> 1 f 9 7 1 d 9 > 7 3 ? = @ < 5 h 9 d i...3 ? = @ < 5 h 9 d i

what i s a compl ex systemDefi ni ng compl exi ty i s a compl ex task i n i tsel f. Defi ni ti ons

di ffer sl i ghtl y from one sci enti st to the next. There i s

however some l evel of consensus around some of the

features of compl ex systems. H ere i s my own l i st of some of

the features of compl ex systems:

there are multiple interacting elementsall elements have some level of autonomythe elements all interact simultaneouslythe elements can all affect each otherthe elements interact in non-linear ways

M ost compl ex systems are capabl e of adapti ng to thei renvi rons and hence evol ve and change over ti me. Exampl esof compl ex systems i ncl ude:

an ecosystemthe immune systemthe economyan urban traffic networka family

Patterns occur spontaneousl y i n these systems, these arecal l ed emergent properti es and have no desi gner orbl uepri nt. I n other words, there i s not any central authori tyor set of i nstructi ons di ctati ng how the system as a whol edevel ops. Such patterns are genui nel y co-created by al l ofthe i nteracti ng el ements i n the system. They emerge purel yas a resul t of i nteracti ons between the i ndi vi dual el ements.

The emergent properties are generally where the beauty,mystery, power and unpredictability of a complex system is.

compl ex behavi oursThere wi l l al ways be some constrai nts as to how the

el ements i n a compl ex system can behave and someti mes

these are i ndeed i mposed by some form of central control .

H owever, the dynami cs between the i nteracti ng el ements

themsel ves can sti l l yi el d thei r own emergent properti es on

the whol e system l evel . H ence, the rel ati onshi ps between

system el ements are cri ti cal to how the system wi l l behave.

A system that has al l the features menti oned i n the l ast

col umn may exhi bi t compl ex behavi our or i t may not. Scott

Page of The Centre for the Study of Complex Systemssometi mes j okes wi th col l eagues that such systems shoul d

be cal l ed ‘systems capabl e of produci ng compl exi ty’1 .

A system capabl e of produci ng compl exi ty may al so fal l i nto

qui te a stabl e and seemi ngl y predi ctabl e pattern. H owever, a

smal l change i n the system parameters or val ues may tri gger

i t to transi ti on unpredi ctabl y to a total l y di fferent pattern.

Such an abrupt changes are someti mes cal l ed ' bi furcati ons'

or ' phase transi ti ons' . These are two speci fi c types of

' ti ppi ng poi nts' where a system suddenl y fl i ps i nto a di fferent

pattern from a smal l change, l i ke water suddenl y turni ng to

i ce when the temperature drops to a certai n val ue.

Feedback can al so ari se i n such systems, ei ther pushi ng the

system to l arge scal e change or stabi l i si ng i t.

Some compl ex systems have ' attractors' . These are patterns

whi ch the system di spl ays consi stentl y. These attractors can

show themsel ves as beauti ful shapes when the data from

such a system i s graphed.

our process of expl orati onDuri ng these workshops we wi l l expl ore some aspects of

compl ex systems sci ence together and then go on to

i nteract together i n compl ex ways - provi di ng us wi th a

forum to exami ne what thi s theory i n a more experi enti al

way. We wi l l unpi ck some of your ways of payi ng attenti on

and possi bl y i ntroduce you to ways you had not thought of

before. I am i nterested i n hel pi ng you expl ore how you

make sense of a compl ex si tuati on and how you make

deci si ons wi thi n i t. What habi ts of mi nd wi l l support you

best to negoti ate compl exi ty wi th ease and confi dence?

I n order to faci l i tate thi s I wi l l be drawi ng on the techni ques

and phi l osophy of I nterPl ay® and al so my background as a

shi atsu therapi st and my experi ences wi th Goethean

Sci ence. I nterPl ay works wi th i mprovi sed movement, voi ce,

story and sti l l ness. I am a trai ned I nterPl ay faci l i tator and

duri ng my own study of compl ex systems sci ence as part of

my masters degree I was constantl y appreci ati ve of how

much my I nterPl ay experi ence was hel pi ng me to

understand the theoreti cal materi al . As a resul t I started

tryi ng I nterPl ay wi th fel l ow students, and so began the

devel opment of thi s workshop seri es.

These workshops are desi gned for peopl e who are not

compl ex systems sci enti sts. Therefore, you wi l l probabl y fi nd

yoursel f appl yi ng some of the thi ngs that you l earn to your

own si tuati on i n a metaphori cal sense. We may al so spend

some ti me exami ni ng the val i di ty of borrowi ng the

metaphors of compl exi ty i nto other di sci pl i nes.

n a v i g a t i n g c o m p l e x i t yt o w a r d s a n e m b o d i e d u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f c o m p l e x s y s t e m s

1 . Scott sai d thi s i n an i ntervi ew wi th M el ani e M i tchel l as part of the onl i ne course

ti tl ed I ntroducti on to Compl exi ty offered by the Sta Fe I nsti tute and avai l abl e at

www.compl exi tyexpl orer.org

www.ani matearts.net© sophi a van ruth 201 5

navi gati ng compl exi tyworkshop handouts

to be nonl i near.. . .N onl i neari ty i s one of the defi ni ng features of compl exi ty. I f

a system i s nonl i near then essenti al l y you can’t capture i ts

behavi our i n equati ons that make strai ght l i nes on graphs. As

you can i magi ne, real worl d systems of mul ti pl e i nteracti ng

el ements al l acti ng si mul taneousl y and al l respondi ng to each

other’s acti ons are very hard to capture usi ng equati ons at

al l . Al l l i vi ng systems or systems where l i vi ng bei ngs i nteract

are nonl i near. General l y whenever there i s competi ti on or

cooperati on you wi l l have a nonl i near dynami c.1

N onl i near systems al so usual l y evol ve over ti me. H ence, i n

the words of J ames Gl ei ck, “nonl i neari ty means that the act

of pl ayi ng the game has a way of changi ng the rul es”.2

H owever, even wi thout the abi i ty to evol ve, nonl i near

systems tend to have unpredi ctabl e emergent properti es at

the whol e system l evel , i mpl yi ng that the whole is differentthan the sum of the parts. I n fact, thi s can be thought of as

a defi ni ng feature of nonl i neari ty. Consi der the l i near

si tuati on where a machi ne can pul l a fi xed amount of wei ght

and two such machi nes can pul l twi ce that wei ght (the

whol e i s the sum of the parts) . I n a nonl i near system where

these two machi nes where respondi ng to each other the

outcome mi ght be di fferent. For exampl e, i t they were

antagoni sti c to each other they may not be abl e to achi eve

twi ce the l oad.

the l egacy of l i near thi nki ngWorki ng wi th linear equati ons, i ntel l ectual gi ants such as

Gal i l eo, N ewton and Descartes defi ned powerful and

seemi ngl y uni versal l aws and theori es whi ch, i n thei r age,

spawned a mi ndset i ncorporati ng the fol l owi ng key bel i efs:3

the world can be understood as a machinethe mind is separate from the bodynature can be systematically controlled

Even though these statements are no l onger general l y

thought to be true, we often sti l l l i ve our l i ves as i f they

were. We go about our days usi ng mechani sti c l ogi c and

abstract methodol ogi es to try and control our worl d.

understandi ng nonl i neari tyWhen sci enti sts try to understand nonl i near systems they

often use i terati ve equati ons (whi ch cal cul ate changes over

ti me) or model s. An exampl e woul d be popul ati on growth

i n an envi ronment that can onl y support so many i ndi vi dual s.

A si mpl e computer model of j ust a few of the ki nds of

dynami cs i nvol ved (cal l ed the l ogi sti c map4) has surpri si ngl y

compl ex behavi our, despi te there bei ng very si mpl e

equati ons i nvol ved. I t has proved i mpossi bl e to predi ct

popul ati on over ti me usi ng sol vabl e equati ons, i t i s

achi evabl e onl y by runni ng a si mul ati on over ti me and seei ng

what happens.

N onl i near systems are synergi sti c and requi re us to be abl e

to work ‘l i ve’ and percei ve (or ‘grok’) the system as a whol e.

Our normal ways of thi nki ng are not al ways hel pful i n

understandi ng nonl i near dynami cs. A smal l change can have

a l arge effect and a l arge change can have a smal l effect. We

need to stay connected to what i s happeni ng to get a feel

for the effects of our acti ons.

n o n l i n e a r i t y

c o m p l e x s y s t e m s c o n c e p t s

1 . Paraphrased from Strogatz, Stephen, Sync, The Emergi ng Sci ence of Spontaneous

Order, Pengui n, 2003 , p5 1

2. Gl ei k, J ames, Chaos, M aki ng a N ew Sci ence, Sphere Books, 1 987, p24

3 . These i deas have been wri tten about i n vari ous pl aces, a conci se expl anati on can be

found i n Stephan H ardi ng’s book Ani mate Earth, Green Books, 2006 pp26-28

4. The l ogi sti c map has been documented i n many a text. M el ani e M i tchel l ’s book

Compl exi ty a Gui ded Tour has great expl anati on pp27-3 3 .


personal i nsi ghts


defi ni ng sel f organi sati onM el ani e M i tchel l of the Sta Fe I nsti tute has defi ned sel f

organi sati on as “the producti on of organi sed patterns or

behavi ours resul ti ng from l ocal i sed i nteracti ons wi thi n the

components of a system wi thout any central control and

wi th the components onl y have l i mi ted i nformati on about

the states of nei ghbouri ng components.”1

The coherent patterns that appear when systems sel f

organi se are someti mes cal l ed emergent properti es. These

properti es emerge spontaneousl y from the i nteracti ons of

the components (or agents) of the system. I t can be the

case that the i ndi vi dual agents are unaware of hi gher l evel

emergent properti es.

where do we fi nd sel f organi sati on?Compl ex systems of mul ti pl e i nteracti ng el ements or ‘agents’

often sel f-organi se. N atural systems such as ant col oni es sel f-

organi se, as do many real worl d networks, such as the

i nternet. Your i mmune system can sel f- organi se to

el i mi nate a pathogen.

Taki ng the exampl e of the i nternet, the way websi tes are

connected to each other has a fractal l i ke qual i ty (i t i s si mi l ar

across di fferent scal es) 2 even thought thi s pattern was not

desi gned by anyone and arose spontaneousl y as peopl e

used the system. I n the case of a parti cul ar speci es of ant, i t

has been observed that when the ants reach a certai n

densi ty rhythmi c waves of acti vi ty start to spontaneousl y

fl ow through thei r col ony wi thout there bei ng any addi ti onal

si gnal gi ven to the ants to do so.3

patterns of emergenceI n the words of I gor N i kol i c of the Del ft Uni versi ty of

Technol ogy, i n an organi sed compl ex system “nobody

control s everythi ng, nobody understands everythi ng - yet i t

has coherent behavi our.”4 Thi s i s a hal l mark of a system

that i s compl ex as opposed to compl i cated. Sel f-organi sati on

often occurs when ‘everyone’ i n the system repeats certai n

behavi ours or fol l ows certai n ' rul es' .

H owever, coherent behavi our does not al ways mani fest

when mul ti pl e agents i nteract. Emergence i s often sensi ti ve

to the ‘rul es’ or parameters governi ng the way that the

agents i n the system can i nteract. I n the case of the ant

col ony model , onl y when the densi ty i s hi gh enough does a

hi gher l evel order mani fest. I nteresti ngl y the ants tend to

keep thei r col oni es hoveri ng around the densi ty j ust where

the order begi ns to mani fest and not hi gher. They do not

show a total l y regul ar pattern.5 Thi s zone cl ose to where the

order emerges i s someti mes cal l ed the ‘edge of chaos’ and

many bel i eve that the most resi l i ent patterns emerge here.

I nteresti ngl y, when el ements start i nteracti ng i n compl ex

ways i t general l y takes some ti me for order to ari se. When

model l i ng such systems, sci enti sts frequentl y program the

computer to i gnore the i ni ti al i nteracti ons as they are onl y

i nterested i n the l onger term order.

Emergent properti es are most of the ti me not predi ctabl e

and very often not i ntui ti ve. You may need to drop some of

your assumpti ons when tryi ng to spot them, what emerges

i s not al ways goi ng to be what you expect.

s e l f o r g a n i s a t i o n& e m e r g e n c e


1 . Transcri bed from vi deo l ectures i n the course I ntroducti on to Compl exi ty by the

Sta Fe I nsti tute, www.compl exi tyexpl orer.org

2. M i tchel l , M el ani e, Compl exi ty a Gui ded Tour, Oxford Uni versi ty Press, 2009, see

chapters 1 5 and 1 7

3 . Goodwi n, Bri an & Sol é Ri card, Si gns of Li fe, Basi c Books, 2000, pp1 5 9-1 61

4. Transcri bed from a workshop gi ven by I gor N i kol i c of the Del ft Uni versi ty of

Technol ogy, and hel d as part of the H ub Rotterdam’s Summerschool 201 0

5 . Goodwi n, Bri an & Sol é Ri card, Si gns of Li fe, Basi c Books, 2000, pp1 5 9-1 61


personal i nsi ghts


what i s a phase transi ti on?A ‘phase’ i n thi s context i s a state that a system i s i n. I t mi ght

refer to a stabl e state i n an ecosystem where the popul ati on

of vari ous ani mal s and pl ants has not changed much for a

whi l e, i t mi ght refer to a chaoti c state i n a stock market

where val ues are fl uctuati ng wi l dl y, or i t mi ght rel ate to the

speci fi c pattern of a dri ppi ng tap. A ‘phase transi ti on’ refers

to the transi ti on of a system from one state (or phase) to

another. Some types of phase transi ti ons are al so cal l ed

‘bi furcati ons’ . Such transi ti ons can occur when a system

reaches a ' ti ppi ng poi nt' .

The term ‘phase transi ti on’ i s borrowed from physi cs and

the si mpl est exampl e i s the transi ti on of a substance from

sol i d to l i qui d to gas as temperature i s changed. J ust as wi th

thi s exampl e, i t i s characteri sti c for a phase transi ti on to take

pl ace qui te suddenl y even though the thi ng causi ng i t mi ght

have been sl owl y and evenl y changi ng (the temperature i n

the exampl e above) .

Accordi ng to Ri card Sol é, who studi es thi s phenomenon,

phase transi ti ons can happen i n a wi de range of systems

i ncl udi ng ecosystems, genes, i nsect col oni es and soci eti es.

M ore speci fi c exampl es he ci tes i ncl ude heart rate change,

i mmunol ogy, gal axy formati on, computati on, l anguage

acqui si ti on, evol uti on of geneti c codes, pol i ti cs & opi ni on

formati on and economi c behavi our.1

I t can be tri cky to i denti fy whi ch parameter of a system

pushes i t to transi ti on. I n the case of sol i d/l i qui d/gas

transi ti ons i t i s temperature, but i n other systems i t may be

harder to i denti fy. I t i s often somethi ng qui te si mpl e and

someti mes not predi ctabl e as a cri ti cal parameter wi thout

observi ng the system behavi our. I t i s often somethi ng that

affects the i nteracti on strength and/or frequency of

i nteracti ons of the el ements i n the system.

phase stabi l i tyH omoeostasi s i s a mechani sm for preventi ng some phase

transi ti ons. H omoeostasi s often uses negati ve feedback

l oops to hol d a system i n a parti cul ar phase. A si mpl e

exampl e of thi s i s when a fami l y l eaves thei r heati ng

thermostat set to 5 degrees overni ght i n a col d wi nter to

prevent the water i n the pi pes undergoi ng the phase

transi ti on to i ce. The thermostat provi des negati ve feedback

to hol d the water i n an agreeabl e phase.

I t may seem tempti ng to try to l ock a system i nto a stabl e

pattern far away from the transi ti on boundari es. H owever,

l i vi ng systems often natural l y keep themsel ves cl ose to phase

transi ti on boundari es. I n thi s way, i t i s thought that the

system retai ns i ts abi l i ty to adapt and can evol ve together

wi th the broader envi ronment. N o l i vi ng system exi sts i n

i sol ati on, wi thout the abi l i ty to adapt to change a system

becomes vul nerabl e, and may actual l y be more prone to a

catastrophi c phase transi ti on when external condi ti ons

change. For exampl e, i t has been shown that too much ri gi d

order i n beati ng of the human heart can make i t vul nerabl e.

There i s a chaoti c el ement to the rhythm of a heal thy heart

and when the heart becomes too regul ar (l i ke a

metronome) a person becomes more prone to dangerous

heart condi ti ons.2

p h a s e t r a n s i t i o n s


1 . Sol é, Ri card, Phase Transi ti ons, Pri nceton Uni versi ty Press, 201 1 , p1 0-1 1

2. Goodwi n, Bri an, N ature’s Due, Fl ori s Books, 2007, p46 www.ani matearts.net© sophi a van ruth 201 5

personal i nsi ghts


what i s an attractor?An attractor i s a pattern that a system tends to return to

even when i t i s di sturbed. H omoeostasi s i s the tendency for

a system to return to a stabl e attractor (a certai n set of

val ues) . I f the human body encounters somethi ng that

pushes i t outsi de of i t’s heal thy state i t seeks to restore i tsel f

to heal th. The state of the body when i t i s heal thy coul d be

seen as an attractor, and the tendency to return to that

state i s cal l ed homeostasi s. H owever, not al l attractors

represent heal thy states. There are di fferent types of

attractors, i ncl udi ng:

fixed point attractors

These are si mpl e attractors where a system i s drawn to one

speci fi c poi nt or val ue. An exampl e woul d the temperature

of a bottl e of wi ne when you put i t i nto the refri gerator. I t

wi l l be ‘attracted’ towards the temperature of the

surroundi ng envi ronment and cool down. The ' fi xed poi nt'

i s the temperature the fri dge i s set to. The wi ne wi l l go to

that temperature and stay there.

periodic attractors

I n thi s case, a system gets l ocked i nto a pattern of behavi our

that repeats agai n and agai n. For exampl e, a popul ati on of

rabbi ts may go up one year and then down the next i n a

cycl e based on the food avai l abi l i ty. When there are a l ot of

rabbi ts, there i s l ess food per rabbi t, whi ch l eads to l ess

rabbi ts i n the next generati on whi ch l eads to more food (as

there are l ess rabbi ts eati ng i t) whi ch l eads to more rabbi ts

etc. Whi l st thi s i s not a total l y real i sti c exampl e as an

ecosystem i s more compl ex than that, i t gi ves you the i dea.

strange attractors

These are attractors that can onl y be seen i n an abstract

mathemati cal real m cal l ed phase space. They exi st onl y i n

chaoti c systems (i n the sci enti fi c sense of chaos) . From the

outsi de a system under the i nfl uence of a strange attractor

may seem to di spl ay random behavi our. H owever, when

you map how i t i s changi ng mathemati cal l y, a beauti ful

geometri c pattern can be seen. A system under the

i nfl uence of a strange attractor i s hi ghl y unpredi ctabl e on a

detai l ed l evel , but i ts overal l behavi our tends to keep wi thi n

certai n bounds.

how to be attracti veThe poi nt of al l attractors i s that they are, wel l , attracti ve! I f

the system i s pushed outsi de of the bounds of the attractor

i t wi l l tend to fal l back towards the attractor agai n. H owever,

i t can be pushed too far and then wi l l not return (i n thi s

case the system undergoes a phase transi ti on) . The area

from whi ch the system wi l l be drawn towards the attractor

i s cal l ed the ‘basi n of attracti on’.

N egati ve feedback i n a system can create an attractor.

Someti mes i t i s very cl ear how to set up such feedback, such

as i n the exampl e of a thermostat for a heater. H owever, i n

an ecosystem, the feedback l oops ari se spontaneousl y as the

system expl ores i t’s l i mi ts, nobody pl ans them. I n a natural

compl ex system i t can be di ffi cul t to predi ct whi ch factors

wi l l contri bute to homeostasi s as there are many i nteracti ng

el ements al l i nfl uenci ng each other at once, maki ng the

resul t of changi ng one factor i mpossi bl e to predi ct wi thout

tryi ng i t.

a t t r a c t o r s



personal i nsi ghts


how do you pay attenti on?You have evol ved from a l ong l i ne of creatures who have al l

l i ved i n compl ex systems. Your body i s an exampl e of a

compl ex system i n i tsel f, wi th mul ti pl e i nteracti ng organs

i nfl uenci ng each other and acti ng si mul taneousl y. On some

l evel you i ntui ti vel y understand compl exi ty. Yet, we sti l l fi nd

compl exi ty baffl i ng and often struggl e to make good

deci si ons i n compl ex si tuati ons.

You have most l i kel y l earned to trust ways of knowi ng that

i nvol ve anal yti cal reason above al l others. H owever,

general l y compl ex dynami cs cannot be predi cted usi ng

anal ysi s. Fortunatel y, you al so have other ways of worki ng

wi th compl exi ty at your di sposal whi ch you coul d devel op

further. One of the most fundamental i s to devel op the

abi l i ty to shi ft between noti ci ng and anal ysi ng.

the art of noti ci ngA key practi ce of worki ng wi th compl exi ty i s to be abl e to

noti ce as wel l as anal yse. N oti ci ng i s si mpl e, di rect and

honest - i t i nvol ves bri ngi ng our unbi ased attenti on to what

i s happeni ng. N oti ci ng i s more of a ski l l that we mi ght thi nk,

as i t al so requi res suspensi on of our assumpti ons as we pay

attenti on. I n thi s way i t can bri ng us i n contact wi th the

authenti c truth of a si tuati on, rather that overl ayi ng what we

thi nk we al ready know about i t. Si nce compl ex systems are

notori ousl y unpredi ctabl e, often our assumpti ons and

abstracted i deas about a si tuati on are not hel pful . The

si mpl e act of noti ci ng i s fundamental to al l three approaches

i n the next col umn.

comprehensi ve knowi ngThere are many practi ces that can hel p you broaden your

ways of knowi ng to become more comprehensi ve, from

medi tati on techni ques to usi ng arti fi ci al i ntel l i gence. Three

approaches are i ntroduced bel ow. Each of these has a

separate handout i n thi s seri es and forms a separate part of

thi s workshop seri es.

the art of direct perception

Devel opi ng the art of noti ci ng further, we can go deeper

i nto what may be cal l ed the art of di rect percepti on. Usi ng a

‘Goethean’ methodol ogy that i nvol ves redi recti ng awareness

to the senses we can connect i n a more fundamental way to

the worl d around us and become more present wi th the

dynami cs at pl ay.

tapping the wisdom of the body

Worki ng on the assumpti on that you know much more than

you real i se, we can work wi th practi ces that al l ow the

wi sdom of your body to come to the fore, al l owi ng a l ot of

the knowl edge you have absorbed wi thout real i si ng i t to

become more vi si bl e.

an oriental approach

Tradi ti onal Chi nese M edi ci ne has evol ved i ts knowl edge

through thousands of years of cl i ni cal experi ence. We can

l earn much from thei r experi enti al approach and thei r focus

on understandi ng the rel ati onshi ps between el ements more

than the nature of the el ements themsel ves. Through a

focus on rel ati onshi ps, one starts to see emergi ng patterns

wi thi n l i vi ng systems.

m a k i n g s e n s e o fc o m p l e x i t yw o r k i n g w i t h c o m p l e x i t y


personal i nsi ghts


how we rememberM emory i s broadl y di vi ded i nto two categori es:

explicit - things we are consciously aware of and candescribe

implicit - things we may not be consciously aware of andthat are hard or impossible to describe

These are often thought of as ‘knowi ng what’ (expl i ci tmemory) and ‘knowi ng how’ (i mpl i ci t memory) .

Expl i ci t memory rel ates to recal l of the detai l s of a speci fi cevent i n our l i ves. Expl i ci t memory can al so rel ate to thememory of facts and fi gures or thi ngs l i ke shoppi ng l i sts andpeopl e’s names.

I mpl i ci t memory (al so cal l ed taci t memory) i s far moresl i ppery to defi ne. I have encountered mul ti pl e di fferentcategori sati on systems and types of i mpl i ci t memory.1 Oneform of i mpl i ci t memory that i s common to al l of them i scal l ed ‘procedural ’ i mpl i ci t memory and i t rel ates torememberi ng how to perform certai n ski l l s, l i ke ri di ng a bi keor pl ayi ng the pi ano. You mi ght al so thi nk of i mpl i ci tmemory as rel ati ng to a subtl e ski l l set l i ke how youmoti vate a team member. Other forms of i mpl i ci t memoryi ncl ude the memory we have from bei ng condi ti onedthrough past experi ence2, trauma memory3, some of ouremoti onal memori es4.

Koch and her col l eagues descri be i mpl i ci t memory ni cel y:

“repeated situations or actions have merged in implicitmemory, as it were, and can no longer be retrieved as singlepast events. They have become a tacit know-how difficult toverbalise, such as detailing how to waltz or play aninstrument”5

One way to l ook at i mpl i ci t memory i s that it is a form ofmemory that is expressed back into the world through anaction or an impetus for an action. I t does not come out as astory (knowi ng what) , i t comes out as an acti on or an i deafor an acti on (knowi ng how) . I n thi s way i t i s a very vi sceraland physi cal from of memory. The acti on may be somethi ngcompl ex l i ke dri vi ng a car or moti vati ng an team member.Or i t may be somethi ng as si mpl e as a gesture or a changei n our posture. Gi ven that thi s ki nd of memory does notseem to i nterface easi l y wi th our capaci ty for l anguage, wemay not noti ce thi s i n a l i teral way. Further, as that whi chcannot be verbal l y j usti fi ed i s often not trusted, taci ti nformati on i s often repressed or i gnored.

Such repressi on i s not enti rel y wi thout reason. Ourcondi ti oned memory may be pushi ng us i nto a responsebased on a stereotype for exampl e, but the more webecome aware of thi s ki nd of i nformati on, the more we canstart to ‘see’ these ki nds of reacti ons for what they are.There i s a di fference between repressi ng thi s i nformati onand bei ng wary that we use i t wi sel y.

accessi ng taci t knowl edgeN oti ci ng our bodi l y i mpul ses, sensati ons and reacti ons i s agood way to begi n to access i mpl i ci t (or taci t) memory. Thi ski nd of memory has encoded many of the subtl eti es of ourl i ved experi ence and put i t together i n ways that the l i teralsi de of our mi nds fi nd hard to access but our bodi es expressnatural l y. Further to seei ng thi ngs l i ke our condi ti oni ng asmenti oned above, thi s ki nd of memory can offer us accessto an extensi ve store of wi sdom that we may not becomeaware of through our i ntel l ectual capaci ti es al one.

Apart from si mpl y noti ci ng what i s happeni ng i n the body,we can al so pl ay wi th some creati ve forms of bodi l yexpressi on as a way of accessi ng thi s ki nd of taci t knowi ng.

i m p l i c i t v s e x p l i c i tk n o w l e d g ew o r k i n g w i t h c o m p l e x i t y

1 . Davi s, Brent, Sumara, Denni s and Luce-Kapl er, Rebecca, Engaging Minds: Changing Teaching in Complex Times,

Routl edge, 2008; Koch Sabi ne C., Cal dwel l , Chri sti ne & Fuchs, Thomas, On Body M emory and Embodi ed

Therapy, Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, 8:2 (201 3 ) , 82-94; Levi ne, Peter, Trauma and Memory: Brainand Body in a Search for the Living Past, 201 5 , N orth Atl anti c Books, Berkel ey, Cal i forni a; Tayl or, Edward W.,

Transformati ve l earni ng theory: a neurobi ol ogi cal perspecti ve of the rol e of emoti ons and unconsci ous ways of

knowi ng, Int. Jnl. of Lifelong Education, Vol . 20, N o. 3 (M ay – J une 2001 ) , 21 8–23 6

2. Tayl or 2001 (see footnote 1 )

3 . Koch et al 201 3 (see footnote 1 )

4. Levi ne 201 5 (see footnote 1 )

5 . Koch et al 201 3 p84 (see footnote 1 )


personal i nsi ghts


modes of understandi ngH enri Bortoft made the argument that modern educati on

“i s grounded i n the i ntel l ectual facul ty, whose anal yti cal

capaci ty al one i s devel oped, mostl y through verbal

reasoni ng”1 and further argues that “the authenti c

experi ence of whol eness requi res a new styl e of l earni ng

l argel y i gnored i n our school s and uni versi ti es today.”2 M uch

of the focus of H enri ’s work was on bei ng abl e to ‘see

whol eness’ and he drew pri mari l y upon the work of J W

von Goethe and the di sci pl i nes of phenomenol ogy and

hermeneuti cs.3

H enri speaks of “creati ng a ‘space’ for the phenomenon.. . so

that we can recei ve i t i nstead of tryi ng to grasp i t”4 Thi s way

of study i s a form of deep observati on as free as possi bl e of

abstract concepti on. One methodol ogy that H enri

advocates i s that whi ch Goethe fi rst devel oped i n the

ei ghteenth century. I n observi ng a phenomenon Goethe

woul d “redi rect attenti on i nto the experi ence of the senses

and i n doi ng so thereby wi thdraw i t from the verbal

i ntel l ectual mi nd.”5 H e woul d observe the phenomenon

deepl y wi th as many senses as possi bl e. Thi s was fol l owed

by a phase that can be transl ated from the German as ‘exact

sensori al i magi nati on’ where he rebui l ds the phenomenon i n

hi s mi nd wi th as much sensory detai l and accuracy as

possi bl e. At a certai n moment when fol l owi ng these steps

one may have an ' aha' moment where a deeper sense of

whol eness becomes apparent.

I n practi si ng thi s type of methodol ogy to exami ne a pl ant,

Crai g H ol dredge descri bes: “As the process of knowi ng

unfol ds—the conversati on wi th the pl ant—you begi n to see

the uni ty of the pl ant. The remarkabl e thi ng i s that when

you bui l d exact pi ctures over and over, movi ng from one

characteri sti c to the next, patterns emerge. You begi n to

recogni ze how the characteri sti cs express a whol e—the

uni ty begi ns to reveal i tsel f.”6

bei ng presentWe are embedded i n a compl ex i mprovi sed worl d that

pl ays out around us constantl y. H enri speaks of becomi ng

aware of the ‘comi ng i nto bei ng’ of whatever we are

studyi ng when practi si ng the Goethean method. Thi s as

opposed to j ust seei ng the fi ni shed form. Tryi ng to

understand the whol e from the fi ni shed form he cal l s "tryi ng

to get to the mi l k by way of the cheese"7 (a quote from

J al al uddi n Rumi ) .

parts and whol esWhen we speak of a compl ex, organi c whol e i n a

Goethean sense we are speaki ng of more than j ust a

physi cal enti ty. The ‘whol e’ of an organi c enti ty can be

thought of as not a physi cal thi ng at al l , but rather as a set of

underl yi ng qual i ti es that the enti ty ‘ l i ves’ to. Fol l owi ng thi s

way of thi nki ng we can begi n to appreci ate how such a

whol e wi l l mani fest i tsel f i n each of the parts. We are

l ooki ng here for the sense of whol eness that l i es wi thi n each

part that makes i t cl ear that they bel ong together. The actual

form of the parts mi ght mani fest di fferentl y i n di fferent

si tuati ons, but wi l l sti l l be true to the underl yi ng qual i ti es of

the whol e. The exact nature of the parts and the whol e are

mutual l y ari si ng and mutual l y dependent.

t h e a r t o f d i r e c tp e r c e p t i o nw o r k i n g w i t h c o m p l e x i t y

1 . H enri Bortoft, The Wholeness of Nature, Fl ori s Books, 1 996, p24

2. H enri Bortoft, The Wholeness of Nature, Fl ori s Books, 1 996, p23

3 . Refer to H enri ' s two books for more on hi s work: The Wholeness of Nature, Fl ori s

Books, 1 996, and Taking Appearance Seriously, Fl ori s Books 201 2

4. H enri Bortoft’ , Taking Appearance Seriously, Fl ori s Books 201 2 p 5 5

5 . H enri Bortoft’ , Taking Appearance Seriously, Fl ori s Books 201 2 p 5 4

6. Crai g H ol dredge, Doing Goethean Science, J anus H ead 8(1 ) , p27-5 2, 2005 , p45

7. H enri Bortoft, The Wholeness of Nature, Fl ori s Books, 1 996, p 48


personal i nsi ghts


You are a compl ex body of knowl edgeThese workshops work i n part on the assumpti on that there

i s a certai n amount of knowl edge that each person has that

resi des more i n thei r body than i n thei r i ntel l ect. The human

body i tsel f i s a compl ex system, and we work on the

premi se that ‘ i t takes one to know one’.

Cynthi a Wi nton-H enry and Phi l Porter, the creators of

I nterPl ay®, di sti ngui sh between the data, knowledge and

wisdom of the body. Data i s about what a person i s

experi enci ng ‘ri ght now’, knowledge i s about what they

noti ce as emergi ng patterns, preferences and aversi ons; and

wisdom i s the “appl i cati on of body knowl edge for our own

good, for the good of others, for the good of the earth, or

the good of al l creati on.”1

The key to accessi ng body data and knowl edge i s si mpl y to

noti ce i t. H ow your body responds to a si tuati on may offer

i nsi ghts that your i ntel l ect woul d not come up wi th on i ts

own and reveal subconsci ous knowl edge. Becomi ng aware

of your physi cal reacti ons can hel p you access a storehouse

of subconsci ous knowl edge that you have accumul ated

wi thout even real i si ng i t.

Worki ng through the body can al so gi ve you i nsi ghts i nto

how your own personal i ty and emoti onal makeup i s

i nfl uenci ng the way you make sense of the worl d. Some of

your i nsti ncti ve reacti ons to a si tuati on may be dri ven by ol d

experi ences that have shaped the way you percei ve the

si tuati on. These patterns may become more apparent as

you become more tuned i n to your bodi l y responses.

Accessi ng al l of your knowl edgeWhen we si ng we use our brai n di fferentl y than when we

tal k. I n the course of her research, Dr. J eanette Tampl i n has

di scovered that “l anguage tends to be more l ocal i sed to the

l eft [brai n] hemi sphere (the l eft temporal l obe) whereas

si ngi ng i s processed real l y across the whol e brai n.”2 Dr

Tampl i n works wi th peopl e i n recovery from stroke and

reports that often, whi l st these peopl e mi ght not be abl e to

say a si mpl e sentence, i f they si ng the same sentence i t

comes out much more easi l y.

I bel i eve that you al so use your brai n di fferentl y when you

dance. To date I can’t I can’t fi nd any studi es to back thi s up

and I am asserti ng thi s based purel y on my (and other’s

reported) experi ence. When I use movement to express an

i dea I fi nd that i t often l eads me to new i nsi ghts. I fi nd

movement to be a wi ndow i nto a ri ch body of unconsci ous

knowl edge that I have about that subj ect, i ncl udi ng

i nformati on about how i t rel ates to my own l i fe or work.

I bel i eve that usi ng both si ngi ng and movement can hel p you

to both access i nformati on di fferentl y and to process

i nformati on di fferentl y. Ul ti matel y i t doesn’t matter so much

what the rati onal expl anati on mi ght be for these ways of

knowi ng. I si mpl y i nvi te you to try out usi ng some body-

ori ented exerci ses as a way of expl ori ng i deas and see for

yoursel f i f you fi nd i t val uabl e.

I n workshops faci l i tated by Ani mate Arts, many of the

practi ces we wi l l use to tap our body wi sdom come from

the di sci pl i ne of I nterPl ay®3.

t h e w i s d o m o f t h eb o d yw o r k i n g w i t h c o m p l e x i t y

1 . Porter, Phi l & Wi nton-H enry, Cynthi a, The Wisdom of the Body: The InterPlayphilosophy and technique, WI N G I T! Press, 1 995 , p3 5

2. Transcri bed from radi o program “Al l i n the M i nd”, Radi o N ati onal , ABC Austral i a,

epi sode ti tl ed: “A musi cal recovery”, Sunday 1 5 J une 201 4

3 . See www.i nterpl ay.org or www.i nterpl ayaus.com.au for more i nformati on on

I nterPl ay i n general , and www.ani matearts.net for more about how Sophi a van Ruth

uses I nterPl ay.


personal i nsi ghts


seei ng the whol e i n the partOri ental heal i ng di sci pl i nes have wel l devel oped approaches

to deal i ng wi th the compl exi ty of the human body. I n

Shi atsu Therapy, one part of the body i s used to assi st i n

di agnosi s of the whol e. Shi atsu uses hara di agnosi s (pal pati on

of the abdomen) to determi ne the condi ti on of the

meri di an system as a whol e. I n a connected worl d i t i s

thought that every part wi l l contai n a subtl e refl ecti on of the

whol e i f one knows how to see i t. These di agnosti c

practi ces were devel oped through sensi ng and i ntui ti on and

refi ned over many generati ons of cl i ni cal experi ence. Intuitionvalidated by experience over time is an excellent way to workwith complexity.

Rel ati onshi p i s consi dered fundamental i n Chi nese M edi ci ne

(on whi ch shi atsu theory i s based) . Accordi ng to Ted

Kaptchuk, “understandi ng means percei vi ng the rel ati onshi ps

between a pati ent' s si gns and symptoms. … A Chi nese

physi ci an . . . must di scern a pattern of di sharmony made up

of the enti re accumul ati on of symptoms and si gns".1 Thi s

way of worki ng uses synthesi s as opposed to anal ysi s.

A Shi atsu therapi st wi l l use touch/l i steni ng/smel l as a part of

the di agnosti c process. Whi l st thi nki ng and tal ki ng i s used, i t

i s secondary to what one senses di rectl y. I n order to

di agnose wel l wi th the senses i t i s i mportant to drop any

pre-concei ved i deas about what you wi l l fi nd as these can

bl i nd you to what i s actual l y there. Shi atsu therapi sts are

sensi ng a qual i ty of ki (l i fe force) i n di fferent parts of the

pati ent’s system. Thi s i s a very subtl e system and requi res a

correspondi ngl y subtl e approach.

goi ng wi th the fl owCompl exi ty sci enti st M el ani e M i tchel l descri bes howcompl ex systems often seem to have structure andregul ari ty, but i t i s hard to descri be. The taoi sts have asi mi l ar theory as Al an Watts wri tes “Although the Tao is wu-tse (non-law), it has an order that can be recognised clearly butnot defined by the book, because it has too many dimensionsand too many variables. This kind of order is the principle of li.”3

I n worki ng wi th non-l aws, Taoi sts consi der i t prudent to use

non-force. H ence, Zen Shi atsu works wi th the pri nci pl e of

wu-wei (not forci ng) . As Davi d Sergal puts i t, “there i s no

pushi ng or pul l i ng, onl y l eani ng and pressi ng”4 The ai m of

Zen Shi atsu i s si mpl y to make the person more aware of

thei r condi ti on through touch. Once the person senses an

i mbal ance, the body wi l l natural l y sel f-correct wi thout the

therapi st or the pati ent havi ng to do anythi ng del i beratel y.

contrasti ng the ori ental approachDi fferences between the ‘ori ental ’ and the ‘medi cal model ’

approach to heal th care can be summari sed so5:

a n o r i e n t a la p p r o a c hw o r k i n g w i t h c o m p l e x i t y

1 . Ted J Kaptchuk, Chinese Medicine: The Web That Has No Weaver, 1 983 , Ri der, p2-6

2. Descri bed i n vi deo l ecture 6.3 i n the course Introduction to Complexity by the Sta Fe

I nsti tute, Summer 201 5 , www.compl exi tyexpl orer.org

3 . Tao the Watercourse Way, Al l an Watts, Pengui n Books, 1 975 , p45

4. The Natural Way of Zen Shiatsu, Davi d Sergel , J apan Publ i cati ons, 1 989, p40

5 . Of course there are medi cal practi ti oners from both cul tures who do not adhere

stri ctl y to the ways of worki ng descri bed here. I freel y admi t thi s l i st to be a

general i sati on.


personal i nsi ghts

MEDICAL MODEL•uses analysis•linear view of health•asks ‘what is causing x, is it y?’•narrows down seeking a

cause of the disease•trusts quantitative

measurement (e.g. bloodtests)

•treats the disease

ORIENTAL•uses synthesis•systemic view of health•asks ‘what is the relationship

between x and y?’•expands out seeking a

pattern to the disease•trusts sensed qualities (e.g.

touch diagnosis)•treats the person


the art of i mprovi sati onI n i s book Freeplay Stephen N achmanovi tch wri tes of a

doctor descri bi ng the art of medi ci ne: “to do anythi ng

arti sti cal l y you have to acqui re techni que, but you create

through your techni que not wi th i t”1 . H e was referri ng to

the abi l i ty to “drop your trai ni ng” from your del i berate focus

and be present wi th the pati ent, al l owi ng your trai ni ng to

come through you, but not focussi ng on i t, focussi ng i nstead

on the person before you. Thi s descri bes the essence of

bei ng abl e to i mprovi se wel l . Thi s appl i es not onl y i n the

professi onal arena, shi fti ng your focus between your abstract

knowl edge about a si tuati on and what i s happeni ng i n the

si tuati on i tsel f can hel p you navi gate any compl ex si tuati on

better.

To be abl e to i mprovi se wel l i s a ski l l that takes practi ce l i ke

any other ski l l . Further, i t i s not a ski l l that i s routi nel y taught

at l earni ng i nsti tuti ons. I mprovi si ng i n any context can bui l d

transferabl e ski l l s to other contexts, the ski l l set requi red i s

i n some ways uni versal and rests upon an abi l i ty to stay

present to what i s happeni ng around you.

I mprovi sati on takes you out of the real m of the abstract and

i nto ‘real ti me’ where you need to be more connected wi th

your senses to keep up! I t al so forces you to use your

i ntui ti on more. When you i mprovi se you have to act

wi thout steppi ng back to wei gh the pros and cons. You

have no ti me to gather more compl ete i nformati on or ask

for advi ce. Thi s wi l l force you to rel y on your i ntui ti on and

subconsci ous knowi ng more. The more practi ce you get at

usi ng your i ntel l i gence thi s way the better you wi l l get at i t.

bei ng moved to acti onWhen you are al l owi ng your knowl edge to come through

you wi thout focussi ng on i t, i t wi l l often feel l i ke you are

bei ng moved to act rather than contri vi ng an acti on.

Someti mes you have to be present wi th the si tuati on for a

l i ttl e whi l e before you wi l l feel moved to act. Thi s process

happens i n i ts own ti me and i s not al ways i mmedi ate i n my

experi ence, but the more you practi ce i t the more readi l y i t

wi l l come.

Whi l st al l owi ng answers to come rather that forci ng or

contri vi ng them mi ght seem i mpracti cal someti mes, i t can

offer a very authenti c set of responses to ari se. The questi on

then becomes, other than practi si ng i mprovi sati on, how el se

can one set up the condi ti ons that al l ow such authenti c

responses to ari se? The fol l owi ng practi ces can be hel pful .

I n thi s sessi on we wi l l be practi si ng them i n the context of

I nterPl ay exerci ses, but these ski l l s can be transferred to

other contexts.

ti ps for stayi ng i n the fl owThe practi ce of I nterPl ay works wi th 8 bodywi sdom tool s.2

We wi l l be gi vi ng parti cul ar attenti on to 4 of these i n our

sessi on together :

take an ‘easy focus’ (as opposed to a directed focus)exform (exformation is a practice to let go of theinformation overload)

notice (rather than analyse)claim your inner authority (honour your knowing even ifyou can’t articulate it)

s t a y i n g i n t h e f l o w

w o r k i n g w i t h c o m p l e x i t y

1 . Stephen N achmanovi tch, Freeplay, Improvisation in Life and Art, Tarcher/Putnam,

1 990, p21

2. The 8 body wi sdom tool s are descri bed here http://ti nyurl .com/l ncqc5 7. The 4 you

see l i sted here are paraphrased i n Sophi a' s own words. The I nterPl ay websi te i s at

www.i nterpl ay.org.


personal i nsi ghts


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