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 everything can and should be reduced to its individual parts.
But no matter how well we understand how those parts function, we can never fully anticipate all that will happen when they relate as a whole. Not even AI can do that to the point that all things become certain.
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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 are not mindful of how functional parts relate as a whole, we experience uncertainty as an immediate threat. This can trigger:
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Fight-or-flight response: We try to control what is happening or escape from it.
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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.
We take actions that make events worse, delaying the essential changes needed to prevent complete failure.
The ability to anticipate comes from reading the relationships between the parts of the whole, not from knowing how individual parts function.
Insight comes from the relationship of the whole, not from a reduction to the parts.
The whole is not the sum
of its parts. It's the
relationship
between them.
Things work when we are mindful of how parts function and relate as a whole.
Adult - League - @ Longdean (14)
Thu 03 Oct
|Hemel Hempstead
Improve in-game decision-making at the club level by transcending mechanical thinking.
Time & Location
03 Oct 2024, 20:30 – 21:30
Hemel Hempstead, Hill Common, Hemel Hempstead HP3 8JH, UK
Guests
About the event
“The most important lesson I ever learned in basketball? Slow down… Good teams beat you with speed. Great teams beat you with spacing and timing.” - Jason Kidd
We play basketball to guide players from multiple sports to move away from viewing one another as LEGO-like pieces to be assembled into a machine. Instead, we encourage them to think opponents are trying to hide something from them. As players gain practical experience in moving to find what is being hidden, they cultivate a richer understanding of the relationships, connections, and the intricate web of space and timing that exists between them all. Players learn to slow down and win with spacing and timing
League-level and Mixed
16+
8.30pm - 9.30pm
Thursdays
Tickets
Lets play ball
We are a social enterprise. We use all profits to give those who are excluded or vulnerable to social exclusion a free experience of playing sports and games where everyone set's each other up to succeed. Where everyone constantly imagines other ways. Where everyone uses mistakes to find what is next and grow. Experiences to build a belief that they are not stuck as they are now. Thank you. Contact jon.thorne@LifeSkills21.club to get a free ticket
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