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This is part one of a series of posts around the ‘U-Curve of Certainty’ Theory, which is intended to help people navigate complex systems.   Today I will do my best to explain complex systems, and how they interact with simple systems, without boring you half to death.   What’s a complex system?   A complex system is ‘a system composed of many components which may interact with each other’ (thank you Wikipedia).   Examples include climate, human beings and markets… at the end of this post, I list even more.   You cannot control or predict exactly what sort of person your child will be in the future, nor

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  Is there a bigger fraudster in society than he who presumes to predict the weather? Let's unpack that today, building on what we first discussed with the U-Curve of Certainty Theory and complex systems.   An angry rant about Weathermen (or Weather People, to be more PC).   It was New Year’s Eve. I can’t remember the year, what I can remember is the weather forecast — the weatherman said there was a ‘0% chance of rain.’   Not 2%, not 1%, but 0%. You can probably see where this is going.   Come New Year’s Eve, it rained.   What a bizarre profession, where you can get away with

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Dearest brother Mitchell.   I mean to tell you that your selfishness and stupidity knows no bounds. Here’s a picture of us when we were young — who’d have thought one of us would grow up to be such a narcissist, such a self-serving twat. What do you mean ‘who?’   Fine then, I’ll spell it out for you. Where will I begin? At the start then, because I don’t know how much you don’t know, and I can only hope that I get something very important through to you with this letter.   So let’s see… the start. Oh yes. Well, you are second born

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Everything in life tastes better with non-attachment. Romantic relationships, friendships, health, career, your goals (if you’re foolish enough to have them)… you can’t even get too caught up in the search for Enlightenment and meaning. You'd be reading a self-help book, and then next thing you know, you're a twenty-one year-old life coach.   But there’s a problem with the English Language — we’re missing levels within words. The middle zone is one I’ve come to call ‘The Goldilocks Zone’ — the place of non-attachment.     Don't see the value in 'goals'?   When you say to someone ‘I don’t see the value in goals’ or

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I recently came across the work of Gabor Maté, the Hungarian-Canadian physician, and all of a sudden I started to see things in a whole new light.   Cross-referencing his thoughts with everything I’d ever known, my mind wandered to the Bible, and a concept that had always gnawed at me. ‘Sin’ — and I did a sacrilegious thing. I replaced it with the word ‘trauma.’   Suddenly, things have a whole new and clearer meaning.   ‘Jesus died for our sins,’ becomes — Jesus died for our trauma. ‘Go to confession to be cleansed of your sins becomes,’ — Go to confession to be cleansed of your trauma. ‘Everybody sins, it

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The Student said,   Speak to me of existence. For this world is deceptive — in every corner dances a different shadow of what to pursue, what to follow.   And the Doorman said,   Here I stand on the shoulders of giants, for it is not I, but many before me who pointed out that existence is essentially playful. There is no necessity for it whatsoever.   It is like music or theatre. The whole purpose of it is simply to be enjoyed, to engage others, and to stimulate them. It is an experience. In one way of thinking, music, theatre and art are not essential —

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Questions followed the remorseful billionaire everywhere…   ‘How do we make money?’   ‘How do we build wealth like you?’   So he gathered a crowd and addressed them once and for all.   ‘Look,’ he said, ‘take it from me, yes I’m a billionaire, but I burned bridges to get here. I chased glory and left a trail of destruction in my wake. Those around me suffered, and in the end it wasn’t worth it. Now I’ve learnt to let it go and live a more balanced life.’   But the crowd got angry and said, ‘it’s easy for you to say, having made the money already! Once we’ve

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I had a crushing existential crisis recently…   Don’t worry, I managed to dig myself out of it. Not only that, but I think I can reduce its occurrence in future. This experience is not just ‘feeling down’ — it’s a completely undocumented illness that plagues the modern world called the Existential Flu.   What’s the Existential Flu? When your thinking is invaded by negative questions, self-doubt, low self-belief, a sense of meaninglessness, fuzzy-thinking, frustration for life and… well, that feeling of being hopelessly lost.   These thoughts are not accurate, they don’t reflect your reality or progress in life — they are an invasion.

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Uncertainty has many benefits.   What is undiscovered cannot yet be seen. Venturing to new territories is essential if we want to discover new opportunities.   Christopher Columbus never meant to discover America, but stumbled upon it by accident — how could he have found it any other way?   So instead of expecting the Room you’re in to change, try opening a new Door.   For the roads of man trace only familiar paths — those already trod by others. And to re-trace those steps is to fight against your very nature. Traveling this way, you will never be content.   For some part of you is unique, and quite

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Dear Constant Students,   Today I’m speaking to all members of the community, as well as anyone connected to this journey from afar. It’s been about a year since Liam and I began running workshops and then welcoming in our first members.   In that year I’ve learnt so much — I’ve made so many wonderful mistakes, had some enlightening failures and seem to have gained the world. But I’ve also been terribly frustrated and disappointed too!   Today I want to discuss just how important you in the community are in making this all work. As a reminder, The Constant Student is a community that

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