Splash

Posted on 7 November, 2012 by odo

Art, comedy, ideas, food, music, travel, anything outstanding, all have one thing in common : surprise. It’s the unexpected, the little extra twist, the something slightly dissonant, the pop, the flash, the out of the blue deviation that turns unmentionably mediocre into marvelously meritorious. It often doesn’t require much to distinguish the ho-hum from the inspired. A subtle move off-center or a nudge to the left could be all it takes. But it cannot be a mistake. Intention carries weight; mishap is sloppy. Admittedly, happy flukes happen. When they do they need to be grabbed with an open mind and messaged with deliberation. More often though, we don’t get so lucky. That’s when we need to resist the obvious and a veer off in a new direction to search for the curious.

I was watching a Sci-Fi movie the other night. From the start it was trying too hard. In an attempt to be philosophically deep its only accomplishment was trying the viewer. Not a good sign, but I gave it a chance. Late in the all too predictable story, when the romantic characters finally meet face to face, I spoke their lines verbatim just a moment before they did—twice. That was it for this dog, no more chances. Bore-ring. If I can predict the next line, it’s lame. The writers were too caught up in the obvious. They couldn’t see how their trite, unimaginative plot and dopey dialog was plaguing the entire film. With a little resistance and a fresh perspective the movie could have been a grabber.

If there’s one thing in common with all the best, it’s that there’s (at least) one thing not common. Start [radical], add [intelligent design], and finish with a splash of surprise. 

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Intelligent Design

Posted on 24 October, 2012 by odo

If a system isn’t designed with intention, it will design itself. Haphazard systems are all around us. Nature is a perfect example of self-design. All sorts of accidents, remnants, and unintentional results are readily observable throughout nature—third molars, appendixes, tonsils, men’s nipples, no eyes behind our heads. One could write a series of books on the foibles of nature.

Manmade systems are no less subject to chance. If procedures aren’t vigilantly examined and analyzed for efficiency they are subject to slow degradation. Gradually minor slip-ups turn into habits that snowball into major incompetencies. “We’ve always done it this way,” or “That’s just how it’s done,” or the worst, “I’ve never thought about it.” Pretty soon we have grossly wasteful, disorganized, corrupted programs. Another series of books.

How is intelligent design distinguished from chance? Fractals give us a clue. Fractals are simple mathematical formulae from which complex systems arise. The more complex, the more amazingly structured a system is, and the more likely it’s formed out of undirected fractal reiteration. Life builds itself out of iteration after iteration of simple patterns to create nearly boundless variation. No wonder it fools us into thinking intelligent design. The real evidence for intelligent design is not in its outward complexity, but its outward simplicity; not in its irreducibility, but in its tractability.

Along with examining the roots of a system, clearly understanding the entire process is crucial. The big picture needs to be held in mind as details are ironed out. Attention to details while forgetting the whole puts the entire system at risk of losing its integrity and falling into chaos. I’m sure you’ve witnessed someone or found yourself getting bogged down in minutia while ignoring the primary goal. Or the opposite, a good idea that never gets off the ground because the ball is dropped on subtle, yet important points. We have many sayings that express these ideas. Can’t see the forest for the trees. Watch your pennies and the dollars take care of themselves, or the converse, penny wise and pound foolish. Despite the truth in these sayings, they are only partial truths. Broad strokes and fine points form two sides of an equation.

Intelligent design doesn’t happen on its own. Deliberation, intention and focus, on the whole and the parts, makes design intelligent.

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