Heroes Not Zombies

I’m quite fascinated by webs. They always make me think of “complexity” …… which is the basis of reality.

Complex systems are made of nodes and connections. Pretty simple, huh? But really that’s their structure. We see that everywhere. In these webs, in nets, and in networks…..all multiply connected nodes.

When you look in the human brain, that’s what you see. Specialised cells called neurones, each connected to up to 50,000 others. I mean it’s literally mind boggling isn’t it? Hard to imagine billions, yes billions, of cells, every one of which has a node which connects it to up to 50,000 others. Can you imagine how many possible variations there are of actively firing neurones? Each pattern of firing is associated with each thought, feeling, image, perception, memory, action, behaviour…..the scope is infinite.

We can think of the body as a vast complex web too, the trillions, yes trillions (I can’t even envisage what a single trillion looks like!) of individual cells, every one of which is multiply connected to others.

This model scales beautifully. We can see this pattern of nodes and connections within a cell, between cells in a single organ of the body, between organs and tissues, and beyond the body to families, communities, ecosystems.

There’s a special kind of complexity which describes any form of Life in Nature – complex adaptive systems.

Complex adaptive systems (that includes you and me) consist of parts which connect with each other non-linearly. That means the effect of each connection is modified by other connections within the network and changes ripple through the whole system magnifying in intensity, or damping down activity everywhere.

This gives a complex adaptive system certain characteristics. They are all unique, all unpredictable in detail, all self-regulating, and self-repairing. They are “open”, constantly experiencing flows of energy, information and molecules within themselves and within the environments in which they live. This openness and connectedness is the key to their ability to adapt.

Individual healing is a process of adaptation and growth of multiply interconnected nodes, networks and webs.

It’s hard to imagine healthy individuals thriving in unhealthy environments. Which is why it’s so important that we consider the contexts of a person’s life if we want to help them towards health.

Whether we’re thinking about this pandemic or climate change, I think it helps to focus on these images of complexity because they remind us that we are all interconnected, we are all unique, and that we co-create the conditions, and the environments, in which we live. We have to address these problems at both the scale of the individual and the scale of the planet.

Isn’t Life amazing? Isn’t this planet astonishing? Isn’t complexity beautiful?