Life Lessons of Chaos Theory

Why Chaos Theory?

Anyone who thinks…   not just  *is*  but  *thinks* …   will understand when I say that there are certain books that you come across that act as an intersection on the path. That sentence fills my head with titles and authors, some of which are bestsellers and some not – one in particular for me is the best selling book of all time (I’ll leave the reader to ponder on which book that might be!).

However, another particular book explains the title of my blog, and has become an agent of change in my consciousness like few other books I have come across. The title:

SEVEN LIFE LESSONS OF CHAOS

Timeless wisdom from the science of change

Written by J. Briggs and F. David Peat (1999) and published by Harper Collins.

Of course I had heard of Chaos Theory, and its popular science mythology – butterflies on one side of the world being responsible for weather events on the other – but I hadn’t investigated too much further. Like many people I also marvelled at the transfer of iterations into art and all the beautiful pictures that result. I understood the ideas behind all those beautiful patterns but I hadn’t researched much further than that.

This book expanded my thinking about Chaos Theory and how the world works – of how patterns exist – of how things are connected. Suddenly it seemed like all the Science and Mathematics that I have loved in the past came together and made sense. It is difficult to explain what a sense of revelation came as I read.

The way I am explaining it is probably a great example of why I am more comfortable in a Mathematics classroom than a Literature classroom, so I would like to write a couple of posts to talk about some of what I have learned – partly to share it, but mostly to reflect on it… all of this is still being processed. These are not new ideas and this is not meant as a philosophical treatise, it is how I have chosen to explore these issues and incorporate them into my discernment. I hope I don’t tread on anyone’s toes.

The 7 Life Lessons are obviously not my idea – I am working from the authors’ analysis but I will try to explain my perspective on what reading their work has taught me.

Time for Lesson 1

One thought on “Life Lessons of Chaos Theory

  1. Deb,
    This is a brilliant way of looking at things and one that I personally had not even thought of before reading your post. It certainly gives me a lot to think about and I believe now that I do take note of creative possibilities as a lot of lessons that happen in my classroom are incidental things that have happened along the way during the day. Flying high and having fun is what I want the kids in my classroom to be a part of and I hope that I achieve that goal for my students.
    Thanks Deb,
    Can’t wait to read about Lesson 2.
    Steph

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