This world is so chaotic!

I have this architectural history class on Tuesday mornings, and an architectural history class on Tuesday evenings. Then every Wednesday we have a lecture from professional from outside the school. Every other Thursday we are taught by jeff Kipnis an architectural critique. All of these opportunities to receive knowledge may seem counter productive or to be pulling away from the students ability to focus. It seems counter-intuitive to split a focus between all of these great minds, and the things they have to say. Yet amid these divergent perspectives and the ideas that they seek to proliferate I find continuity, pattern, and order. Yet the connections are not always obvious overlaps, sometimes the connections are synaptic leaps only built as I connect the seemingly unconnected. The amazing thing is that the connections do exist and are very pertinent to the conversation that is my education.

The interesting thing is that those connections could probably be described by some mathematical formula, that would take an inordinate amount of time to discipher (not worth the time nor the effort). The point is that there is an idea that organizes the seemingly disorganized and helps us to understand their connections and why those connections matter.

This idea is called chaos theory. I have been avoiding spending any time with it for quite some time but am coming to grips with the fact that I need to embrace an understanding of an essential concept to be understood and developed within my thought processes and cognitive process.

I was elaborating this idea to my father yesterday and he suggested the correlation of this and the biblical reference of Ecclesiastes 11:1. Seeking to find specific references relevant to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ I found this quotation which describes an idea that is the goal of ambiguous pursuits that have captivated me for years.

"Such motivations for integrating Religion and Psychology seem to make a fundamental error. The quest to have the advantages of one by seeking to directly add it to the other ignores principles of paradox and byproducts, which are that many of the best benefits of this life are not obtainable by direct attempts to make them happen. At times the commands are to "cast thy bread upon the waters" (Ecclesiastes 11:1) or position oneself "last" in order to be "first" (1 Nephi 13:42). Losing one's life in service is the only way to truly find it (Matthew 16:25). Attempts at integration that fail to consider the potential application of these principles may be untenable."


This is just one more piece in the journey of putting all of this together in the hope that it all comes together with some nice picture at the end. Thanks for being patient along that path as I sort these ideas out a bit, for further clarity and depth.