaos arround us, hopefully, being flexible, always conscious of working toward homeostasis, a balance between chaos and order.

What is the connection between chaos and order in our own lives?
I find that there is an element of both running through my life. I can say that i feel more safe when there is order, but only because it lends itself to a sense that i am in control, doing well. The opposite is true for chaos. In the midst of chaos I feel rather out of control, a lost cause, struggling to re-gain some sense of control and order in my life. But the reality is that i am neither in control nor out of control in the midst of chaos or order. It just feels so in the moment when I am swinging back and forth, the pendulum swaying toward turmoil and disorder and then back the other way toward order. I do find that in the chaos there often times emerges more creativity. it seems that within the disorder or turmoil there is a freedom of movement or thought that is born, because there are no restrictions, laws, or regulations of order, just mad chaos, freedom.

Fractals as patterns of complex systems:

Fractals, the whole seen in the smallest part. An example might be breaking off a tiny piece of cauliflower, only to see that the image of the entire curd of cauliflower is seen in the little piece. "Worlds within worlds" is taken from our article read for class. It is also said that fractals are an example of a positive feedback system. There aren't that many examples of a positive feedback system to be found in the body, other than the release of oxytocin in a woman's body. In this example, the hypothalamus releases oxytocin into the posterior pituitary. The posterior pituitary then releases oxytocin in order to stimulate contractions of the pregnant uterus. Oxytocin also acts for a trigger in milk ejection in woman whose breasts are producing milk in response to prolactin. Both of these are examples of a positive feedback mechanisms, a regulated process that feeds back on itself, so that there is a continual release of oxytocin. How is a fractal part of a positive feedback system? Recognizable patterns!

Conciousness out of chaos?:

What type of consciousness are we going to have if we are constantly living in chaos? One of the truths of metaphysics is that thoughts are things. So if we are continually thinking and or feeling overwhelmed, out of control, and uncentered in our lives due to disorder and chaos, our consciousness will follow suit. The mind gives life, substance, and intelligence to our thoughts and experiences. If we reduce all the waves in the universe to chaotic ones, chaotic thought, we will vibrate accordingly. Our mind, or our thought processes, actually create the world around us. "Knowing that our world is composed of what we have idealized should make us more watchful of the activities of our mind. Are we still harboring thought forms that are impeding our sould's progress?"

Conclusions of experiement:

Sorry, I couldn't even pull it up, tryed all weekend and then again today, Monday. I will try from school, a different computer later to see if that makes a difference. Did anyone else have this problem?

ok, so i went back, once i could get logged in to this website, and i did the experiments. i did the ones that involved the sppon, fork, and knife. i do have to say that i feel like a kid again. So, i looked at the reflection of myself in the spoon, the concave and convex side. The convex side shows me right side up, like looking in a cloudy mirror. (cloudiness probably due to old silverware that is not very clean) The concave side shows a reflection of myself upside down. I had never even noticed such a thing. With the fork, I did hear some resonance as i plucked the tip and held it to the wooden desk. It was very slight but i could still hear it a little bit. The lack of resonance must be due to my fork not being true silver and my desk not being true wood. Interesting expereiments. Good things to remember for babysitting kids.