For Those With Complex Lives

Complexity, collapse and creativity

Hello and welcome to rewilding philosophy - your letters for ^ekophilosophical health in a collapsing world.

Last week, I talked about how to move from inspiration to integration. Today, I want to continue on the theme by talking about making ideas and potentials a reality.

"The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization." Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the past 5.000 years there have existed dozens of complex civilisations. The Roman and Mayan Empires, the Xia and Han Dynasties, the Minoan civilisation.

Every one of them collapsed.

And every one of them collapsed because they became too complex.

Of course, the collapse of complex civilizations throughout history is a multifaceted phenomenon, often involving a combination of internal and external factors. But complexity is a main one.

When those civilisations grew and prospered, their trade, social and political systems became more entangled over greater distances and with more people, eventually leading to increased complexity and interdependence. This interconnectedness, while it fostered growth and exchange, also made them more vulnerable to disruptions, as challenges in one area could cascade through the entire system, contributing to their eventual decline. Often, it wasn’t even major disruptions that made them collapse, small shifts in trade routes, minor political unrest, or local resource shortages could trigger broader issues.

While ecosystems thrive on complexity, we humans only seem to do so to a certain extent. That’s why people like Helena Norberg-Hodge advocate for a return to local economies. She argues that local economies are less vulnerable to global market fluctuations, reducing dependency on distant markets and fostering self-sufficiency.

“Economic localization is the key to sustaining biological and cultural diversity - to sustaining life itself. The sooner we shift towards the local, the sooner we will begin healing our planet, our communities and ourselves.” Helena Norberg-Hodge

Maybe eventually, our AIs will be able to manage all the complexity (and we get those techno-dystopian futures like Neuromancer because complexity can’t be managed), right now, we seem to be unable to do so very well.

The fractal nature of reality

The collapse doesn’t just happen on a civilisational scale though. I often talk about how the patterns we see on a large scale are the same patterns that we experience on a small scale, like in our own lives. The metacrisis is a relationship crisis and the way relationship patterns show themselves on a global level reveal the same relationship patterns that are shown on the very local, personal level. That’s why relationships are key to addressing our current challenges, it’s about the inbetweenness.

“One feels free in relationships of love and friendship. It is not the absence of ties, but ties themselves which set us free. Freedom is a word which pertains to relations par excellence. Without hold there is no freedom.” Byung-Chul Han

While we might not be able to address the global complexity directly, we are able to think about how the same patterns show in our own lives.

By the way, making this shift in our thinking, understanding how it’s about changing those relationship patterns instead of trying to identify how to scale a solution to the global challenges, is key for our philosophical and thus for our mental health. It infuses our actions and everyday ways of being with significance. It brings at least some sense of meaning to our existence. And it makes us feel like our ways of relating and acting actually matter. Because what we practice here is what we see there. To me, this way of thinking has become second nature and I find it not only very fulfilling, but it also motivates me into what buddhists would call “right action” - to do my best in the very moment.

Anyways, coming back to the complexity thing. One way the complexity shows in our own lives is in the overwhelm of options and possibilities and in our inability to choose.

The dilemma of our times: an inability to choose

The abundance of choice, rather than liberating us, often leads to paralysis and dissatisfaction. Each choice is not only opportunity but also a potential regret of unexplored paths. Our minds, inundated with possibilities, struggle to find solace, perpetually cycling through what could be instead of embracing what is.

Always searching.

Never pausing.

Ongoingness.

What if we missed something.

What if there is something better. Information. Events. Insights. People.

Driven to exhaustion by constant demands for self-optimization and performance.

Shifting from depth of understanding to breadth of consumption.

We are own worst taskmasters.

We cease to decide.

We cease to settle.

“It is tired, exhausted by itself, and at war with itself. Entirely incapable of stepping outward, of standing outside itself, of relying on the Other, on the world, it locks its jaws on itself; paradoxically, this leads the self to hollow and empty out. It wears itself out in a rat race it runs against itself.” Byung-Chul Han

Unfortunately, our inability to make a choice also leads to an inability to create and manifest anything in real life. I know of so many brilliant people who don’t create, though their minds are full of potential and creative energy, but as soon as they would actually start creating, they have already moved on to the next possibility, the next idea.

Quantum Creation

In quantum physics, it’s through observation that potentialities materialise and come into beings. The wave - the potentiality - becomes a particle when it is being observed.

Metaphorically, when we want to create something in the world, we have to make an ongoing observation to manifest all the things that need to fall into place in order to make that manifestation real. The act of observation just takes a bit tiny bit longer than it does within quantum experiments.

The act of observation casts a steady gaze upon the chaos of potential, grounding ephemeral ideas into tangible form. In life, as in quantum physics, observation is more than passive sight; it is a deliberate and intense engagement that demands focus and intention - an “active observation”. The observation part is the examination of the possible reality. The active part is an active response to that.

The philosopher Luis de Miranda calls this the creal - a neologism that combines "creation" and "real.” According to de Miranda, the "creal" is a neologism that combines "creation" and "real," suggesting a fundamental, dynamic force or process that underlies and drives reality. The idea is that reality itself is not static or fixed but is continuously shaped by creative processes. Creation is an ongoing act that influences and alters the real world. Reality is not merely given or observable but is actively created and recreated through our imagination, innovation, and action. The "creal" then is the third space that overcomes the dichotomy between what is real and what is possible. Our very perceptions and interactions continuously forge the essence of the world around us.

“In the crealectic experience of the world, we are not looking at reality as a static and scarce resource but as a compossible and moving manifestation and interpretation among many others of an invisible source of felt abundance, a co-creation in which we are dynamically engaged.” Luis de Miranda

Somewhere else, he continues

“In other words, macrocosm – the universe or multiverse, what I will call the Creal – and microcosm: the here and now, what I call the Real – can and should be woven together via the practice of philosophy.”

Simliarly, Henry Bergson talks about the élan vital, or "vital force," as a creative and evolutionary life force that drives change and development in a universe in which reality as a perpetual becoming rather than a static state.

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” Henri Bergson

To create is to choose, to pause within the plentitude of possibilities, and to anchor our attention to transform the formless wave of potential into a distinct reality.

In Mind Magic, Doty James writes about the neuroscience of manifestation - how we make things real - that it

“is our ability to choose that allows us to focus our attention and influence our unlocked subconscious to manifest our intention.” The emphasis should be on “to choose”

If we never make the choice, or don’t hold on to it for long enough, our subconscious is unable to follow.

Active observing with such deliberate focus is a catalyst for manifestation. Just as quantum potentialities require observation to become particles, our creative endeavors need sustained attention to crystallize from abstract notions into concrete achievements. Active observation transforms the potentiality within us and the world, it’s the place where self meets world, that enables the creation of works that endure beyond the fleeting moment of inspiration.

Active observation: the two words already contain a seeming paradox - observation is usually considered something passive. But that is where the magic lies, it gives room for emergence by actively engaging with what is and simultaneously holding what you want.

Practical Tips for Active Observation

Active observation is an ongoing, patient committed process to a particular idea.

Being able to do that is a true superpower.

In practical terms, this means resisting the allure of constant novelty and instead cultivating the discipline to see an idea through to its fruition. It’s the sweet spot between nurturing inspiration and dedication, remaining present with the unfolding creation despite the countless calls of new possibilities.

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." Paulo Coelho

Yet, as we all know, it's not that simple. Because if it were, stepping outside would be like stepping into an utopia. I’m not sure if we will ever create a collective utopia, but a personal one is a different story.

Active observation is like a muscle, with success reserved for those who diligently train it. This training occurs in the ongoing flow of life. You're exercising active observation right now, in this very moment. And you might continue to do so throughout your days, months, and years.

Active observation is not a mere doing or a relentlessly hustling towards a precise vision. If it was that simple, this letter wouldn’t be needed. Instead, active observation is an action that is aligned with the observation of reality. As I said above, and I think it is worth repeating: it’s actively engaging with what is and simultaneously holding what you want.

Active Observation for a World in Collapse

Active observation is a pattern we can practice in our own lives to reduce the complexity. In a way, to prevent ourselves from collapse.

If this is the pattern in our lives, through the fractal nature of reality, this is also what we need to prevent collapse on the large scale - at least to the degree that complexity plays a role in collapse.

To actively observe is to participate in the unfolding of complexity. While we might observe the complexity on a large scale, our focus lands on our ways of thinking, being and acting, right in front of us.