Chaotic Cognition Principles and Applications

Ronald A. Finke, Jonathan Bettle

• Publisher: Psychology Press
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781134995400
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Cognitive Psychology & Cognition
• Index: Psychology

Focusing on the principles and applications of chaotic thinking, this text seeks to promote a more general understanding and acceptance of this cognitive style. It may help people deal more effectively with chaotic situations, such as economic crises, career changes, and relationship skills.

1

Introduction

Chaotic cognition refers to a way of thinking about and viewing the world that has become increasingly neglected in modern times. The primary assumption underlying chaotic thinking is that the world is essentially a chaotic, unpredictable place where things simply happen. From a chaotic perspective, there is little point in trying to impose structure, plan for the future, or exert control. Among the advantages of chaotic thinking is that it is often sensitive to immediate conditions and impending changes, and is effective in dealing with sudden, unexpected problems, especially those that arise in a crisis. It is in marked contrast to ordered thinking, which is based on the premise that the world is an ordered, predictable place where one can make long-range plans for the future and structure one’s life in anticipation of future rewards.

The general theme of this book is that there are two opposing forces that exist in the physical world, those that promote order and structure, and those that promote disorder and chaos. To survive, living things must therefore adopt either an ordered strategy or a chaotic strategy. For most people, this choice is derived from how they perceive the world, whether they focus primarily on its ordered or chaotic aspects. This results in two general cognitive styles, ordered and chaotic thinking. The former has advantages when life is stable and predictable, whereas the latter has advantages when life becomes chaotic and the future becomes uncertain.

Ordered thinking has predominated throughout modern society. Most scientific fields, for example, have embraced the notion that new findings should follow predictably from highly structured theories (e.g., Popper, 1959; Van Doren, 1991). Our educational system is highly structured as well, and has been governed by the philosophy that learning needs to be scheduled (e.g., J. A. Johnson, 1994; Rich, 1981). In business and industry, hierarchical organizations and bureaucracies have flourished; these are seen as necessary structures for maintaining order and controlling progress (e.g., Bryans, 1984; University Associates, 1980). In psychology and counseling, formal models and therapeutic systems have attempted to provide new insights by imposing structure and predictability (e.g., Egan, 1986; Falwell, 1974). Even in sports and games, there has been a strong emphasis on developing specific plans and making detailed preparations (e.g., Fuoss & Troppmann, 1981).

Naturally, ordered thinking has many advantages. It provides a sense of continuity, not only in many professional fields, but also in one’s personal and social life. It allows one to exert control over, and take pride in, one’s accomplishments. It offers the comfort of believing that the future can always be anticipated. But it also has serious drawbacks, especially in times of rapid change, when things are no longer predictable and ordered structures can no longer be counted upon. At such times, one may be forced to abandon long-range plans and deal with the exigencies of the moment. This is when chaotic thinking is often most useful.

The term chaotic is somewhat pejorative; it might imply that a person is flaky or scatterbrained. However, this is not its intended meaning here. Far from being random or meaningless, chaotic thinking often leads to new and meaningful understandings that transcend traditional assumptions and conceptual boundaries. It encourages the natural emergence of order and structure in chaotic situations. It resembles the kind of thinking that often occurs in dreams, where one encounters unpredictable or seemingly bizarre events that can eventually lead to meaningful insights and discoveries. Chaotic thinking is symbolic, impulsive, and free-flowing, but it is also practical and highly adaptive.

Chaotic thinking also refers to more than just flexible or creative thinking; it reflects an entirely different way of viewing the world. Chaotic thinking is flexible, not by choice or intention, but because the world is seen as continually changing. It inspires creativity, not because one merely chooses to think of novel ideas, but because one embraces a situation, sees multiple perspectives on it, and rapidly infers their implications. Although ordered thinking can often display some flexibility over extended periods of time, chaotic thinking usually exhibits this flexibility spontaneously and over a much shorter time frame, to the extent that it might seem disconnected, incoherent, or even irrational.

The ideas behind chaotic cognition have been around for quite some time. They have shown up, for example, in various literary works that have depicted the chaotic lifestyle as rather wild and existing on the fringes of ordered society (e.g., Kerouac, 1957; H. S. Thompson, 1982; Wolfe, 1968). The spirit of chaotic thinking has also been expressed in the surrealist movement in art (e.g., Sandrow, 1972), and more recently, in the deconstruction movement in philosophy and literature (e.g., Lehman, 1991). Our intention is to clarify and distill many of these ideas, and to provide a more explicit delineation and analysis of the contrast between chaotic and ordered thinking.

There are three main goals of this book. The first is to provide a strong theoretical statement concerning the nature and significance of chaotic thinking. The second is to provide a social critique of the predominance of ordered thinking and the relative neglect of chaotic thinking in modern society. The third is to illustrate how the principles of chaotic thinking can be applied to a variety of contemporary issues and problems.

Our study of chaotic cognition draws on a diverse range of areas within psychology, such as human cognition, perception, personality theory, and counseling. It also touches on many fields outside psychology, including education, government, business, and sociology. We are thus treating chaotic thinking not as an isolated psychological topic, but as a more general topic with broad practical and sociological implications. In addition, although we consider many applied aspects of chaotic thinking, our primary concern is to analyze the differences between ordered and chaotic thinking and to explore how those differences might best be resolved.

This book also describes differences between ordered and chaotic thinkers. Chaotic thinkers are those who employ chaotic thinking as a way of life. They are typically reactive, impulsive, spontaneous, playful, metaphorical, fatalistic, and often brilliantly creative and innovative in response to unexpected or unusual problems. Ordered thinkers are those who generally rely on ordered thinking. They are typically proactive, controlled, deliberate, serious, literal, idealistic, and usually do better in structured and repetitive tasks. Whereas ordered thinkers often try to impose order on chaos in an effort to minimize it or remove it entirely, most chaotic thinkers regard chaos, uncertainty, and unpredictability as natural aspects of an inherently chaotic world.

Again, to say that one relies on chaotic thinking is not to imply that one’s thinking is irrational or arbitrary. Rather, as we will attempt to show, chaotic thinking is a rational, coherent style of thinking that is ideally suited for responding to and dealing with a variety of unexpected, unpredictable, or undesirable situations. Contrary to popular misconceptions, chaotic thinkers are not typically illogical or irresponsible. They are simply employing a different style of thinking, which has its own set of strengths and weaknesses.

Crisis and Chaos

Whenever a crisis arises, most people find it difficult to react appropriately, especially if they have become accustomed to responding only in highly structured and organized ways. This can result in a wide range of problems, from major dilemmas in professional fields to everyday conflicts in human relations. Chaotic thinking can help to address these problems at many levels. For instance, consider the following examples, which depict different types of crisis situations in which chaotic thinking might be useful.

1. The wife of a business executive comes home one day and announces that she has felt stifled for years and is leaving her husband to pursue her own life. The husband is shocked. This was not part of the plan; up to that point, their relationship had always unfolded in just the way he had expected. His initial reaction is anger, but it is not anger directed at her. Rather, he is angry because the plan has come to an end, and he does not know how to deal with the emotional chaos and uncertainty that he must now confront. This is a common problem in ordered thinking, and results from the tendency to overplan for the future.

2. One day the president of a major corporation announces a plan to lay off several hundred workers so that the business can run more efficiently. The plan wreaks havoc on working relationships and personal agendas, and many of the remaining employees threaten to quit. In frustration, the president becomes more determined than ever to enforce the plan, and tells the workers, defiantly, “This is the way it’s going to be, and you’ll just have to get used it.” Confrontation is a common byproduct of ordered thinking, and it often backfires. In chaotic thinking, nonconfrontational approaches are usually preferred, and often lead to more sensible and productive results.

3. The manager of a major-league baseball team has carefully prepared for a big game, and has determined the best strategy for defeating the opposing team. But suddenly his star pitcher strains his arm and has to leave the game. The shortstop makes a stupid error that further complicates the situation. The umpire makes a bad call. The manager is now in an frenzy, because the game did not go as planned. Much of this frustration could be avoided by using chaotic thinking, where these unexpected events could be seen as opportunities for improvising alternative strategies.

4. A group of medical researchers who have been working for many months to develop a new vaccine are suddenly taken by surprise when their latest test results are completely at odds with what they expected to find. Unable to make sense out of the results, they completely abandon the entire project and start over, believing that they have now reached a dead end. Because the results have also been abandoned, however, there is an unnecessary delay in the development of the vaccine. From the perspective of chaotic thinking, failure does not necessarily mean having to start over; it can also represent an opportunity to utilize the failure and possibly discover a new breakthrough.

People who think in ordered ways often have trouble adapting when such crises occur. When their plans suddenly go awry, when things do not work out as they expected, they often respond by doing inappropriate things. By employing chaotic thinking, one is better able to deal with these types of situations. This is because the essential nature of chaotic thinking encourages a person to avoid making or adhering to specific plans, to react to the needs of the moment, and to accept the complexity and unpredictability of life.

An additional virtue of chaotic thinking is that it can discourage people from always trying to structure the lives of others. For example, suppose you had to deal with someone who had a certain agenda in mind and was intent on imposing that agenda upon you, no matter what. This could be your boss trying to make you work on projects you hated, or your mother trying to tell you the type of person you should be dating. Using ordered thinking, one would normally try to confront the person directly, perhaps by providing rational arguments for why one should not have to work on hated projects, or why one’s mother has no right to meddle in one’s affairs. This usually encourages angry reactions, turns the situation into a contest of wills, and leads to further confrontation.

Most chaotic thinkers would try to avoid confronting the person directly in these situations. Instead, they would encourage chaos. They might create the impression of going along with the person’s plans and intentions, but then complicate them in creative and unexpected ways. For example, they might agree to follow the mother’s recommendations for dating a certain type of person, but then raise irrelevant issues that complicated matters, such as whether or not the date had exactly the right height, hair color, shoes, hobbies, or eating preferences. Eventually, the mother would be forced to modify or abandon her efforts to regulate the person’s dating preferences, realizing the futility of those efforts.

Structuring Tendencies in Modern Society

As everyone knows, the world is becoming less and less predictable every day. Jobs are less secure, relationships are changing without warning, cherished principles and values are vanishing. As we have stated, chaotic thinking is ideally suited for dealing with these types of uncertainties and for finding creative ways to adapt when unexpected events occur. Ordered thinking, in contrast, is usually less effective in dealing with unexpected changes, and often makes the situation worse. Yet there continue to be strong biases in favor of ordered thinking in our society, and continued misunderstandings and misgivings about chaotic thinking.

As a rule, ordered thinking predominates in societies that have achieved major technological advances. Such advances encourage thinking that is highly structured, anticipatory, and future-oriented (Boyer, 1984; Mesthene, 1970). We are taught, for instance, that it is important to plan ahead, to pursue specialized careers, and to develop our lives along narrowly defined and clearly visible paths. We are then rewarded for these efforts. Chaotic thinking, which emphasizes living for the moment and avoiding long-range plans, is thus discouraged or suppressed.

This bias towards ordered thinking can be seen, for example, in the common tendency for parents to over-structure the lives of their children. Parents now schedule a seemingly endless array of activities for the child—Little League, soccer, football, gymnastics, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, orchestrated field trips, dance, ballet—and other organized events that completely fill in the day. It used to be that children could improvise a baseball game, picking teams and making up their own rules. Now it has to be formally sanctioned by an official league, with uniforms and trophies. Even our parks and playgrounds have become highly structured, with exercise programs and workout routines, as if having free, open space in which to play and to explore were no longer permitted.

This structuring process begins early. Many parents, for example, have become obsessed with having their children enrolled in the right preschool, believing that otherwise they will not get into the right college, which will then prevent them from having a successful career. This obsession with properly structuring a child’s education almost inevitably causes problems. If the child is naturally a chaotic thinker, it will result in enormous frustration, and the child is likely to develop a negative self-image. If the child is naturally an ordered thinker, these structuring tendencies will be strongly reinforced, and the child will then become even more anxious and upset when chaotic situations arise.

Our colleges and universities have also contributed to this bias towards ordered thinking. Students are taught that mental discipline and planning are essential for later success in life. Their formal training consists largely of prearranged courses that are taken in a predetermined sequence. They are channeled towards finding particular types of jobs when they graduate. Many professors are now promoted largely on the basis of having a consistent rate of productivity over time, successfully attacking opposing points of view, and displaying a serious, professional work ethic. Scholars who display sporadic brilliance, who avoid developing formal theories, or who are generally unconcerned with achieving professional rank or status have a much harder time succeeding in modern university life. We discuss other implications of chaotic thinking for education in the final chapter.

Consider, also, how these structuring tendencies have affected the medical profession. Most modern hospitals have become highly ordered institutions that are poorly suited for dealing with the chaotic needs and emotional reactions of their patients. Physicians have grown detached, not only because they have become increasingly busy, but also because they have come to rely on their own preconceived plans and diagnoses, for which the patient’s input is minimal (e.g., Cousins, 1979). Many hospitals and medical schools have begun to recognize this problem, and have initiated sensitivity training courses so that doctors can learn how to listen to their patients.

Even the study of the human mind itself has been strongly influenced by ordered thinking. In the field of cognitive psychology, for instance, the mind has often been regarded as a highly organized structure, consisting of executive controls, plans, and hierarchies (Anderson, 1983; Miller, Galanter, & Pribram, 1960; Neisser, 1967). More recent approaches, however, have begun to consider the role that chaotic processes might also play in human cognition (e.g., Abraham & Gilgen, 1995). This is seen, for example, in the advent of models proposing that the mind processes information using parallel, distributed processing units within complex, interactive networks (e.g., McClelland & Rumelhart, 1986). Additional implications of chaotic thinking for the study of human cognition will be considered in later chapters and at the end of the book.

In the cultural revolution of the 1960s, chaotic thinking enjoyed a temporary resurgence, despite fears that radicals would take over society. By the end of that decade, however, the movement had become more structured, and began to impose order onto its original chaotic qualities. This was unfortunate, because chaotic thinking is needed now more than ever. We are not, however, advocating that chaotic thinking replace ordered thinking, which was the spirit of the cultural revolution. Rather, our interest is in exploring how chaotic and ordered thinking can coexist in a mutually beneficial, interactive manner.

The Future Becomes the Present

The future used to be far ahead; now it comes to us immediately. We are experiencing what Toeffler (1970) called “future shock” in almost every aspect of modern life. People who rely on ordered thinking would generally prefer to keep the future well out in front, so that they could anticipate it and make it conform with their plans. When the future is suddenly thrust upon them, however, and they discover that their plans are falling apart, they are often devastated.

The future has begun to merge with the present, due in part to the information age. Television has provided us with an essentially chaotic medium, in which we receive instant news and experience instant reactions. If we hear about the possibility of a milk shortage, the next day milk prices have already increased. There may be no actual shortage, but just the news that cows are dying causes the price of milk to go up. If we learn that a riot has broken out in some far-away place, we might immediately begin to worry about it. In the past, by the time news about the riot had arrived, it would have already been quelled. Now, news that the riot is underway causes similar riots to spring up in other places almost instantaneously.

We are now able to ponder the meaning of an event while the event is still occurring. Most people who depend on ordered thinking need time to anticipate what will happen next, and television has taken away that time. To plan for the future, they usually need to be shielded from it, at least temporarily, and the information age has made this difficult, at best. In contrast...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Major Characteristics of Chaotic Cognition
• 3. Primary Benefits of Chaotic Cognition
• 4. Basic Techniques of Chaotic Cognition
• 5. Strategic Applications
• 6. Interpersonal Applications
• 7. Survival Applications
• 8. Limitations of Chaotic Cognition
• 9. Stylistic Convergence
• 10. Chaotic Implications
• References
• Author Index
• Subject Index