THINGS WORK WHEN WE ARE MINDFUL OF HOW PARTS FUNCTION AND RELATE AS A WHOLE.
The core of a functional approach is computation—evaluating the functions of all parts.
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Key traits:
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Uses immutability (functions can’t change once created).
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Relies on pure functions (same input always gives the same output).
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Emphasizes pathways. Scenarios are planned in advance. A situation is read, a response is calculated, and a function is selected to execute it.
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It's easy to get locked into thinking that the only way to improve is to add functionality.
Unfortunately, we never know or control everything well enough to guarantee that all functioning parts will always work together as a whole.
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Emergence: When parts combine, they create new functions that do not exist in the individual parts.
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Nonlinearity: Small changes in the beginning can lead to massive, completely unexpected results later. This is called the butterfly effect.
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Complex Interactions: As the number of connections between parts grows, the total system becomes too difficult to calculate fully.
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Information Limits: We never have exact data on every single starting condition or outside force.
Examples
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Water Molecules: Knowing how a single H₂O molecule acts does not let you predict the exact shape of a splashing wave or ice crystals without seeing the whole system.
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The Brain: You can study a single neuron, but you cannot predict a specific human thought or memory just from that piece.
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Weather: We understand air and heat, but tracking every wind current to predict rain weeks away is impossible.
When we read the relationships between the parts, we can anticipate the small adjustments needed to keep them working together as a whole.
The whole is not the sum
of its parts. It's the
relationship
between them.
Insight comes from the relationship of the whole, not from a reduction to the parts.
Unfortunately, when we assume every problem can be solved by adding more functionality, we lose sight of how the parts relate to the whole. Without the ability to anticipate, uncertainty can feel like a threat to every function. This triggers the fight-or-flight responses below, turning a moment of uncertainty into an existential threat.
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Fight-or-flight response: We try to control what is happening or escape from it. When someone isn’t functioning as we expect, we may see them as threatening our control, leading us to fight or withdraw.
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Catastrophizing: The mind repeatedly imagines worst-case scenarios and treats those thoughts as facts.
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Hypervigilance: We feel jumpy, struggle to concentrate, or constantly scan our surroundings for signs of danger.
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Exhaustion: Over-preparing, checking, and worrying drain our emotional and physical energy before anything happens.
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We provide opportunities to stay mindful of how functional parts relate as a whole and anticipate the adjustments needed to keep everything working together.
We help you feel how all parts of the body connect as a whole. Add awareness of everything around you. Relax into an alert awareness of all the connections; feel the space and step into a dance, a contest of anticipation. And enjoy!
Opportunities to be mindful of how parts function and relate as a whole
Older adults and adult beginners. Mixed. (1)Wed 23 SeptLoreto College, St Albans
Late paymentThu 31 DecAL3 5LH
Workshop: How to use AI to be more humanDate and time is TBDLocation is TBD
All-ability adults. Mixed.Date and time is TBDLocation is TBD
A mindful leagueDate and time is TBDLocation is TBD
I hope you are well.
In 1992, as a business analyst, I was asked to define how people could collaborate effectively online. I designed online collaboration platforms that supported the functional, computational aspects of human collaboration, while leaving the richer, more complex work of relating functional parts as a whole to face-to-face interaction.
I began to notice how people can become locked into functional, computational forms of human connection, sometimes interpreted through diagnoses such as autism or ADHD. This marked the beginning of my journey to understand how we can train the brain to be mindful of how functional parts relate as a whole.
During lockdown, I saw more clearly how technology-mediated collaboration could lock humanity into functional connection. I wrote a booklet about what happens when we collaborate only in this way, and launched LifeSkills21.club to help people become more mindful of how functional parts relate as a whole.
Always happy to chat
St Albans, UK
SkillsofWow.org is the governing body for those who coach the skills of Wow.