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 focus only on function. Yet even fully functioning parts can fragment when they lose sight of the 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.
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.
Be mindful of how functional parts relate as a whole.
Feel how all parts of the body connect as a whole. Add awareness of everything around you. Let go of any conditioned reliance on what you know functions. Relax into an alert awareness of connection. Without thought, anticipate mini adjustments for a dance, a contest of anticipation.
All-ability adults. Mixed.
Sun 13 Sept
|Watford
Players don’t read and react to stop each other from performing basketball functions. We have a chess match, a dance, and a contest of anticipation. When it isn’t working, we show you how to strengthen the relationships between the functional parts so they connect better as a whole.
Time & Location
13 Sept 2026, 18:45 – 19:45
Watford, Bushey Grove Leisure Centre, Aldenham Rd, Watford, Bushey WD23 2TD, UK
Guests
About the event
We notice how our feet, hips, head, and hands connect to the ball. We add awareness of the hoop, everyone else, and their movement. Then we let go of conditioning ourselves to rely on what we know functions. We relax into an alert awareness of connection. Movement becomes a thoughtless chess match, a dance, and a contest of anticipation.
Three factors make it hard to strengthen relationships between the parts so they connect better as a whole.
Cognitive offloading: We rely on technology to organise our lives, which directs our attention toward individual parts.
Reductionism: Breaking a big problem into tiny pieces can feel like an easier, safer way to please others. We follow assigned roles and repeat familiar habits. We do what others do because, if we are wrong, at least we are wrong together. But when we reduce each other to individual parts, we can’t give one another…
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