January 25, 2024
Principle 1. The Principle of Adaptation. Fourth Week.
“To Go Against the Evolution of Things is to Go Against Oneself”
Last time: Is it dusk or dawn? The Game of Name!
This time: The weight of the future, and a link to a short film
And The Game of Explain!
This Week:
Over the previous three weeks we focused on the general structure, and implications of the principle, we also investigated how this principle played out (or didn't) in our past as well as in the present. This week we turn to considering how I might apply it to what hasn’t yet happened, to what I believe will happen in the future.
What are the problems, pressures, challenges, or difficulties that I think I will have to face? How might this principle apply? What light does it shed on these circumstances? How might it change things and so on? Equally I might consider what the consequences might be of misapplying or ignoring it.
Explain It.
The rules for week’s game are simple, and summed up in the name of the game, Explain.
Here are two possible approaches (there could be many others). Like with the game of Ask! we need to engage another player (or players). If I can manage to talk to someone that’s great but if I can’t, whether because of my personal circumstance, shyness, etc. I can write down my thoughts in a brief email — whether I send it or not is another matter. The point is to put my thoughts, and intuitions into a form that is suitable for sharing.
Of course, just as with that other game, if I do find myself with no one whom I can either ask their opinion, or tell mine, I might well reflect on what that absence implies, and perhaps even take measures in enrich my social environment.
Another thing this game has in common with that of Asking another’s opinion is that it’s a game. In this game our interest is on engaging and communicating. Convincing, preening, recruiting, etc. are outside of the goals of the game.
At our next meeting we can discuss our discoveries about, and our difficulties with this week’s reflections.
The weight of the future:
Looking to the past for explanations of the present seems to be a reasonable approach. It certainly is a common one; whether it is the therapist trying help me find the roots of my current problems in my childhood, or the astronomer explaining the shape of the universe around us as the consequence of the big bang. Nothing seems more natural than to understand our circumstances or ourselves from what has happened previously.
Silo however, gave priority to the future, pointing out that what we believe will happen shapes us as much, or even more than what already occurred. Take a person with a difficult past who believes that tomorrow will be great, compare them with a person whose life has been wonderful but who believes tomorrow is a disaster waiting to happen. Consider all the changes that could occur in someone who believes they are about to lose their livelihood – how they suffer even though the event hasn’t occurred. Compare that to the situation of a person who believes that they are about to get a great, high-paying job. Obviously, their internal states are very different. In the second case their suffering recedes, their preoccupations vanish, they feel stronger and confident.
However, in both cases nothing has really happened, the only thing that has changed is an image of the future – a future that may turn out very differently than imagined. No doubt what has happened in the past influences the present situation – that’s widely understood but – in these examples, what is producing changes in the present is to be found in the future. It is something that has not happened, and in fact, may never happen.
Back to our principle:
This week rather than share more ramblings and reflections I am including a video courtesy of Rafael Edwards (who also did the illustration included this week). I hope you enjoy it and find it as interesting as I did.
If you speak Spanish, you’ll find that the song that accompanies the silent drama supplies a narrative. I think that those who don’t speak Spanish will have no problem following the story. The opening title is simply this month’s principle in Spanish.
https://youtu.be/O3Bl3FOySzY?list=UUQ0q_lNxhNVZN-Z7S6XWNwg
Coming Up:
Next week we’ll turn to Principle 2 — Action and Reaction
Remember:
The point isn’t to conform to some external code or set of rules (even if I call these principles of valid action). Rather, our focus is on the register that is produced in me when I act. Am I moved towards greater unity, or toward contradiction? Has my action left me feeling more in agreement with myself, or more conflicted, more at war with myself?
Worth Repeating:
What suggestions would I give to someone interested in applying this principle to their future situations?
Want More:
Join us at our weekly meeting. Every Wednesday at 6:30 PM ET.
Ask me for a Zoom link, or find it on our Facebook Page
Note:
Thanks, once again to Rafael Edwards for his illustrations and this week’s video.
These notes have been posted on Facebook (Community of Silo’s Message Toronto Annex) and sent to our email list. You will also find them along with other comments, and reflections on my website: dzuckerbrot.com
Until next time…
