for the asia lovers amongst us ..<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">FlipFlop Productions</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:flipflop.productions@gmail.com">flipflop.productions@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
Date: Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 4:04 AM<br>Subject: something you may be interested in...<br>To: Michel Bauwens <<a href="mailto:michelsub2004@gmail.com">michelsub2004@gmail.com</a>><br><br><br><a href="http://www.pinyin.info/chinese/crisis.html" target="_blank">http://www.pinyin.info/chinese/crisis.html</a> <br>
<br><br><br>I got a note together on the topic too adding chaos and energy dynamics: <br><br><p>Wēijī, Crisis and Chaos</p>
<p> </p><p>Please read the original
article which was written by Victor Mair in reaction to misuse in
economic theory of the Mandarin character for crisis and its
misinterpretation of implying both 'danger' and 'opportunity'.</p><p>You can find it here: <a href="http://www.pinyin.info/chinese/crisis.html" target="_blank">http://www.pinyin.info/chinese/crisis.html</a></p>
<p> </p><p>
I
would like to draw attention to another angle on this case which
ultimately poses some serious challenges. Wéi does indeed mean danger,
and of Jí Mair wrote:</p><p> </p><p>"The jī of wēijī, in fact,
means something like “incipient moment; crucial point (when
something begins or changes).”</p><p>Aside from the notion
of “incipient moment” or “crucial point” discussed above, the
graph for jī by itself indicates “quick-witted(ness);
resourceful(ness)” and “machine; device....one might elaborate upon
it as the dynamic of a situation's unfolding, when many elements
are at play. In this sense, jī is neutral. This jī can
either turn out for better or for wors" Secondary meanings were
given as follows:</p><p>ji: mechanism, inner workings (and by extension
secrecy), germinal principle, pivotal juncture, crux, or a
witty turn of thought.</p><p> </p><p>The approach taken here is from Chaos theory, or complexity theory:</p><p> </p><p><span>"Kellert
(1993) defines chaos theory as "the qualitative study of unstable
aperiodic behavior in deterministic nonlinear dynamical systems" (p. 2).
Chaos theory was formulated during the 1960s. Its story is one of
many people--scientists who dared to think along new and unsuspected
channels. The name <i>chaos</i> was coined by Jim Yorke, an applied mathematician at the University of Maryland (Ruelle, 1991, p. 67)."</span></p><p> </p><p>According to "<span>
findings of modern chaos theory, seeds of order seem to be embedded in
chaos, while seeds of chaos are apparently embedded in order. Systems
that are stable in relation to their environment can become unstable.
Systems that are unstable can return to stability. Another important
finding is that the behavior of a system in stability and its behavior
after becoming unstable are acausal."<p> </p></span><span> "In terms of
systems, chaos is a state space (the condition of any system at a given
time) where a system exhibits disorder, confusion, uncertainty, or
instability"<p> </p></span><span>"The dictionary defines order as "a
fixed or definite plan; system; law of arrangement." In terms of
systems, order is a state space where a system exhibits clarity,
certainty, or stability. Chaos and order can be considered polar
opposites. We can go even farther here because, according to Çambel
(1993), order and chaos, or determinism and chance, are like two sides
of the same coin, and contrary to traditional thinking, there is no
cause-and-effect relationship between the two."<p> </p></span><span>"Most
dynamic systems, and all living systems, are open. Our body, for
example, is an open system (Atkins, 1984, p. 179). Modern chaos theory
addresses complex systems, which are systems with a large number of
interrelated parts. It also addresses dynamic systems. There are two
main types of dynamic systems: discrete and continuous. Every complex
system, and especially every living system (living systems are ususally
refered to as self-organizing systems) is also a dissipative structure.
Ilya Prigogine won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1977 for his work
on dissipative structures, which he defined as any structure that takes
on and dissipates energy as it interacts with its environment. A
dissipative system, unlike one that conserves energy, gives rise to
irreversible processes (Nicolis & Prigogine, 1989). All systems
that exhibit disequilibrium and</span> <span>self-organization are
dissipative and have a dissipative structure (Briggs and Peat, 1989, p.
138). Thus, not only our physical body itself is such a structure, but
every organ and cell as well. The term itself expresses a paradox,
because <i>dissipative</i> suggests falling apart or chaos, while <i>structure</i>
suggests organization and order. Dissipative systems are those which
are able to maintain identity only because they are open to flows of
energy, matter, or information from their environments (Prigogine and
Stengers, 1984)."</span></p><p>From</p><p><span><a href="http://www.schuelers.com/chaos/chaos1.htm" target="_blank">http://www.schuelers.com/chaos/chaos1.htm</a> One reinterpretation of the second law is as follows:</span></p>
<p><span>" </span><b>If
heat or energy is dissipated from a system such that a state-change
reaction is provoked, the energy leaving the system and the
corresponding decrease in internal motion will create a composite
result, a more complex consequent comprised of a combination of
once-simpler components. </b></p><p><b>"</b></p><p> </p><p>It is the realised position of many that we <i>are</i>
in such a state change at all levels, these events we see in the forms
of riots, revolutions, social, political, and economic unrest, all are
mere surface signatures of a deep brewing.I would like to preclude the
following with the following (;)</p><p> </p><p>Consciousness and concentration are of an amaterial form of energy whose conductivity is increased by connectivity.</p><p> </p><p>And
so, like in the time after gutenbergs printing press, the renaissance ,
the unfolding of the enlightenment: the scientific method, the
industrial revolution and so on as happened with the reverse archaeology
of individuated conscious being, we now see the like happen again,
there is an increase in said energy coursing through our shared system.</p><p> </p><p>In
thermodynamics it is shown that when the energy flow animating a system
is increased then the system must adapt new 'gradients' to dissipate
the incoming energy. If the system does not do so it becomes
hyper-chaotic and breaks down.And so back to our chinese
character...there is danger; and if those who see it as opportunity are
allowed to continue 'manning' the wheel things all will not be for the
best. What is required to avoid the danger is JÍ: mechanism, inner
workings, germinal principle, a witty turn of
thought at this crux, this pivotal juncture.</p><p> </p><br>
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