Self-evolution

[Michael Herman]

Harrison, et al...

There is a book out since 1999 called "The User Illusion: Cutting
Consciousness Down to Size" (by Tor Norreetranders) that suggests that
the next 'grand unification' is not going to simply marry gravity to
the other three forces described by modern physics, but will go even
further, marrying physics to everyday life, consciousness, and
meaning.

I'm only a fourth of the way into this, but see much in it that seems
relevant to the self-organizing, open space story.  It seems that a
big piece of evolution is forgetting details.  When we measure
temperature, for instance, we ignore the speed, position and all the
variance in individual molecules.  When we total up our grocery
purchase, we note only the amount on the bill and leave with "a
bagful" rather than individual items.  When one of Darwin's successes
is 'naturally selected', nature also forgets or ignores or lets go of
a pile of other options.  And when we write an invitation, we often
ignore a lot of the details, forget them, so that we can move forward
with issues and opps for...  whatever.  Forgetting, letting go,
looking ahead, focusing in... it all helps open new space.

The stuff in this book, refs to Santa Fe Institute conferences and
such, might provide good fodder for this self-org story you're
spinning, Harrison.  It might provide other science-minded folks here
with interesting reading.

I suppose the biology of self-org might be closer to human systems,
but I find the leap from physics to openspace more interesting.  Small
wonder, or a good sign, that I'm marrying a former particle physicist!

Michael




On 3/12/06, Ralph Copleman <rcopleman at comcast.net> wrote:
> On 3/12/06 2:00 AM, "OSLIST automatic digest system"
> <LISTSERV at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU> wrote:
>
> > Chaos, we are learning, is the rich seed =
> > bed of emergent order.  Strange new world.
>
> Yeah, all 13.7 billion years of recent events.
>
> Harrison, you're re-examining the theory of evolution.  The process we call
> "self-organization" may be, after all, what Darwin labeled "Natural
> Selection".  (He never used the phrase "survival of the fittest", by the
> way.)
>
> If your new book emerges as a re-presentation of evolution for the world of
> human systems, it will be a very, very useful contribution.  If we can get
> even a few such systems thinking/operating in harmony with the universe's
> ancient (and highly effective) underlying dynamics, we'll have taken a big
> step toward saving life on Earth.
>
> Lead on, my friend.
>
> Ralph
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
>


--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
300 West North Ave #1105
Chicago IL 60610 USA
Phone: 312-280-7838
michael at michaelherman.com

skype: globalchicago

http://www.michaelherman.com
http://www.openspaceworld.org

Executive Facilitation ...getting
the most important things done in
the easiest possible ways.

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist