Seven Life Lessons of Chaos
Timeless Wisdom from the Science of Change
(later editions use the subtitle: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change)
by John Briggs and F. David Peat
Harper Collins, 1999
ISBN 0-06-018246-6
“At one time or another, we’ve all felt our lives were out of control and heading toward chaos. For us, science has striking news. Our lives are already in chaos – and not just occasionally, but all of the time.” The authors, an English professor and a physicist, explore chaos as a metaphor, not as a “prescription” (which would run contrary to the tenets of chaos theory), but as a way of seeing, a way to escape (at least momentarily) from the box of logic and linear thinking.
In this beautifully written book, the science of chaos theory is described in simple layman’s terms and juxtaposed with observations of how chaos theory could explain human activity and human consciousness. As much philosophy as science, the book looks at how our current fixation on clock time, efficiency and mechanization limits our ability to see the fullness of what is really happening, and explores how focusing on order as existing within chaos and embracing the transformative value of chaos could transform our individual and collective lives.
In seven “lessons,” the authors focus in turn on creativity, butterfly power (the power of one), flow and unforced “self-organization” of people and concepts, the continuum of possibilities between extremes and labels, the “fractal” nature of life, the nature of time as we experience it, and the relationship of the individual to the whole. The tongue-in-check last lesson, labeled “Lesson 7.135…” is a recognition that, at any moment, we rarely have all pertinent information, and that the possibilities often lie in the missing information.
This book is a fascinating mix of (a little) science and (a lot of) philosophy. That may sound dry to many readers, but the down to earth explanation and beautiful word pictures make it an enjoyable (and provocative) read.
