On Dissipative Structures

Dear Daddy,


Well, here we are at summer solstice already! Isn't it amazing how time flies when you're having fun. Or, of course, the frog thing - time's fun when you're having flies. (that was so funny...I am already getting mileage out of it) I keep studying relativity to try to get a handle on time...but alas, it still eludes me! I have been trying to get around to writing this letter for weeks. Good grief, when did I ever have time to go to work?! I enjoyed the visit with Uncle Carl. It sounds like you had some great fishing and communion. I am glad.

I have been reading a lot of books recently, and I thought I'd bounce some of these ideas off of you. I don't have the holographic thing down yet, but here are some other interesting ideas until I grok it well enough to enunciate it better. Back to the reoccurring theme that suggests that all of our thoughts and feelings, and even ourselves essentially are waves of energy.

The Theory of Dissipative Structures was discovered or formulated by a guy named Ilya Prigogine and he won a Nobel Prize for it in the 80s. It is a theory about dynamic structures (any system that moves and changes and grows) that basically states that the more complex a system is, the more unstable it is because it requires more flux of energy to maintain it. Because of the movement and exchange of energy, when it breaks down, it is likely to reorganize and reestablish itself at a higher or more complex level. When it is perturbed, or disrupted in some way, then the parts have a tendency to come back together in new ways and form new patterns within the whole in a more complex, interactive form. Therefore, the reason that the system achieves coherence is because it is so unstable. Prikoshein even came up with the mathematical models and equations that would show why it would reorganize in the new, more complex way.

Water moves through a whirlpool and forms it at the same time. Energy moves through a dissipative structure and the dissipative structure is the energy...a flowing wholeness, highly organized and always in motion. The more energy that is required, the more vulnerable it is to changes within the system, thus the farther from equilibrium it is. Increased coherence (the more ways and places in which it is held together by energy) means increased instability, and that creates more potential for reordering. If the perturbation is minor, then the system will dampen it and go on the way it was. But if the perturbation is of a certain size and force, then it shakes up the pattern and causes it to reorder in some new, more complex way. Then the system is even more unstable because it is even more complex, and therefore it is even more vulnerable and therefore more likely to evolve. Evolution begets evolution and is built into the very nature of the complex system itself.

Well, what does this have to do with me, you ask, and why is she telling me all this? The answer is that you and everything else that moves and grows and changes is a dissipative structure. This is, in essence, the science of transformation. Human beings, our brains, emotions, thoughtforms, plants, animals, nations, the population, economics, society, the earth, the solar system, the universe...you name it and it is a dynamic, dissipative structure. You no doubt also recognize the fractalness of this idea...the "similarity across scale". And, this model can give us insight into how to look at many microcosmic and macrocosmic "problems".

For example, human beings grow through stress. We don't generally like stress or being "perturbed", but it does usually force us to reexamine who we are and what we are doing. Then a reorganization takes place that is (hopefully...ha!) of a higher order. The people we look to for help in those situations are not the ones who say "oh woe is you" and talk to us about how to get back to the way we were. They are the ones who will have suggestions and encouragement for growth and movement through the suffering toward transformation. Through the suffering, or what is sometimes called the "zones of annihilation", hopefully we reach an access to that which is beyond the world of opposites (that which attracts or repels us). And then, that which is beyond annihilation becomes clearer. Altered states of consciousness used for personal transformation, such as prayer or meditation, will, of course, assist and put us in contact with the Master Designer and Organizer. It is, in a sense however, the confronting of the pain and stress that generates the reordering processes in the brain that bring about the movement toward transformation. If we look at our pain and stress in that way, whole new dimensions can open up for us. With a little thought, whole new applications for healing ourselves can also become clear.

In another application, we can look at society or at the world as a dissipative structure. Because of the media, modes of travel, and possibilities of interaction we have the small world phenomenon. We are more complex and interlinked and unstable than ever before in history. Could we possibly look at the perturbations in society or on a world interaction level, or even environmentally as having this same transformative potential? It is at least somewhat encouraging.

A book that has come to my attention that looks interesting is AGELESS BODY, TIMELESS MIND. I noticed that Annie was reading it when we were at their house on one of our most recent visits. I saw an interview with the author, an east Indian doctor named Depok Chopra. He also wrote another called QUANTUM HEALING. I am ashamed to say that his name was somewhat alien and I do not remember it, but he was really neat. He had that wonderful Indian accent that I love to listen to. The basic premise was that the human being, as a dynamic energy system in constant flux, regularly reconstructs itself, and that this reconstruction can be orchestrated positively through realization of the timeless spirit which can be contacted by looking at the space between thoughts. From that perspective one programs the body into health and literally reconstructs it on an energy and chemical basis through thought and the energy/chemical effects of thought. Fascinating, although nothing new in concept, ("As a man thinketh, so he is") I liked the way he put it and it seemed very deliberate in ways I had not before considered. It made me want to read his books. It certainly fits into the dissipative structure model.

Another interesting interview I saw recently was with Maya Angeleau (the inaugural poet). She was talking about the power and tangibility of words- how they are things that literally come out and stick to the walls and get into our clothes and finally actually into us. How true that is and how you can feel the presence of it when you go into a place. I started thinking about it in my own home and in the conflicts with my kids. It is amazing to think about all the energies that fly around us every minute affecting our health, moods, energy, perspective. We are responsible for so much of it, as are our families, associates, etc. The Oneness of all things seems more and more tangible on so many levels. It has the feel and the perfume of truth.

I realize how addicted to my little routines I am. Walking on the back nine no longer seems optional, but absolutely essential to my health and sense of well being. It was absolutely awesome out there this morning! The pond is covered in lilies and yonky-pons (a form of water lily). Their perfume was intoxicating, and I sat down overlooking the water in a spot where the breeze was blowing the smell right at me. It was a blustery day, and the clouds were rolling through in such a way that the light and shade were dancing across the fairways and the water, lighting up a section here and there and making it luminous. The trees were singing "a song the wind remembers about the way the ocean sounds." (one of my favorite lines from Randy's songs) I was looking at the rainbows in the wall of water mist made by the sprinkler system back there. It struck me how the rainbow is there every morning waiting and invisible until the light comes through at just the right angle, and the sprinkler comes on, and then it appears. How much we are like that, too--invisible light waiting to manifest and be recognized. The whole morning was breath-taking and sacred.

It's also nice to have some creative space and I am singing, sewing, reading, meditating, and gardening. Hummingbird medicine (American Indian medicine totems...the joy of going from flower to flower) is another daily ritual that feels essential. The yard has been absolutely gorgeous with tons of roses, hibiscus, and other colors and perfumes. I heard a garden fairy song that I am trying to get down on tape. Caring for the roses teaches me so much--the energy of the flowers, the relationship with the plant itself, the nurturing and constant watching for and precautions against impurities, and of course just the communion of the beauty.

Well, so much for the update. It will take weeks to read this, I guess. We think of you so often, and miss you both. Take care of yourselves, and let us know what is happening and how you are. We love you.

Love, Lisa
(June 25,1994)