It's a Crazy World Out There

The World is Changing

Change can be very difficult to go through. We get locked into our own world. Wanting to just continue. Find our meaning and heaven on earth for ourselves and the people we love. Problem is that we have been bombarded with more perturbations by the world than I can recall.

I was going through YouTube recommendations and a video caught my attention. “There is a complexity threshold that no civilization survives.” OK. Not a happy and uplifting video or topic. Earlier I was having an existential crisis. Described as too much in your head and really where to next. So the irony of finding this video recommendation was not lost on me.

Just this last week. I had a few ideas that were percolating into shape for an article or start of a new chapter. Again, all that is hitting us and our families now. I wanted to start writing after a session of sitting on the porch listening to the signs of spring. Finally warm here in the NorthEast for one day. The frogs are making up from their winter hiatus.

I was just taking it in and then these ideas start running through my head. Usually, that would be the reminder that maybe I just need to kick back and just enjoy the evening. The ideas would just not stop.

Why is it that we are where we are currently at? Everything tearing at your soul. We are divided in so many ways, but the worse of the division is between the elites, wealthy and the rest of us.

I have done alright for myself so maybe I shouldn’t feel this way, but I am so tired of being mined for everything. You may ask how can you say that. Everything you do online is tracked. Phone call monitored. Data captured across all areas. Hitting you for sales. Controlling you. Wanting to know everything about you.

Yet. Through all of these constructs, what have you really benefitted in this relationship? If there are benefits, why or what is the quid pro quo. Having you depend on the benefits. Get you to vote to continue the benefits. Attack others so you keep your benefits.

Complexity and You

Then a YouTube video about complexity and killing societies. The archaeologist Tainter who came up with the analysis and published about it. Found many examples among each civilization over time where they kept generating new laws and other fixes to improve conditions for the people. Sounds familiar in a way. Just got me thinking.

How or what could be the mechanism for the failure of civilizations by complexity? Death by too much government or regulations. The problem is that is just one angle that occurs and Tainter was going through historical records. Governing activity is recorded through time and this was the framing to impact his circle and his career. But, if this has been going on through all societies regardless of political persuasion or time, is this part of the unease or angst that I am feeling?

Let’s make a simplified analysis. Everyone, every organization, every corporation and every government entity behaves like an organism. I do not want to argue good vs evil. We want to be able to predict directions and use actions. The other framing may be appropriate, but hard to predict direction from other’s thoughts and emotions. Actions are something we can work with.

Now, organisms pretty much are driven by self propagation of themselves and family. With that in mind if we just imagine or take our experiences from now, what does complexity really look like. More and more people and entities using their means to ensure that they can survive. In organizations, individuals also act this way. When complexity happens, these activities keep escalating. What was once meant for the whole, becomes a cancer destroying the body. That is what we are witnessing, Stage IV cancer. Things are very crazy now so maybe even metastasis into the brain.

I am writing. I am not sure why I am doing this anymore. I can just go back to try to navigate the system work for my benefit. Yet, I am worried about my son and others that are just getting started and currently on the base of the extraction pyramid.

There are many messages that help identify these events in different language. The problem with complexity is that it sprawls all over into the very areas that affect everyone. The division, the financial problems, education, religion, employment, culture, politics and geopolitics all trickle down to you and to me.

How Complexity Affected Me

The thoughts. This is being pushed. Maybe I am grasping for why I was talking to myself in the dark wondering what everyone is missing. The truth is most of you are not missing it. Truth is I did not have a good term for it until a YouTube video. Words have not really hit you to put your feelings into your experienced truth. Maybe this is the start.

I am not sure where exactly the direction that I want to take my life. That is the other problem that we all have. How do you navigate the crazy when it is everywhere?

Sorry. Not to sell or appear to be selling a wonder algorithm or method. I started on this journey a little over 5 years ago. I did not really realize it at the time, but my father had become ill with cancer. I just happened to be trying my own thing for career so I had the time to be there to help my mother while he was dying. He only worried that everything was settled for her after his death.

Now in retrospect, looking at that time and his life, I do not belittle all that he did. He survived quite a few financial setbacks caused by others. Having savings depleted. Construction work difficult to come by. He kept rebuilding and going at it, but you could see the toll of an extractive world draining him.

It has gotten worse. I am just beginning to find my why. What will power me to keep going or at least what will make it easier to handle or deal with life? Finding what I really want to do with my life. Finding the why. Knowing myself.

The Start of the Tools

Knowing myself is important. Just as important is navigating the ocean to find where I can be myself. In the navigation, you also need to understand the weather and tides. In this world of crazy, you need to be able to navigate for you. That is what I have been starting to build on my own and as part of this, I am also offering to share with others that want more and follow what they want to do.

My approach that I am crafting now is going back to what our ancestors knew or honed. No, I am not saying screw the world and become a hermit. Take your game pieces and go home is not it either. We have a fine tuned, but forgotten and abused, mental skill. It is pattern recognition. In a world that it hard to know what everyone is thinking, pattern recognition is one way to start looking at possible actions. If you can do that, you can start prepositioning yourself to help you.

What this means is that you need to start also questioning what you know or think you know. Not that is right or wrong. You need to be able to project what the patterns may or may not be telling you. Your brain does this naturally, but your beliefs also affects that projection. Good thing is that also checking on your beliefs may also help you figure out what you really love doing. In this crazy world, people and organizations also project their beliefs onto you. Part of this process and what I have been working through is just the base case of what is my own beliefs. Sucks to be limited by your own and worse to be limited by others.

As part of this reexamining and detecting our own beliefs, the journey is part shadow work as described in spiritual circles. I leave that up to you. The other part is just going over what is going on. Historical teachings and maybe misconceptions. Looking to enhance pattern recognition skills and identify avenues that can help you and me of course.

Let’s Do This

Got wonderful news from another YouTube channel this morning. Was looking like we were potentially going back to some winter weather. It is April so not unexpected, but now looks like just slightly below temperatures. Spring may finally be here.

Frogs will be and continue rejoicing.

The other is with a spring in my step (pun intended), I plan to continue more writing.

Set up a space where we can talk more and jump start your Spring action plan.