Chaos Theory (Nonlinear Dynamics)
The Theory in a Nutshell
Chaos Theory, or the mathematics of nonlinear dynamics, demonstrates a vast world of connectedness in both the visible and invisible domain. The term “chaos” is used to denote a mass of apparently meaningless data in which one cannot see any inherent organizing pattern. The study of chaos arose out of the discovery of attractor patterns, or attractor fields. Attractors exist in what physicists called phase space, an abstract reality beyond our three-dimensional experience. Attractor fields are highly organized energy fields that “magnetically” pull everything in a given system toward it.
MIT meteorologist Edward Lorenz is credited as being the first person to “accidentally” discover the existence of attractor patterns in 1960 while plotting a massive amount of weather data. Through a simple process called iteration (multiplying a factor by itself produces feedback), “chaotic” patterns were discovered. Plotting three variables (temperature, air pressure and wind direction) in a unique way over a period of time created what is now famously known as Lorenz’s Butterfly—the first identified attractor pattern.
The Law of Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions: This law of chaos theory is another example of our interconnectedness: Every subtle change affects everything else. This law postulates that a ship’s one-degree course change can lead it to a different part of the globe. Although we may perceive that an event takes place at an isolated point in time and space, every event is connected to every other event, representing a spin, twirl, or dip in the universe’s cosmic dance.
Critical Point Analysis: This phenomenon of chaos theory demonstrates that a minute shift in a system can change or topple the system. For example, if you know exactly where to apply pressure on a large mechanical clock, you can disable the clock—the point where the least force exerts the greatest influence (Power vs. Force, 33).
Significance to Consciousness and Spirituality
Lessons from Chaos Theory reveal a compelling clue to our interconnectedness: This “Science of Wholeness” illustrates organizing patterns behind everything we experience in the physical world. What we perceive as random, irregular, or “chaotic” is actually organized.
Chaologists have thus far only defined attractors as having either high or low energy. Attractor patterns of varying strength exist behind every behavior, thought, belief, and even degrees of health and disease. Dr. Hawkins’ research has revealed that these attractor fields are linked to consciousness itself, where attractors have varying degrees of power associated with the related level of human consciousness. As Hawkins says, “Simply stated, powerful attractor patterns make us go strong, and weak patterns make us go weak.” (P vs. F, 114) Strong attractors are associated with the consciousness levels of love, forgiveness, joy, and peace; weak attractors are linked to anger, resentment, fear, desire, and grief.
More on the Scientific Convergence:
Quantum Mechanics: The Observed and the Observer are One
Chaos Theory: Nonlinear Dynamics & the Science of Wholeness
Fractal Geometry: The Organizing Patterns of Life
The Implicate Order: The Universe as a Giant Hologram
Hypothesis of Formative Causation: Morphic Resonance & Hidden Fields
References:
Briggs, John & Peat, F. David. Turbulent Mirror: An Illustrate Guide to Chaos Theory and the Science of Wholeness. New York: Harper & Row, 1990.
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin Books, 1987.
Hawkins, David. Power vs. Force: Hidden Determinant of Human Behavior. Sedona, AZ: Veritas Publishing, 1998.
Stewart, Ian. Does God Play Dice? The New Mathematics of Chaos. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2002.
