Slide 11 of 25
Notes:
Simple nonlinear laws are capable of generating enormous diversity.
Standard one-cause, one-effect models tend to posit different kinds of causes for the simple phenomena and another kind of mechanism for complex phenomena, but simple and complicated behaviors can emerge from the same system, governed by the same rules.
Nature uses the same principles of self-organization to produce dynamic patterns on all scales of observation.
Kelso: “The human brain is fundamentally a pattern-forming self-organizing system governed by nonlinear dynamic laws. Rather than compute, our brain “dwells” (at least for a short time) in metastable states: it is poised on the brink of instability where it can switch flexibly and quickly. By living near criticality, the brain is able to anticipate the future, not simply react to the present. All this involves the new physics of self-organization in which, incidentally, no single level is any more or less fundamental than any other.”
Kelso had people learn a rhythmic hand-tapping task in which they had to tap each hand in time with a metronome. Before training, people tended to tap two hands together or in apposition. If he asked them to tap at different relations, they tended to drift to either 0 or 180 ?. He trained them on a 90? relationship (the attractors). After training, they tended to drift to 0, 180 or 90 ? when asked to tap at slightly different rates (Kelso, 1995).
