Blog – Some Words Left Behind

Divine Curiosity: On Staticness & Dynamicness

I read an article the other day that talked about the personality traits of dolphins and how scientists found they shared ‘similar’ personality traits to humans. The researchers stressed they weren’t identical, however it made me wonder – could there be an archetypal basis for personality? That beyond the human race, pervades nature…

The most widely accepted model for human personality centres on 5 traits: Openness, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism. I’ve seen somewhere that these could also be organised as biased towards structure (conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism) or update (openness & extraversion), which fits nicely into the yin-yang dichotomy, as many things do.

From the article: “Dolphin & human brains are considerably larger than their bodies require for basic bodily functions; this excess of brain matter essentially powers their ability to be intelligent, and intelligent species are often very curious.”

Could it also be posited that larger brains enhance, or grow from, a requirement of enhanced sociability – especially in animals with big, complex social groups, such as humans. Existing in large social groups necessitates balancing acceptance by the group, with climbing the social hierarchy. Could these dual requirements, that also exist in many species beyond humans, lead to an archetypal representation of personality traits throughout nature?

Intelligent species are “often very curious”. Some may consider curiosity a spandrel amidst brain matter that has developed with the intention of procreation and survival, the perceived focus for all other biological entities. In biology, a spandrel is a phenotypic trait that is a by-product of some other characteristic, rather than a direct product of adaptive selection.

Let’s take a slightly different perspective – procreation & survival for what? Purely for more procreation/survival? A materialist views curiosity either as a spandrel or a tool – to achieve more procreation and longer survival, but what if curiosity was the driving force and procreation was the tool?

“What if curiosity was the driving force and procreation was the tool?”
TF

Curiosity is consistent across many species. Is this the manifestation of a playful/explorative urge that exists in all living things? In order to maximise exploration over time, some stability would be required – this fits Robert Pirsig’s idea of Static and Dynamic ‘Quality’, from his book, Lila. Static Quality represents the patterns left behind by Dynamic Quality. Dynamic Quality is the explorative urge in all things, manifested through acts of creation and destruction. Dynamic Quality aligns with the Hindu idea of Lila, which they define as divine play; the play of creation and destruction and re-creation – the folding and unfolding of the cosmos.

The creative/destructive urge is easy to spot in children when we watch them play. Even for newborn babies, exploration is how they interact with the world around them. So while this exploration may be the driving force of existence and the universe, it still requires structure/stability as a foundation, to be able to manifest across time. This ‘structure’ is what we see all around us – patterns left behind. Our bodies the pattern of what we’ve previously consumed and how we’ve previously acted, our cities the pattern of multiple layers of civilisation built on top of, and around, each other.

So both exploration (update) and stability (structure) must be present throughout the universe for exploration to be maximised. Too much stability and everything would decay – the creative urge dies; too much exploration, too quickly, and the creative urge destroys itself, with no structure left to build upon.

This interaction of structure/update therefore plays out at multiple levels of existence – including the social and individual levels of humanity. Ego enables structure and stability at the individual level. As explorative beings, implicitly programmed to also look for stability in order to survive, we are susceptible to over-identifying with these stable structures (just as we are also susceptible to over-identifying with update & dynamic exploration). At the societal level, over-identification with stability can play out in greater numbers of the population associating with overly conservative political viewpoints, or through nationalism – built on the idealisation of old representations of national cultures; ‘the good old days’.

So any archetypes of personality aren’t just archetypes of personality, but archetypes of being – manifested through polarised traits. At the metaphysical level then there is value in all; in traits expressed at every point along each personality continuum. Isolated they may not make sense, or fit in with particular environments (consider the concept of wartime & peacetime leaders). They can only really be understood as part of the whole, as part of the eternal explorative dance of existence.

01/02/19 – Friday, 13:40 – Burwood Station, Sydney

“Jesus loves you!” the old man proclaims to two finely dressed women. He’s been sitting at the station waiting for a train for the last 5 minutes and if it wasn’t for the consistent stream of conversation he upheld with himself, and anyone within earshot, you’d think he was like any other labourer making their way home after an early finish. His baggy denim shorts, steel toe capped boots and plain t-shirt doesn’t set him apart on this sunny afternoon in Sydney, however when someone sat by themselves is exclaiming the dangers of Satan, the end of the world and the immigrants’ role in all this, everyone does their best to avoid eye contact. Yet I can’t help but have the urge to want to speak to this fellow; to understand his view of the world. Surely, there’s something of interest to be found in a perspective unburdened by the rules of social conformity as the rest of us are, regardless of whether it’s a conscious separation he chooses or whether it’s just the result of psychological instability…

“There’s 3 or 4 Westfields across Sydney” Will, our liaison officer for the tournament, tells me and as I stroll round this particular Westfield I can’t help but revisit previous thoughts on the commercial similarity of the places I’ve visited in the world so far. Even though there may be the occasional brand I haven’t seen before, everything feels much the same, as if I were in London. But what did I really expect? Malls are convenient – everything you need in one space – why would you go to a high street where your options are reduced and you might not get what you came for. Society trends towards convenience. Will there be a point where convenience reaches a peak? Will tastes demand inconvenience and novelty at this stage? Or will we continue along a path to a human race completely incapable of doing anything for themselves so that they have de-evolved from a bodily perspective and evolution of the mind is all that continues? But even the evolution of the mind must be under threat with so little genuine novel stimulation these days, at least outwardly – in the environment that surrounds us. However, from the screens that face us an ever increasing amount, we all seem to require constant stimulation; slaves to dopamine inflicting signals from loosely associated ‘friends’ and acquaintances. An affluenza that has infected most of modern society. A life lived superficially – no time to delve into details. No time… Was it ever any different? Is it a minority of society who crave deeper stimulation or do we all really need this? My experience of people suggests that most people need deeper stimulation at some level, but the effort to explore in order to find it is certainly less prevalent.

He’s not wrong, our old friend from the train station – Satan is amongst us and superficiality is maybe his greatest ally; the divergence of attention, that allows evil to scourge the earth. The lack of lessons learned from recent history is astounding but even as I write this I’m aware I’m as guilty as the next in turning another cheek to the horrors currently happening all around the world, is it too much for our consciousness to take on, to comprehend how we could possibly make a difference? Historically it has taken the darkest of human monstrosities to awaken society to the active daily duty required to work against the prevailing of such situations. As I read in Camus’ ‘The Plague’ today:

“The evil that is in the world always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding.”

Understanding…

How can we achieve understanding if rushing from stimulant to stimulant? My train ride took me to Circular Quay, the station where you get off for the Sydney Opera House. As I came out of the station I noticed the Sydney Contemporary Art Gallery so thought I’d take a look to see if Contemporary Art at least differed from Western nation to Western nation. Largely, it did – with a heavy focus on aboriginal art/culture and a variety of exhibitions bringing awareness to the treatment of aboriginal people since white people began to inhabit Australia, all the way up to modern day conditions. This of course taints the view for the rest of the days sight-seeing, now with the increased awareness of the moral cost of these modern marvels of architecture and the city surrounding them, something I’ve actually long been aware of when walking through London. And thank goodness such exhibitions still exist in a society that seems to increasingly lean towards silence with an increasingly apathetic public. If art did not bring light to these truths what would? Politics? Media? The National Curriculum? They seem to be once again reaching ‘1984’ levels of truth avoidance. We can’t hold the general person in contempt for their busy lives. We must understand the economic demands and narrative which drive our superficial public; people are much easier to govern when they’re saddled with debt and distracted by media soundbites on war, terrorists & economic crises, along with advertising constantly comparing them with their neighbour. Significant effort is required to break from these burdens of the mind and explore the world outside of them. The individual must let these manufactured pressures float away, allowing space for inquiry into truth – both on a metaphysical and social level. Space to notice that their peace is often a product of power – of conquest, and that their civilised society is the outcome of the most uncivilised, barbaric acts towards the people now referenced as ‘uncivilised’ and who remain strategically weakened by limiting the resources available to them, most notably education. Power understands power. Specifically, that education leads to the ability to strategise and the powerful fear that they would, as a result of an educated native population, be unseated from the thrones they so violently claimed, so do everything they can to keep this from happening, all the while claiming to be helping. But this is education within the confines of what the powerful determine education to be – one focused on reason. Real education may involve reason, but it also involves love – which grows from understanding, true understanding, and true understanding doesn’t involve reason. In fact, it’s what our ‘reason’ driven Western nations lack most and which superficiality has no time for.

What is the difference between our sensationalist media and the old fellow at the station? The only difference is that we’re exposed to the media so much that they’re able to repeat messages daily, so we come to accept them as true, but in essence these messages aren’t unlike those of the old man – stories of good and evil, of apocalyptic visions and the blaming of all our woes on someone else. So as we stared at our old friend, considering him the Outsider amongst us, believing him to be loopy with all the ‘nonsense’ he was sprouting, our superficial minds missed that his words were really a close representation of society’s collective voice, one that we’re all complicit in cultivating. “Life is about what you’re willing to accept and not accept” as my old wrestling coach used to say… As we avert our vision and avoid eye contact with this chap, we avoid contact with the darkest, most important parts of ourselves, of each other.

But don’t worry…

Jesus loves us and we’ll all be forgiven…

Thoughts on Chaos & Order

yin-yang

The dichotomy of chaos & order roughly corresponds to openness & conscientiousness in terms of personality traits – individuals higher in openness tend to be more comfortable in chaos, individuals higher in conscientiousness tend to be more comfortable in order; but we all need a balance of the two.

Individuals that score high in conscientiousness tend to prefer planned, rather than spontaneous behaviour. They display self-discipline, like to be prepared, pay attention to details and are more likely to follow a schedule.

Those who score high in openness are usually more intellectually curious, creative, aware of their feelings and willing to try new things. They are also more likely to hold unconventional beliefs.

So order & conscientiousness are roughly aligned to structure/stability, whereas chaos & openness are roughly aligned to update.

Most successful organisations will be biased towards order, so they are able to function effectively, but to continue at the top of their industry a certain amount of openness or update is required. How does an effective organisation effectively utilise chaos/update without it overwhelming their structure and conscientiousness?

This problem is also found in the political sphere – governments are challenged with needing to maintain a certain amount of order & stability while also needing to continually update and modernise society, so it is able to keep up with an ever changing world. It is clear that the structure/update dichotomy also roughly maps on to that of right wing/left wing thinking. Those who are paying attention will be noticing that too much of one or the other in any of these realms is not healthy.

The individual must always maintain a certain amount of structure in their life, while updating enough about themselves to keep boredom and stagnation at bay. While this is almost a universal truth, how individuals differ is in the amount of structure or update required in order for them to feel at peace with their situation.

The coach must essentially manage order and chaos when dealing with athletes; one example – how much of the athletes current abilities/skill set should they aim to leave in place, while they attempt to update their abilities/skill set? If order is when the athlete is feeling somewhat comfortable in their environment, and chaos is when they’re uncomfortable. What methods are available to the coach to manage the athlete’s exposure to these two realms?

The best athletes are those that best manage chaos & order within their sport’s competitive environment. When there’s chaos they can see and create order, when there’s too much order, they can break up the competition, make it more chaotic and exploit their opponents ability to find order there.

Ultimately the best athletes, or the best practitioners in any discipline, are those that are able to face chaos (or the unknown) and come back with something useful. Just like the knight faces the dragon and comes back with the treasure.

So the best coaches are those that best manage their athlete’s exposure to order & chaos. They’re able to recognise when their athletes need to be challenged with more chaos, as well as understanding what form that chaos should come in and how much of it there should be. They should also be able to recognise when their athlete is suffering from too much chaos, and be able to help them find their way back to an appropriate order. This applies to all elements of performance – technical, tactical, physical and psychological.

It should be understood that following order in search for answers can only get you so far; it can at best lead you to figuring out known unknowns. To assume we’re clever enough to know what the unknowns are in something as complex as sport, and even more so life, is naive. We need to ultimately be able to manage chaos and turn it into something useful. A foundation of order is helpful for this, as it means we’re more likely to be able to find our way back. But when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back into you – you won’t be the same after chaotic exposures. But if update is needed then this is exactly what you need. Enjoy the journey.