On breadcrumbs and emergence
Welcome to the beginning of…something? Maybe. We’ll see. I’m not quite sure what to call it yet, or if it will even have a name, but I hope that this is the start of a meaningful endeavor. Through these writings, I hope to take elements of life and experience and examine them in greater depth, with the goal of potentially creating conditions for new ideas or existing ideas to compound, and for understanding to emerge.
Part 1: The basics
What?
I’ll likely cover a diverse range of topics as I come across them in work and readings, through friends, and from general curiosity or elsewhere in life. I’ll likely be a neophyte in most of the topics I cover. Instead of answers, I will most likely bring questions. I’ll touch on subjects like artificial intelligence, cognition, self-organization, emergent phenomena, cybernetics, thermodynamics, information theory, biomimicry (or bioformation), complex systems, causality, philosophy, morality, and consciousness.
Why?
But why write at all? For me, the main objective of writing is to increase clarity of thought. Writing forces you to think deeply about a subject, organize thoughts and ideas, and express them in a clear and coherent manner. By writing about topics I encounter and explore, I hope to deepen my understanding of them.
Another objective is to lay trails of breadcrumbs for my own future reference. As I explore different topics and ideas, I hope to document-as-method-of-internalizing knowledge and weave a multifaceted, interwoven landscape of trails that I can revisit in the future. I would like to give my future self the opportunity to revisit old ideas and concepts and see how my understanding has evolved over time and, perhaps, make new connections that I wouldn’t otherwise make.
But I also hope to create the conditions for a personal emergence of sorts, where new ideas, connections, conclusions, or insights may arise from the exploration (and re-exploration) of these various topics. Novelty and insight cannot be forced, so by creating the right conditions and by exploring a wide range of subjects and ideas, I hope to give my future self the opportunity for new and unexpected things to emerge.
Who?
So, who is the audience here? Frankly, it’s me. I’ll primarily write for my own benefit. In order to get over the hump of “just doing it” (putting thoughts and ideas out there and into the world), I need to take a personal posture. Without that, at least for now, it’s too easy to convince myself that “nah, who cares…”
That said, in the future, I hope that others may find certain pieces or tidbits interesting and, as a result, engage in discussion. After all, we’re dialogical beings at our core. We are dialogue. True exploration is a collective endeavor, and perhaps by putting some “notes to self” out there, I can contribute to a larger conversation and generate meaningful connections and exchanges with people I may not have met otherwise.
How?
As for the format of this…whatever to call it, I’ll mix things up a bit: short, medium and maybe longer written pieces; general observations, links to articles and videos; the random sketch or diagram; and attempts to synthesize information and ideas that I encounter in my work or life in general. As a firm believer that “variety is the spice of life,” I aim to keep things varied.
When?
From time to time.
Where?
Here.
Part 2: Contact, depth, quality, breadcrumbs, and emergence…so what?
To begin, I want to elaborate on a few concepts that relate to my goals and objectives. Though Part 1 of this post already made some of this explicit, I want to elaborate on the lenses through which I’m viewing this activity. After all, writing drives clarity.
Depth refers to the idea of delving deep into a subject to go beyond the surface level and dig into the nuances and complexities of the subject matter. This means not just reading about a topic, but also the key questions in play, how it affects or shapes our experience, and how it manifests in real-world situations.
Contact refers to the idea of engaging with others and participating in a larger conversation — creating or increasing “contact area,” if you will. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that true exploration is a collective endeavor, and I hope that by sharing my thoughts and ideas, I can spur a new conversation or contribute to a larger one. Whether it’s here or elsewhere, eventually, I hope to connect with others and learn from their perspectives and experiences.
Quality refers to the idea of producing high-quality content and thought. Writing helps me bring a level of quality and rigor that I don’t often achieve with only “viewing” or “reading”. The goal is not to regurgitate information, but critically evaluating and synthesizing it.
Breadcrumbs, as I mentioned earlier, refers to the idea of weaving trails of breadcrumbs that I can follow in the future. This allows me to revisit old ideas and concepts with a fresh perspective and to see how my understanding has evolved over time.
Emergence refers to the idea of creating conditions for new and unexpected connections to happen and insights to emerge. In the future, as I retread old grounds and explore the breadcrumbs I laid over time, I hope to make it easier for ideas to compound. This is an unpredictable process, but if I connect two dots that I wouldn’t otherwise connect, it’ll be a success.
This is about exploring a wide range of topics and ideas, developing a deeper understanding, and creating conditions for new and unexpected insights to emerge. We’ll see where it goes.
