Repeating patterns in a "chaotic" world

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Bill Glasheen
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Repeating patterns in a "chaotic" world

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Bear with me here, this is important.

There's a wonderful book out about the mathematical phenomenon of chaos by Glick. Many are somewhat familiar with it. If you saw the movie Jurrassic Park, Jeff Goldblum played a "Chaologist" who predicted that the dinosaur experiment would get out of control because nature likes disorder. "Nature finds a way" he said using his anthropomorphic explanation. While Crighton's "chaologist" was occasionally off the mark (except for some remarkable details like the turtle neck shirts), it was one of the first public exposures to the phenomenon.

I'll give a brief explanation here for those who are interested. The underlying subject is the field of nonlinear mathematics. Most of what 99.999% of people learn in school is various brands of linear mathematics: algebra, calculus, differential equations, etc. And yet the world is basically nonlinear. So why teach this more simplified version? Basically we approximate to linear because the damned nonlinear mathematical equations are too difficult to solve. There are textbooks written about the very few that have been solved. But all that changed with the advent of computers and the field of numerical analysis. Now we may not be able to solve them on the blackboard, but we can model them and approximate the solutions using the tools of silicon valley.

So what is so special about nonlinear mathematics? Nothing really...under most conditions. The world around us is basically linear, predictable, cause-effect, etc. We rely on that in many instances. We like to know that when you smile at your friend, they usually respond favorably. We rely on the knowledge that when the sun shines fewer hours, that it'll likely get cold and maybe snow. But - under certain conditions - all that changes. When the parameters of these systems get to critical values, we observe the mathematical phenomenon of chaos.

There are a number of fascinating truisms when a system is in chaos. One of them is that a system never, ever, ever repeats itself exactly. Another corallary of this is that - practically speaking - you can never predict where the system will be in the far future. Why? It turns out that you need to be able to specify the initial conditions to an infinite number of significant digits to do so. So - practically speaking - there are times when we cannot predict weather several days in advance. Another bizarre corralary to this is the "butterfly effect". When you think about it, it makes sense. As the saying goes, the flight of a butterfly in South America last spring can affect the weather in North America this winter. Wierd, but true.

But just when you have thrown your hands up and decided that there is no practical cause-effect in the world, observable phenomena surprise you once again. In the last few decades, beautiful "Mandlebrodt diagrams" have made their way to pictures, posters, and calendars. They are diagrams of the boundaries between phases - the line between something happening or not happening. A practical example of this is a coastline. Look from outer space and you see an irregular pattern. It is unmistakeable. Zoom down in your spaceship to take a closer look at one feature of this pattern. When you blow it up, you see the pattern again. Zoom in even more at one feature and the pattern.... you get the idea. Today mathematicians speak of the "dimension" of a system, a measure of this repeating pattern phenomenon between phases of a system in chaos.

Earth to Bill, earth to Bill, come in Bill!

OK, OK. The reason I ramble so is that I am not encumbered by "The Editor" as are some.

Last night I had a long talk with a martial artist who trained with me back in the early seventies. We both studied under the same non-Uechi Japanese karate instructor. The teacher was a sandan when I first signed up with him, but his talent carried him very far, very fast. In the blink of an eye he went from approachable but crazy and intense instructor to Grand Poohbah (but still very crazy and intense). Oh and one more thing....boy was he (and probably still is) good! It was in the genes (decendent of samurai). It was in his karate.

My education carried me away from W&M and to UVa. It was at UVa that I started my Uechi instruction. Each time I came back, what I observed in my former club was more and more disturbing. The man was enormously successful, but the allegience he demanded was...unacceptable.

My friend was one of the special talents that came from this organization. He and several others were on the football team. Yes, he's a big boy who can kick your butt without karate. And he's smart. And he has the memory of a steel trap. He knows more kata than all of us put together have forgotten, and remembers the way they were done at various points in time. He was/is a student of history and found out what he could about the origins of what he studied. Perfect? None of us are. But he's damned good.

This fellow/friend of mine became fast friends with this Japanese instructor. They drank after hours. My friend introduced our instructor to his first wife. My friend's daughter's middle name is a family name of this Japanese. Years later the master asked him to teach his son should anything happen to him. And in their many, many hours together, the heart of this karate was passed on to another generation - an American one.

But things never remain the same. Order always seems to lead to disorder.

Both my friend and I no longer associate with our former instructor. Both of us were too highly educated and independent to put up with "blind" allegience. Even W&M couldn't put up with some of the antics, and the master no longer teaches there. But he has a hell of a following elsewhere. It was easy for me; opportunity brought me elsewhere. I had other places to go, and needed to pick up my martial training where I could. I am lucky to be where I am today in Uechi Ryu.

My friend's story was a bit different. He was the Japanese master's right hand man. He knew all the kata, and how they should be done. He started schools elsewhere. He reported back to his teacher. Then his teacher started doing things like promoting his student's students. In one case, he promoted several people 2 generations down to the same level as their instructor. "I will do what I will do", he said, "It is not your position to question my authority.

Yes, this may seem a little different, but then again, maybe not. Your average Japanese and average Okinawan are actually a bit different. Japanese can often be more direct and confrontational. Okinawans tend to be a bit more indirect. But in the end they tend to come out at the same place. There are more similarities than differences, from our perspective.

Anyhow...my friend is now independent of his original organization. He and many others who studied for years under great instructors have banded together and are doing their best to preserve what was taught. Their group recently put out a wonderful, interactive CD that is an encyclopedia of beginning Okinawan and Japanese karate kata. If you've been to a traditional tournament and seen kyu ranks do kata, chances are the kata is on this CD. Bottom line...the art lives with these people.

This may seem rambling. Perhaps it is. But I see patterns of behavior that seem to repeat themselves again and again and again as martial arts is passed on. Roles are defined between teachers and students, organizations and members. At first they make perfect sense. But then time goes on and the participants change. Before you know it, someone who was deemed to be an authority and happens to be in "the right clan" suddenly has less experience than the underlings. The process had resulted in a bizarre organization with confused participants. Unreasonable demands are made, or unreasonable actions are executed. The system no longer makes sense. Disorder ensues. And then things start over again.

Wierd!

- Bill
Phils
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Repeating patterns in a "chaotic" world

Post by Phils »

Bill: Yes, habits (bad ones in this case) have a way of repeating themselves. This is particularly true in autocratic systems where the power structure (rank) is disconnected from competence and good behavior.

I won't bore you with my suggestions (detailed in previous discussions) to end the cycle but getting decision making from the bottom up and creating informed choice for the many (not the few) that refutes the blind acceptance that we are caught up in a cycle of chaos, are the correct ways to break the cycle.
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Jackie Olsen
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Repeating patterns in a "chaotic" world

Post by Jackie Olsen »

A most interesting post, Bill.

All of life is pattern and we either are "doomed" to repeat the pattern until we learn the lesson or we can break the pattern thru the application of chaos energy.

I had a teacher who said that in order to take advantage of chaos ... become a "cosmic surfer". Get into relaxation and focus and learn to flow with whatever energy comes your way in order to ride the winds of change. For it is in chaos energy that we can make our biggest leaps or experience the most growth.

There is a saying I've previously posted on my forum that fits what you're discussing:

Death gives life,
Life gives rebirth,
Rebirth gives change,
Change gives Chaos
Chaos gives death,
Death gives life.




------------------
In Beauty,

Jackie
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Jackie Olsen
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Repeating patterns in a "chaotic" world

Post by Jackie Olsen »

Tony-san

Doom is a matter of perspective. [note I had it in "quotes"] One man's doom is another woman's opportunity. If you recapitulate your life's experiences, you may notice the similarities of events and the "actors" appearing in them. It's all a part of life's lessons. History repeats until the lesson is learned.

I'm not sure I grasp the threshold idea (too much egg nog at the office Xmas Party today Image}. But, are you referring to the concept in the "mode" series books Piers Anthony wrote about? If I remember correctly, it was about people transversing parallel universes using the Mandelbrot set, chaos and fractals to cross from one threshold to another in order to return to Earth. Therefore, there was order in the chaos and each parallel world existed within the other.

Isn't chaos a paradox? Order in disorder? Disorder in order?

Jackie
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Jackie Olsen
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Repeating patterns in a "chaotic" world

Post by Jackie Olsen »

Great Nighmares, Tony,

... I wish mine were as informative! What you've described very appropriately fits with Piers' concept, but much simpler!

AH .... less is more!!

Regards, Jackie
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