I, Manifest

<3

It’s quite long, but worth it.

People who read the article A Journey to 2012 might find this interesting:

A Surprising Similarity Between Stars and Atoms

The Space Telescope Science Institute recently released beautiful and enigmatic images of stars called Planetary Nebulae, which are ejecting their outer envelopes (N.Y. Times, 23 Dec 97, p. C1). The images show that the stellar shells can have an interesting variety of shapes and symmetries, which remain largely unexplained.

In 1989 a fractal cosmological model predicated that Planetary Nebulae shapes would bear a strong resemblance to visual representations of electron probability densities in the atom. The latter refer to the probabilities for finding the electron at a given location with respect to the nucleus of the atom.

Before discussing the reasons for expecting similarities between what would appear to be two radically different types of systems on vastly different scales, let’s look at several comparisons.

I found this talk by Terence Mckenna very interesting: Click.

(the link is to a play list, be warned it is a couple of hours long)

The world I see
is only potential
channels manifest
a calibrated reality

I must create
everything that is
my task to sculpt
the symmetries relate

Cause and effect
support or disrupt
the turbulent mistakes
through resonance connect

No doubt you’ve heard about the 21st of December 2012. The end of the thirteenth B’ak’tun in the Mayan calendar. It’s quite a popular date for the end of the world. For info on some of the predictions that have been made, take a look at the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon

There’s a lot of different ideas associated with 2012. Well, I’ve decided to take a pop at it, too!

My first prediction is that as the date nears, we’ll hear about it more and more. This is pretty obvious… when an event is imminent it is more likely to be in people’s thoughts. As a result, I believe it is likely that in general people will become increasingly aware of the details of the different theories/prophecies.

I’m quite confident of my predictions so far! I’m pretty good at this. So what will happen when people become more aware of the 2012 ideas?

Right, let’s take a closer look. I really haven’t got that much to say about the doomsday side of things, instead I’m going to focus on the ‘new age’ stuff.

Timewave Zero

At this stage I’m going to introduce a fellow by the name of Terence McKenna. He was somewhat unusual, and he experimented a lot with psychedelics. One day while tripping he came up with something known as Novelty Theory. Basically, the theory says that when novelty (newness/complexity) is plotted against time on a graph, it generates a waveform known as Timewave Zero. Furthermore, he suggested that novelty/time acts as a fractal (I’ve mentioned fractals before… and I will be coming back to them again in this article). To make a long story short, the idea is that when the waveform reaches it’s zero date, the universe will achieve infinite complexity. This date coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar, in 2012. This is a very rough explanation; the purpose of this article is not in-depth analysis of 2012 theories… if you want a better explanation, I suggest you go do some research.

Planetary Ascension

One popular theory is that 2012 represents a fundamental shift in the consciousness/dimensions of humanity/the planet/the universe. This is not necessarily a completely separate idea from timewave zero. There are several reasons proposed for this shift, again it is not the purpose of this article to go into detail. What I do want to mention is that they all seem to have something in common–not ironically this is resonance.

WHY AM I MAKING YOU READ THIS WHEN I’M NOT GOING INTO ANY DETAILS OR PROVIDING ANY USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT 2012?????????

Sorry, I really am going somewhere with this, honestly.

Where was I? Ah, that’s right… so 2012 approaches, and due to its proximity, things start getting hyped, and people in general become more aware of the details of the predictions. As a result, they will become aware of associated ideas/theories/phenomena. THAT IS MY SECOND PREDICTION! LOOK AT ME GO I’M LIKE NOSTRADAMUS!

So just what kind of things are we taking about? Tea leaves? Tarot? Magical incantations? Maybe human sacrifice?

Fractals

HEY LOOK, IT’S OUR GOOD FRIEND THE MANDELBROT SET!

I mentioned earlier that timewave zero is a fractal. Well, then it stands reason that in order to understand one of the most popular 2012 predictions, one would first need to acquire an understanding of fractals.

I predict that 2012 will raise awareness of fractals.

What else? Well, the funny thing about fractals is that they’re quite a deep subject. Let’s see where this rabbit hole goes.

Two important things to know about fractals: they are recursive (they are generated through a process of feedback iteration), and they can be generated through iterating simple functions.

By the way, the Mandelbrot set (pictured above) contains a pattern of infinite complexity – you could zoom in and see new patterns forever. Even if you magnified it to the point that the entire set stretched beyond the bounds of the known universe, you would be no closer to the end of the pattern. It is generated by plotting an extremely simple function. Take a look at the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

One of the key features of the Mandelbrot set is self similarity. That is, it contains patterns that repeat (nearly repeat) on smaller and smaller scales, including many baby mandelbrots that look very similar to the entire set.

THIS IS WHAT NATURE DOES:

Have you ever noticed how everyone has habits? How everyone has interests that they come back to again and again? How we live our lives with a routine? Of course you have, what a silly question, haha. Ever get irritated by the littlest habits of the people closest to you?

Sorry, I got sidetracked again.

So it’s established that complex behaviour can arise from simple rules. Here’s a fun little program to play with: http://a.parsons.edu/~joseph/k2/gameoflife/

Watch out, I’m gonna get very slightly Buddhist on you.

I think there is something about fractals that can help us visualise the interconnectedness of the universe. Certainly nature seems to operate fractally–and I’m not just talking trees. The way galaxies cluster together, and stars spiral around the centre of galaxies, planets orbit around stars and rotate around their own centre of mass, moons orbit planets… it seems to me that without the pattern that system creates there would probably be no stable environmental cycles…

These cycles not only provide stability, they provide rhythm… oscillation that emerging systems can become entrained to. After all, oscillation is the building block of pattern. We can observe this all around us–the annual cycle of trees is a great example. Our sleeping pattern is another. The stability of the periodicity reinforces the systems that are synchronised to it… you might call it resonance.

Fractals are cool, huh? They lead to all kinds of interesting areas. I HOPE LOTS OF PEOPLE BECOME MORE AWARE OF FRACTALS!

RANDOM THOUGHT:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

Hmmm, sounds like a riddle, to me. I think the answer is feedback loop.

Emergence and holons

One of the interesting aspects of the formation of complex patterns is emergent traits. For instance, a bird is comprised entirely of its cells. None of these cells can fly, and yet a particular pattern of cells generates a creature that can. Similarly, observe a flock of birds and you will witness behaviour of the flock as a whole that is not caused by any one member of the flock, instead it is a pattern that emerges naturally as a result of their individual interactions. From the random decay of particles emerges a predictable half-life. watch for thousands of years and see a forest expand and recede; it is comprised of trees that don’t move; how can a collection of atoms just doin’ der thang generate the flow of a forest?

A man named Arthur Koestler used the term holon to describe things that are both whole and part. That is to say something that can be identified as a whole, but is also comprised of parts/comprises part of a larger whole. From this perspective, you could consider a bird to be a constituent holon of a flock, or a tree as a holon of a forest. You can use this model to describe the structure of reality as holons comprised of holons comprised of holons comprised of holons… etc. This is called a holarchy.

In a holarchic structure, emergent traits can be understood as a natural property of a higher level holon.

One of the features of this perspective is that it brings into question the validity of wholes as an absolute statement: should wholes be viewed as trends in their sub-ordinate parts? Is there really something, or only (sometrend)?

∞(∞(∞)∞(∞)∞)∞

Wavefunction and Superposition

Looking at systems from the perspective of a holarchy, it becomes appropriate to describe behaviour using terms of quantum mechanics.

The principles of quantum mechanics describe the behaviour of atomic and sub atomic particles. I will be using the terms for larger scale systems. It is important to understand that I do not want to impose the science where it does not belong; the words are simply tools to describe behaviours. That is, the terms are being used as conceptual tools to approximate behaviour, and not to embody the absolute reality of what is being described.

That said, fractals are self similar… you make up your own mind.

The wavefunction of a system predicts how it will evolve/unfold over time in terms of probabilities.

Superposition describes a state between discrete possible states.

Imagine I could be either red or green, but no colour in between. If I was red and wanted to change to green then the transition between the two could be called my supercolour, and could be expressed in terms of how much I am red, and how much I am green. If the wavefunction of my red – green transition were to collapse, then my supercolour would converge to a discrete state and I would manifest as either red or green.

Let’s bring this back to holarchy and our flock of birds. The superposition of the flock is determined by its birds: some of the birds may want to turn left, some may want to turn right, nearly all want to remain part of the flock. As a result of the interactions of the birds and their differing intentions, the movement of the flock as a whole will become manifest. Since the birds are constantly feeding back not just on one another but also to and from the flock as a whole, the system is chaotic and manifests in a highly complex manner. It can look pretty good, too.

The wavefunction of this article, where will it take us?

Everything as holarchies

The sum of value exchanges that constitutes the economy. This is a holarchy. Your computer is a constituent of the internet. The sum the interactions of rules we are willing to impose upon one another constitutes laws – currently this is manifested as a centralised, mostly one directional hierarchy of power… personally I would prefer for this particular system to manifest more chaotic behaviour…

Pretty much anything can be perceived as a holon, and therefore part of a holarchy. Try it for yourself.

Neurons and synapses combine to create your nervous system.

Your mind arises as an emergent trait of the organisation of your brain cells.

Quantum mind

There are quite a few established quantum mind theories, find the wikipedia article here.

How does a thought arise? How does the unconscious mind prioritise our attention? That sudden rush of clarity when you understand a problem you have been struggling with for hours/days/weeks/years… where does that come from? We understand that different areas of the brain are responsible for different aspects of our mind, but just what is it that dictates the specifics of its manifestation? This is possibly the most intriguing question I can think of… at least, right now.

Consider that the conscious mind is essentially a feedback loop. It feeds back not only to itself, but also to the unconscious/subconscious mind, and even to the physiology of the brain itself. The connectivity of the brain is physically and functionally altered in response to stimulus. This is known as neuroplasticity.

If our conscious thoughts are determined by various factors of our perception and unconscious/subconscious mind, then we could consider the state between thoughts to be the superposition of our consciousness. An event/process would then cause the manifestation of a discrete thought. That thought would then be tested against in its environment, and fed back into the system to influence future states of consciousness/subconscious/brain structure.

I find this a very interesting approach to visualising the mind. And that is really my intent in this article. I view 2012 as a tool to aid the development of a worldview. I think some of the ideas associated with the 2012 theories are fascinating, regardless of your opinion as to the validity of the predictions themselves. I digress…

RANDOM THOUGHT 2:
When I was a child, my dad had an Amiga 500. He also had a program for copying the contents of one floppy disk onto another disk. I had the idea mixing two games together on one disk to create a new game! Unfortunately it didn’t work.

What if my intuition was good, and it’s just our technological methodology that is a bit off?

Holarchy and Gaia hypothesis

I don’t think there is really much to say on this subject, given the areas already covered in this article. It is clear that there are interconnected and interdependent environmental and biological systems that sustain all life on the planet. Given the holarchic perspective, the sum of these interconnected systems can be viewed as a cohesive whole. I do not believe it is much of a stretch to say that in a very real sense, the planet is alive.

The main issue of this view, as far as I can see, is the coherence of communication between distant systems. With the possible exception of weather patterns, the effect of one system on another on the other side of the planet is extremely indirect.

Until you consider concepts.

The evolution of knowledge

Who figured out how to build a rocket that could safely transport people to the moon and back? Was it a team at NASA? Or perhaps Isaac Newton? Hmmm…

The sum of human conceptual knowledge has been developing since the first conceptual communication.

If you consider the sum of human knowledge as part of a holarchy, what properties might the system manifest? Well, we use our knowledge to organise our lives, we use it to find understanding, to develop beliefs, we use it to invent technology.

All of these feed back on one another.

The sum of interactions of these aspects between people manifests collectively as culture, or society if you include the people themselves.

From the holarchic perspective there is no reason not to view such concepts as society a cohesive system, and indeed it would seem illogical not to do so given that the effect of the whole on its constituent parts is evident. It exists as a system/entity through the manifestation of its emergent traits.

Trends in culture/society

Historically it seems that changes in culture/society can develop gradually, but build toward fundamental shifts. The gradual changes are occurring all around us all the time. For an example of a large scale shift, consider the renaissance, or the industrial revolution. An example of an even more sudden shift, consider the French revolution.

So it seems that critical events can force a leap in the discrete state of a culture/society.

I’m going to come back to this, but first I want to introduce a new concept.

Quantum Zeno effect

Wikipedia article.

You’ve probably heard of observation having an effect on outcome in quantum systems.

First it must be understood that observation/measurement is not disconnected from what is being observed/measured. That is to say that measurement contributes to the environment of the process. This means that measurement can force wavefunction collapse to a discrete state, thus inhibiting the natural evolution of the system.

However, this also means that depending on the timing of the measurement, the evolution of the system could be accelerated.

Imagine again my transition from red to green. If my supercolour favours red at the time of measurement, it is likely that my transition from red to green will be inhibited. If my supercolour favours green, then it is likely that forcing wavefunction collapse will cause me to manifest as green.

It’s all about timing.

Quantum Zeno effect, societal change, and “wavefunction collapse”

A thought experiment:

Imagine there exists a society that is governed under political ideology A. Slowly, an alternate system, political ideology B, starts to become more popular. The two political ideologies are incompatible. And so the superposition of the society’s political system shifts over time.

Now imagine some event forces the “wavefunction” to collapse, say a civil war erupts.

When examining sub atomic particles, it is exceptionally difficult to look closer at the processes governing their behaviour. This is not the case with our hypothetical society.

So let’s ditch the term “wavefunction collapse”, and take a look at what’s going on.

Essentially the war is forcing the interaction of two potential societal states. As long as this interaction is sustained, the two sides will be in a constant state of feedback. This particular civil war is oversimplified, a real war is of course a very complex interaction.

However this is just a thought experiment. We want it to be as simple as possible.

The superposition of the society is coupled with its environment, but the two possible configurations are incompatible, yet it must manifest somehow. That is to say, the feedback loop generated by the war essentially exponentiates the imbalance between the two incompatible sides, until one destabilises, and the other becomes dominant.

If the war takes place when Political Ideology B has not gained much support, it is likely that its propagators will be easily overcome, and the society will continue to run under Political Ideology A, and the process of change will be inhibited. If, however, Political Ideology B has enough backing, it might win the war and cause a shift in the operation of the society.

Of course, you already knew that. That’s how it has worked throughout our history. And they say quantum mechanics is unintuitive!

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HOPE PEOPLE BECOME MORE AWARE OF FRACTALS!

The Internet

The Internet is a global network of communication. It has vastly increased the rate and interconnectedness of our communications. It is a medium the like of which has never been seen before. And it is constantly evolving. I think that, given some of the ideas outlined in the article, we may be witnessing the emergence of a global consciousness.

We can already observe some of its traits; consider the speed at which viral videos can proliferate all across the planet without any centralised propagation–I am aware of afro ninja, are you? Lolcats can be pretty funny, huh?

Over 9000 is a tired meme, don’t you think? Oh, wait… it’s pretty much extinct.

Increasingly it seems that not only can something spread across the internet overnight, but trends in opinions about it can form and fluctuate; and the rate at which this process can occur is ever increasing. On top of this, the structure of the internet is constantly developing to facilitate the process.

At what point can these trends be considered thoughts in their own right? No one person or centralised agency controls these trends; they develop naturally as the product of countless interactions.

Just what is the threshold?

Maybe we should put that question out there, and see what develops…

Exponentiality

As more and more systems come into existence, the number of potential interactions increases, and as a result so does the number of possible new systems; the probability of finding/creating more efficient systems also increases. I would be surprised if you have not noticed this occurring.

Here is a video to demonstrate:

Wait, did I mention Terence McKenna yet?

OH YEAH, THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT 2012!

2012

2012 approaches, awareness of the predictions and associated ideas increases…

I wonder what the superposition of our collective consciousness is…

I wonder what kind of event could cause that wavefunction to “collapse”…

It would certainly be fitting, given the nature of the predictions, if it were the imminence of 2012…

Resonant, even.

I personally do not subscribe to the doomsday or new age 2012 predictions.

I do, however, believe that large changes in the way our society operates are brewing; and I do like the idea of self-fulfilling prophecies.

Who knows, maybe it really will change the world.

Thanks for reading. <3 :D

OK so I’d heard of it before, but never really paid much attention until a friend showed me Stumble Upon. I think it’s a great way to find interesting stuff. I’m using the Firefox addon, and I highly recommend it!

Here’s something I stumbled upon earlier: http://www.superliminal.com/fractals/bbrot/bbrot.htm

AHHH I LOVE FRACTALS!

Some articles that reflect my thought paths as of late.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_philosophy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_of_systems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holons

I’m nothing and all things
I drift between dimensions
I’m lifeless, immortal
Collapsed duality
My language is wordless
A silent scream to your ears
Enigma in plain sight
Time/space duality

Quantumleaper
Found unfound
Voice of reason
Lost its tongue

If you rise I’ll fall, unknown once I was known
Choose where I can’t go an I’m there
If you rise I’ll fall, unknown once I was known
Even when I’m gone, you know I’m here

I’m right here and nowhere
Upon me rests creation
I am wave and lepton
The eerie paradox
Wrong focus, wrong methods
This way you’ll never get me
Exclude flesh, include mind
And drift along with me

Quantumleaper
Found unfound
Voice of reason
Lost its tongue

If you rise I’ll fall, unknown once I was known
Choose where I can’t go an I’m there
If you rise I’ll fall, unknown once I was known
Even when I’m gone, you know I’m here

You observe me in a grain of sand
Infinity beheld
Universe in the palm of your hand
Infinity unveiled

View this Progress as an omen
When mind allows, feel it pull you further down

Quantumleaper
Found unfound
Voice of reason
Lost its tongue

If you rise I’ll fall, unknown once I was known
Choose where I can’t go an I’m there
If you rise I’ll fall, unknown once I was known
Even when I’m gone, you know I’m here

Lyrics from http://www.sing365.com/index.html

0.∞ = 1