Upward and downward causation were described in the Chapter on Systems Theory – and in this post I will link both to self-similarity and fractals using the analogy of the tree to describe the phenomenon.
Consider, first, self-similarity and fractals in sport. Let us take the example of soccer, which is a worldwide sport. We could say that the main trunk is the World Cup. The European Champions League and the Copa Libertadores are big thick branches and the premier leagues of the traditionally successful countries like England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil and Argentina etc. are fairly thick branches too.
The lower divisions of leagues are smaller branches and local, small country leagues are the large twigs. Street leagues, inter-firm and the like are the small twigs; and young lads and lassies kicking a football around a field are the leaves, nourishing the local leagues (arguably, the edges of growth in soccer) which in turn nurture the small country leagues, and so on up to the biggest leagues and international competitions. The praise and encouragement the children get from their Mams and Dads is like the sunlight and rain on the leaves of the tree.
Without the praise and encouragement there’d be no growth! But the growth is also dependent of the strength and solidity (and wealth) of the World Cup, (arguably the centre of growth) through which the game in promoted world-wide.
Looking at the worldwide popularity of soccer from the perspective of systems theory, there is downward causation from the great heroes playing in front of crowds of 80,000 shown on TV to tens of millions worldwide, and upward causation from the lads and lassies kicking a ball around the park getting praise and encouragement from Mammy and Daddy!
Now, to get down to more serious business – let us consider fractals and self-similarity in respect of violence and peace in the world, once again using the example of the tree.
Take, for example, the 20th Century.
In terms of violence, the tree trunk is, for example, World War One and World War Two. The big branches might be thought to be the Spanish Civil War, Vietnam War, Korean War, Iran-Iraq, etc.
Then we have the various wars in the Middle East and lesser wars such as African wars of independence, lesser again are our own Troubles, the conflict in the Basque country in Spain, wars in Central America. The smaller branches would be the so called drug wars in certain countries that are blighted by same, and the violence of criminal gangs. The twigs might be the nightly drink fuelled random violence on the streets of our cities and towns and the leaves could be the violence in our homes.
Like the sunlight gives energy to the leaves, and this energy passes through the twigs and small branches through to the trunk, the tension, stress, anxiety, emotional irresponsibility and violence in our homes, (mostly hidden from view), fosters the street violence through to the drugs wars and has upward causation to wars between countries.
Now, in respect of peace, and to counter all the above negativity, let me say that the love and compassion, empathy and gentleness in our homes and families (also, mostly hidden from view) has upward causation, i.e. nurtures friendship and camaraderie, cooperation and reciprocity in communities, and generosity, forgiveness etc. in society in general.
This is the edge of growth of worldwide peace and harmony – which is why it is so important that the family is at the centre of endeavours to promote such desirable characteristics in humanity.
Curiously, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of in-our-face evidence of the equivalent thick branches and tree trunks of compassion or peace to mirror those of violence, e.g. the hugely destructive wars.
But digging a little deeper, away from the major news stories and history we learned in school, (which were all about wars – in my time in school anyway – maybe it is different now) got me thinking of what qualities of compassion in our Irish homes filtered upwards to communities and society in general, eventually leading to the Good Friday Agreement – which was a major peace treaty that brought 30 years of the Troubles to an end.
Another example of goodness in action was the generosity and goodwill that must have filtered upwards from ordinary people’s homes in the Soviet Union and the rest of Eastern Europe that first threw up a leader like Mikhail Gorbachev and then enabled him to dramatically change his own country and half a continent for the better. (Though sadly, in more modern times, that hasn’t been sustained).
And there are many others if we look hard enough. For example, Mahatma Gandhi in India in the 1930’s and 40’s, and Martin Luther King in USA in the 1960’s, where the compassion in ordinary people’s homes was a counterbalance to the opposite at volatile times in the histories of their countries.
And finally what about child protection?
Is there an element of downward causation in the way that the State, through its economic choices, neglects swathes of the population and the way that some parents, through their economic choices, neglect their children?
Just a thought!