Looking at Layers: The Power of Perception

     We left the conversation introducing the idea of systems and their different layers. For this conversation a "layer" of the system will refer to a particular level of organization. The posts in reference to chaos and order more thoroughly explore what is meant by the different layers (see "There's a Method to the Madness") however, considering the following may also help to clarify. Different bodies of knowledge and science in general are dedicated to gathering as much information as possible about specific layers of the system. For example, chemists focus on the layer of atoms and molecules, biologists look at the layers where life exists, environmentalists may analyze the layer of ecosystems and oceans, meteorologists focus on the atmospheric level, astronomers tend to look at the planetary, solar system and even galactic layers. There are obviously many more than those I just mentioned. These layers follow the same infinity principle mentioned previously (see "Two Infinity and Beyond"). On the largest scale, everything is part of one large interrelated system. Without at least one perspective or a point of view, there is no real distinction between the layers. The system as a whole simply exists as a large moving body of mass, and no differentiation of "layers" or "levels" is even possible.

     Now, that may seem like a rather obvious statement. I think the classic line "If a tree falls and there's no one to hear it, does it still make a sound?" attempts to bring our awareness to the same point. A common response or sentiment to that statement is, "who cares?" In that particular scenario, no one actually cares, and the event has no "meaning" in the human sense of the word. However, a defining feature of the human experience (also a defining feature for all other animals, plants, and any other living organism) is that it is restricted to a specific location and therefore has a relative perspective (that is, a singular perspective in relationship to the whole system).

   Any singular point of view does not simply exist. For that point of view to occur some tools are necessary. For anyone reading this those tools likely consist of eyes, ears, nose, skin, mouth and additionally, the most important tool of all, our brain which allows us to synthesize the raw data obtained by the previously mentioned items and turn it into something meaningful. For this reason some branches of philosophy actually suggest a total of six senses in humans that result from those six tools. The last sense being that which occurs as a result from our brain tool, some may call this "intuition", "synthesizing" or simply "thinking".

     Physically speaking, these tools are of a certain size. Each one also has a limited range of input that it can detect. For example, our eyes only see what we know as the color spectrum. Each of the other sense organs have their own relative limits (what might this mean in terms of the mind then?) Because we exist at a certain size and can only detect a specific range of input, we can begin to identify the origin of our relative perspective. Consequently, the layers of the system begin to emerge because of their significance and relationship to us.

     In other words, we identify different layers of the system because of our limited, relative, perspective. The first layers only emerge when we look at the their relationship to us. The most apparent layer is that which we perceive without the help of additional tools (if you want to see it, just look around). Other layers are based on how we observe them in relation to each other. Many layers were never identified prior to tools of modern science such as the telescope, microscope and electromagnetic sensors. For example, our solar system has a relationship to The Milky Way, which also has a relationship to the other galaxies. Comparatively, we are extremely small, therefore those layers are largely understood in relation to each other.

     Here is where I will leave the conversation for today. Thank you so much for joining me here. I know that time can often be an extremely scarce resource, and I do not take your time here for granted. Hopefully this post helps to more clearly explain what I mean by the terms "layer" or "level" of the system. In the future I will attempt to explore their significance in relation to "the learning lens" (see "Clumsiness and Climbing Castles"). Thank you again.



   

   

A Look at Systems through the Learning Lens

     Welcome back to all my fellow wonderers out there. Thank you for wandering back into my neck of the forest. At this point in the conversation, we have constructed a tool of sorts (See Clumsiness and Climbing Castles). This tool could be thought of as a lens, through which we can analyze anything we do. For this conversation I will refer to it as "the learning lens". Admittedly so, it is not a very precise tool, but it does give us a way to identify where we can make improvements. Regardless of what we do, precision within the parameters of the activity is usually the goal (See Precisely: What I was Thinking). Oddly enough, when things go precisely, we tend to hardly notice. When something goes wrong however, it is often blatantly obvious. In the learning process, the most vital step is 'Noticing' (see Noticing Noticing: Learning to Learn).  Clumsiness then is the opposite of precision and also the key to recognizing where we can make improvements.

     While doing something very specific such as throwing a ball or speaking a new language, it is fairly easy to see how this tool can be applied. Example: If I throw a ball to someone, but it goes sailing over their head or into the dirt, obviously my throw lacked precision (one could also say it was a clumsy throw). I could then start examining where the throw went wrong. If it was high, I probably released it too early. If it landed in the dirt, I perhaps released it too late or didn't throw it hard enough. While trying out a foreign language, if my partner cannot understand me, it likely has something to do with the clumsy way I pronounced my words or perhaps my lack of precise vocabulary. That can even be true in a person's native language. 

     Both of these settings are perfectly appropriate for applying the learning lens. Using it properly can help us notice what went wrong, thus showing where we can make improvements. Recently however, I have come to believe that this tool is equally, if not more, useful when considering other aspects of my life that have less to do with acquiring specific skills and more to do with the general way I interact with everything and everyone around me. To more thoroughly explain what I mean by this, I would like to open up the conversation to the topic of systems. Later, I will explore how the learning lens can be applied to the various levels of the system.

     Merriam Webster online gives us the following as an entry point into the topic "System - : a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole." 

     In less academic terms, a system is a big thing that is made up of smaller things. Systems exist all around us, and they don't stop there. Each person is an individual system, made up of many smaller systems working in unison. A few of them are the skeletal, cardiovascular, nervous, digestive, muscular and endocrine systems. Also, each one of us makes up a whole part of any number of larger systems such as families, social circles, schools, communities, neighborhoods, cities, states, countries, continental populations, the world, biological life, animals, primates and humans. (see Two infinity and Beyond) Objectively speaking, everything and everyone is interrelated (atomically, chemically, biologically, socially, gravitationally, electromagnetically, etc) and forms one super system that is simultaneously too small and too large for any individual to completely comprehend or even observe. Subjectively speaking, it is possible to divide the whole into any number of smaller subsystems for analysis. It is important to note that any division one makes is essentially arbitrary and only exists because we think about it so.

     This is where I will leave the conversation for today. As you have perhaps already noticed, the previous paragraph begins to transition us from the general idea of learning to the various contexts in which we may apply it. Thank you again for joining my thoughts here. To anyone who has been following along since the beginning, it could be interesting to return to the opening poem "Mosaic of Mind". It may, or may not, take on a different meaning as this idea continues to more fully branch out. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you for reading along. I really cannot explain how grateful I am for your company!

     

Clumsiness and Climbing Castles

     I apologize for not writing over the last week or so. There are many sides of life and each one requires its' own type of precision. Lately I've been occupied with several of those. Today, however, I get to return to watering my tree so to speak. (See Mosaic of Mind)
 
     We left off introducing the idea of clumsiness. For this discussion, clumsiness refers to doing things with a lack of precision. Another way to think of it could be awkward, uneasy, or doing things poorly. Adding this to the discussion, we sort of top off a very general picture of learning

     Whenever a person does any activity, including moving, walking, talking, writing, thinking, socializing, painting, cooking, karate, skating or anything else, their actions fall somewhere on a spectrum between completely clumsy and perfectly precise.

Clumsy------------------------------------Precise

     As it turns out, no one really likes to be clumsy. In different activities, clumsiness takes various forms, but no one enjoys it regardless of where it shows up.  It's never fun to trip down the stairs or to stub a toe. Eating burnt or poorly seasoned food is never the preferred option. It's equally unappealing to watch a sporting or theatrical event with many overt mistakes compared to a precise performance or fierce competition.

     Naturally then, the question of how to move from clumsy to precise is of great relevance. Fortunately, we already have a model of the path. (See Noticing Noticing: Learning to Learn) Perhaps a visual analogy will help bring the idea full circle.

     Attempting to do any activity could be compared to entering a many spired castle, endlessly tall. The ground floor is the level of least precision, clumsiness. Desiring to become more precise, one may take the challenge to climb to higher levels. The steps up each spiral stare case spire are the learning process, and continually reveals things that previously went unnoticed. Practice is the driving force for moving up the stairs. Climbing high enough, one may begin to achieve a certain level of precision within one spire of a given activity. However, all activities have many spires to climb. To precisely understand as much of the castle as possible, one must climb its' various towers independently. Unfortunately, it is impossible to climb all of the spires no matter the castle. All the castles are simply too big. (See Two Infinity and Beyond) In fact, that's why we have whole teams of people exploring all the castles we can find, generation after generation. Whole groups of people focus on one spire, climbing farther than previously possible by working together. Others go on gathering reports from the various groups, trying to understand the whole castle. Others still put together maps of the whole country side mapping all the castles and their relation to each other.

     So whenever a person attempts to do anything, how well they do it falls somewhere on the spectrum between clumsy and precise. Ultimately, that classification is a subjective judgement, and one should not value his or herself by where they fall on that scale. Rather, this spectrum is meant to be used as a tool to approach the topic of learning. No matter where a person lands on the scale, it is possible to move up the spires and become more precise over time. Even the most gifted person in the world at anything is never as good as that same person after a year of practice.

     My hopes are that by 'Noticing' the pattern, people will be able to climb the spires that interest them. On a personal note, noticing clumsiness in my life has helped me become aware of many things to which I was previously 'oblivious'. Its extremely hard to recognize the things we don't know (if you don't know something, its like it simply doesn't exist to you.) However, its easy to notice when things do not go smoothly (precisely). When things go wrong, trace the origin of the problem. More often than not, I find something I could have done to make the whole thing go better, and frequently that search leads me back to my self. Thank you again to everyone reading along.

   
   

Precisely: What I was Thinking

     At this point, we are really starting to dig into the topic of precision. Previously, after going over the general learning process, I made an attempt to show the connection between it and chaos/order (see "Where Chaos Meets Learning" and "Where Learning Meets Order").  My last post began to look at precision by considering Masters of various trades. The reason for showing those examples was to demonstrate the following point: Mastery of any skill is measured by the level of precision one has over the variables relating to that skill.

     Each of the previously mentioned masters (see "Pondering the Particularities of Precision")  had a unique set of variables that they had to take into consideration in order to perform as precisely as possible. For the painter the variables consisted of color mixing, perspective, layout, lighting techniques, brush techniques, a visual knowledge of everything to be painted and more. The master chef's variables looked like types of food and their flavors, spices, slicing techniques, cook times, style, texture, and presentation among other things. Thirdly, the martial artists had to be mindful  of variables such as body control and balance, speed, flow, and the sequence of their katas and more. It should be mentioned that these are just a few of the many variables each of the respective masters would consider while working their craft.
   
     So then, if masters embody precision, what does the learning process look like on the other end of the spectrum? Taking a look at the characteristics of beginners could be helpful to more thoroughly understand the topic still.

     After that build up, it is probably no surprise to hear that beginners of any skill are usually NOT precise. Imagine a person trying out roller skating for the first time. As they stand, their legs might wobble. Their arms out, grasping for balance, legs kicking out as they fight to keep the skates under their legs. Without any experience, beginners are generally oblivious to all the variables. Their overall lack of control makes them look 'clumsy'.

     Taking on a new skill can feel chaotic for a beginner. When they step out onto the rink, they have never seen the floor from this perspective. Everyone is moving so fast. While they are trying to figure out how to move themselves without feeling so shaky, everyone is zipping past. It is impossible to anticipate where anyone else is going so they may just hold onto the edge for stability. The variables are everywhere and consist of things like their own balance and momentum, figuring out how to build speed and stop, and even the general flow of the crowd. While there is definately a method to all the madness, beginners feel lost in the disarray.

     Another thing, most beginners focus much of their attention on how they appear to everyone else. It is not 'cool' to be stumbling around the rink with one hand on the wall. What's 'cool' is to be gliding between everyone, alternating between forward or backward while making it look effortless all the while. Focusing on how they are perceived by others means they are NOT focused on skating nicely around the rink. Their attention is split, one part thinking about skating, one part worrying about what everyone else thinks. To do something as precisely as possible, the practitioner must focus their awareness completely on what they are doing.

     In summary, masters embody precision. Beginners then embody clumsiness. What allows masters to act precisely is an awareness of the variables within a given activity, knowledge of how the variables interrelate, and an internalized feel for the action based on practice and experience. For many reasons, beginners are unaware of the majority of variables. Experience reveals the subtleties of an activity over time. However being aware of the variables does not yield precision by itself. While performing an activity, one must completely concentrate their awareness on what they are doing or they will likely overlook some of the variables, resulting in 'clumsiness'.

Pondering the Particularities of Precision

     Finally, I feel we have reached a point in this conversation to properly consider chaos and order within the realm of learning and ideas. Since this blog has thus far focused on uniting ideas, let's start there. When learning a skill or about an area of knowledge, precision is the underlying principal in play.

    It may help to revisit the overall learning process (see "Noticing Noticing: Learning to Learn" for a more complete explanation)

1. Oblivious
2. Noticing
3. Conceptually understanding
4. Internalizing (muscle memory)

5. Repeat 1-4 many times
6. Mastery.

     A good way to notice precision in action could be to consider a few masters in various trades. For example, some master painters can recreate a landscape so precisely, it looks like a photograph. To do this they must precisely paint each item, in the exact right position, while simultaneously and precisely applying perspective techniques and angles of light to create the effect of distance. If any part is slightly misplaced, even an unaware observer will think, "There's something just not right here..."

     To create a gourmet meal, master chefs must precisely cut and prepare many ingredients (each one a variable of its own.) Of course, the flavor must be precisely crafted and be accompanied by an alluring smell and texture. A great meal will have layers of preparation. That's not to mention appearance. For master chefs, precise presentation brings their craft to the next level of precision. All this must be done within a very specific window of time, or the food will be cold. Anyone who's worked at a restaurant can probably tell you what cooks think of cold food.

    Martial artists are another great example. People may work for years to receive their black belt. This surely must denote a certain level of precision, but there are still higher levels of precision to pursue. Let us consider two martial artists, one a 9th degree black belt and the other a black belt of the 10th degree, both in karate. For fun and competition, these two artists may perform a kata (a choreographed arrangement of punches, blocks and kicks.) To a group of people who know nothing about karate, myself included, we probably would not notice who did a better job or why. Maybe one kick was not quite high enough, or a punch snapped a little too slow, and with the elbow rolled down instead of sideways. An 11th degree black belt who was also watching would notice the extremely subtle ways that the 10th degree black belt was more precise than his less experienced counterpart. The rest of us would be left oblivious and in wonder.

                       
     This is where I would like to stop for today. Hopefully, this will help some to notice the importance of precision. It plays a role in everything we do including walking, talking, picking things up, setting them down, driving a car, caring for ourselves, sleeping and more. Later I will revisit the topic to see how noticing precision can help us in becoming more precise ourselves. Also, we will begin to apply the precision principal to group coordination. Thank you so much to anyone who's keeping up with me here. It is an honor and a pleasure to have your company. Until we meet again...

Where Learning Meets Order

     I've come to realize that the ideas I wish to express are getting more complicated in nature.  Therefore my posts will be truncated into smaller, more manageable posts from here on out (or so I say for now.)

    In earlier posts, I brought up a fundamental phenomena in the universe. This would be the chaos/order feedback loop as I've come to call it recently (see "There's a Method to the Madness".) In my last post I made an attempt to follow that pattern and its impact on the organization of the physical universe, its' continuation into the biological mechanism, and extension into life and animal consciousness/awareness. As mentioned in the previous post, this conversation is working towards the intersection of chaos/order and learning. After an extremely brief, yet simultaneously long winded, overview, we have nearly arrived. Before we jump right in, there are some concepts that should be reviewed and perhaps revised as we move from the objective occurrences that arranged the universe to the subjective experience of learning and idea acquisition.

     Though the conditions of chaos and order continually fluctuate, there are some uniting traits throughout. Thus far, the condition of chaos has been characterized by high levels of variability within a given setting. In the physical ordering it means lots of variability of the actual elements and molecules. On the biological level, the variables that cause chaos are the ratios of food in comparison to the population of a given organism (there are many other variables at this level as well.) Order is then when the conditions have relatively few variables, when the condition is stable. Before consciousness comes into play, I say that the chaos/order phenomena has caused the universe to be organized in a more "specific" way. Specific refers to the lack of intention that has accompanied the increasingly ordered arrangement of material particles in the universe. As we move into learning, chaos and order will still continue to present themselves in new settings and with new faces. However, "specific" will start to be replaced by the word "precise" as intention enters the picture.

     Though learning is not always intentional by the learner, it does seem to require some level of active awareness. Because I am trying to combine these ideas in a way that can help us actively learn, intention plays an integral role in the process. When intention unites with doing anything, precision is the underlying quality for which we strive. Precision within a given field is the defining characteristic that masters of any trade share.

Where Chaos Meets Learning

     In my last post, we entered into a subject that is quite interesting to me, patterns in regards to learning. Now here, I am talking about learning in a very general sense. For this discussion, I will define it as a person's or group of people's acquisition of skills and/or knowledge. Since the chaos/order feedback loop (see "There's a method to the Madness,") seems to influence all levels of organization, revisiting the topic may reveal other patterns in the learning process as well. Here I would like to begin a discussion working towards the intersection of those two topics.

     Before getting too far ahead of myself, I would like to first consider the concept of hierarchy. Many come to consider the word in terms of some things being better,worse, or more significant than others. Here, I would like to try to remove as much subjectivity/judgement from the term as possible. In this setting hierarchy refers to the levels of organization in the universe and to the order of events that occurred to bring us to the present. It would be possible to analyze the chaos/order loop from an infinite number of entry points or levels. It is also necessary to point out that every step/level in the universe's arrangement was equally important for the process to bring us to the present. This conversation however is working towards chaos/order and learning so I would like to discuss three steps that may bring us there more directly:

1) The ordering of the physical world from a molecular to galactic level
2) The specific mechanism of biological life, which is an organization of the material universe
3) The development of "consciousness/self-awareness" from life.

Eventually arriving at

4) Noticing patterns in learning based on "consciousness/awareness"

     When considering chaos and order, we may notice that as time progresses forward, the physical, material world becomes increasingly organized in a more specific, hierarchical, manner. We see this in the way that all things are made from the organization of ever smaller systems, and over time, these systems continually interact, creating both an increasing number of layers of organization and additional types of interactions. For example elements make molecules, molecules come together to create planets, stars and solar systems, these planets and stars become the setting for more specific organization of molecules, such as life. Life then becomes the setting to continue the pattern. It begins simply and continues to increase in the number of layers it contains and also in the number of types of interactions that occur. One could even argue that, since life is one of the rarest occurrences in the known universe, which creates very unique configurations of atoms, all the currently living things on Earth are the most specifically organized sets of molecules the universe has put together thus far.

    If we continue to consider these specific organizations of molecules in motion, i.e. life on Earth, more relevant patterns might begin to appear still. Again, I would like to revisit hierarchy in terms of life and the chaos/order feedback loop. A thought experiment may help us get there. Consider a space where the process of life just began on the most simplistic scale possible. There is one single celled organism that can for the first time replicate itself. This organism is in a particular order/configuration, made of a cell, made of molecules made of elements made of protons, neutrons, and electrons made of.... made of... As before mentioned, this formation is unique and can replicate itself, therefor after some time, there would be a relatively large population of just that organism. Since all the organisms are the same, there are very few types of interactions that occur between them. Things are orderly with relatively few variables. It's possible that the new life doesn't even interact with its replicas in a way that's necessary for their asexual replication cycle. However, eventually the resource that is required for the replication process becomes scarce and there is a constraint on the population. Only the fittest survive and that is the key. The probability of survival increases for the organisms adapt in a way that increases their probability of survival.  So now, there are two types of organisms that interact with each other. Because there is more than one type of organism, there are more ways for them to interact. This increases the number of variables and interactions possible. This could be considered a hierarchical step forward. If over time we reached ten organisms, there would be exponentially more possible interactions. With this increasing number of interactions comes a newly developing chaos.

     Over millions of years, an untold number of survival techniques come and go, throwing the biological state of the world from chaotic explosions of life in short periods of time, to haulting periods of order, then physical restraints (limits in space and resources or natural disasters) come to push the world back to chaos. In this way five kingdoms of life came to exist on our planet. Those five being: Monera (single celled organism), Protists (mostly singled celled life with a nucleus), Fungi, Plants and Animals. Of the living things on the Earth, life in the animal kingdom requires the most specific arrangements of atoms to function properly because animal life is more dynamic, moving in nature. The process of regular motion innately contains more variables than smaller or sedentary life. Therefore animal life is the most complex, specific arrangement of atoms the universe has produced up to the present.

     Within animals, vertebrates, creatures with brains, bones and nervous systems were the latest, most specific arrangements to join the party. From our current observations of life, the most complex single part of an animal would certainly have to be its brain. Out of all the brains on Earth, the human brain most drastically sets itself apart from its peers. This brain, is made of the same particles, elements, that make up the physical universe, and is the product of the specific chain of events known as biological life. Following the chaos/order loop logic, it would make sense that the specifically organized brain of human beings would become the setting for another round of order and chaos, and it is. Our mind is the ground where, now, our ideas and consciousness continue the cycle from chaos to order to chaos and around again. Just as the material and biological world is conditioned, and becomes more specifically intricate, based on the previous organization of smaller parts, ideas too are conditioned by both the physical setting and previous ideas that came before it.

     To wrap this conversation up I would like to recap the general idea. The Chaos/order feedback loop is one of the basic organizational phenomena in the universe. It can be observed from the smallest physical level onward. Billions of years of chaos/order, within the laws of physics, moves the universe to more and more specific types of organizations, such as clouds, planets, stars, solar systems, etc. Once the majority of variables are removed from any term of chaos, become stable, orderly. From this state forms the first live organism. Life is where chaos and order continues once the physical world is organized in a stable enough order. Life, over time, changes to more elaborate, specifically structured organisms thanks to chaos and order in their new setting, nature. This eventually results in consciousness, as a survival tool most likely, in animals with brains. A brain provides a setting for consciousnesses or self awareness, and consciousness is the setting for what we call learning.

     Well this is where I would like to leave the conversation for today. I highly doubt anyone was too worried, but I sincerely apologize for the delay producing this entry. I started working on it the day after my previous post and have worked on it everyday since. I was having trouble finding words to appropriately depict what I see as the chaos/order loop through the different levels of organization (physical, biological, conceptual). If anyone feels could not follow chaos and order through those settings, please let me know so I can find a different way to get there. My next post will bring us to learning and its' relevance in regards to chaos and order. Thank you as always.