3.1.2 Cause and Effect

The subject matter of the next Chapter is Systems Theory and I will mention it briefly here.

When I develop a skill, in addition to a cause having a particular effect, I will notice that my increased skill level will change me, and will change the relationship that I have with others in my environment.

For example the child who masters the skill of cycling will have far more independence which will cause parents to both enjoy the experiences that the child’s new found independence brings and worry about her safety on the road.

The child who masters art or drawing will bring pride to his parents and perhaps awaken an interest in art in a grandparent that had been long dormant.  (The interest in art, that is, not the grandparent).

So thinking systemically, it would be virtually impossible to regard children learning to cycle, or knit, or to develop skills in languages or art, as stand-alone events that affect nothing else around them.

Similarly a teenager may master a skill that might be very undesirable in the eyes of parents (such as rolling a joint or telling lies very convincingly) and this will, in turn, cause parents to learn new skills to limit the potential harm of such actions on both the teenager and the family at large, e.g. younger brothers and sisters.

As parents try and adapt to what they perceive as danger, the new skills that they learn will probably involve negotiating, compromising, bargaining, and developing extra vigilance that they did not need when the child was younger.  The result of the application of the new skills, (i.e. the cause) has the effect of steering the teenager through the rocky road of adolescence to being a mature adult.

Of course the exact same thing happens if we, as parents, observe a trait that we consider to be desirable.  The skills we might learn may be an appreciation of something with which we were previously unfamiliar and had no knowledge of (e.g. sport, music, art etc.) and perhaps it may spark an interest in such matters.

Once again the cause of us being interested in new things has the effect of encouraging our child as well as perhaps opening up new areas of interest for ourselves that we didn’t know were out there, or in which we might have some potential.

So throughout my life I constantly learn new skills, put them into practice, achieve a certain degree of mastery and influence those around me as they adapt their lives to my new skill, and I am in turn influenced by the skills that others around me learn and put into practice.

As I mentioned above, these processes will be described in the following posts and more particularly in the next Chapter on Systems Theory.

To illustrate how different effects can be generated by the same cause, and are influenced by what perspective we view them from, consider how we might describe the Sun.  (I will give it a capital letter since it is so important in our lives)!

In addition to illustrating cause and effect, this post will describe the difference between objective and subjective views. (If you want a more general description you’ll find it here).

The Sun’s warmth and light begat life on Earth so in terms of cause and effect, if we say that the Sun is a cause, an effect is life on Earth since its origins 4.5 billion years ago.  Our distant ancestors probably knew this intuitively, which is why the Sun had God-like status in almost all ancient cultures.

A paradoxical aspect of the Sun worth noting (and known to the ancients) is that, even though almost all life on our planet is dependent on it, it can never be visited by us. In Greek mythology this is posited in the legend of Icarus, who fell into the sea and drowned after wax holding his wings together melted when he was flying to the Sun.

And I say almost above, because I am informed by people who know about these things that all life on Earth would not cease if the Sun disappeared.  However, in respect of our human experience, the life that would survive would be of a very primitive nature.

It is no wonder that the prevailing image of God in almost all cultures is someone that humans depend on completely and has a substantial influence on our lives, that resides in a place we call heaven which is up in the sky, (somewhere the Sun is too), and, like the Sun, cannot be physically approached and met.

This cannot-be-approached-and-met bit has been analogised in most religions (certainly in Christianity which is the only one that I am really familiar with) in the sense that we have to die before we can physically meet our God.  (I stress physically here – because many people believe that we meet our God every day; spiritually).

Getting back to how we describe the Sun, if you Google The Sun, (which I did) you will find out that it is a star that comprises about 99.86% of the mass of the Solar System and is estimated to be brighter than 85% of all the other stars in the Milky Way.  It is the brightest object in our sky and is about 13 billion times brighter than the next brightest star.  Its distance from Earth is about 150,000,000 km and light travels from the Sun to us in about 8 minutes and 19 seconds.  Its surface temperature is over 5,500⁰C, and the energy of this sunlight, which consists of electromagnetic radiation, supports almost all life on Earth by a process called photosynthesis.   The Sun rotates on its own axis and the rotational period is about 28 of our days.

Wow!

So that is one way to describe the Sun.  I will call it an objective description.  No matter who measures all of the above, if they use the same instruments for measuring, their answers will be the same.  

In rainy Ireland when the Sun shines we usually feel a little better in ourselves.  The Sun rising at dawn precipitates waking up, bird-song (dawn chorus), cock-crowing, new ideas (it dawned on me), and, ultimately, starting a new day.  Increasing sunlight in the spring brings new life, hope and optimism, warmth, longer evenings, greenery, growth of necessary plants to feed and nurture us, and animals coming out of hibernation. 

Even the word spring suggests energy and indeed the Irish word for spring (earrach) has a root in work, (suggesting that we Irish took the entire winter off and only began working again when the Sun came out for a bit longer).  And the appearance of the Sun means we can get out and enjoy ourselves outdoors.  So in our rainy climate the Sun will almost always be welcomed.

In a desert climate where farmers are desperate for rain people will almost certainly have a different attitude to the Sun than we have in Ireland.  While it will still rise, bringing the dawn, birdsong, new day etc. it might also be very unwelcome at different times during the year.  There may be a shortage of drinkable water and great efforts might have to be made to keep perishable foods fresh.  The Sun’s heat may bring out unwanted insects or dangerous animals and far from getting outdoors and having picnics like we do in Ireland at the first sight of the Sun, its heat may be overbearing and unpleasant, and people will probably want to go indoors, block their windows to shield them from the sun, and sleep through its highest heat, (that is, have a siesta), in the hours after midday.

Now when we compare the three descriptions it is easy to see that while the first description will always be the same, (constant) the second and third will change (vary) depending on from what perspective we humans view the Sun.

The first description is objective i.e. it’s the same no matter who, when, where etc.  The second and third are subjective.  They depend on who describes, or where the person is, or what experiences she has had or is having in respect of the Sun, or maybe even when she describes it.  Indeed, every person who describes may have a different description.

In terms of Cause and Effect, if we assume the Sun to be always the cause, then the effect might be totally different depending on our circumstances. 

It might be helpful to look at the objective and subjective views in tabular form:

Objective and Subjective Views – The Sun

Objective and Subjective Views – The Rain

We can see that objectivity is concerned with practicality, what we observe and can measure etc. and subjectivity is concerned with our emotions, how we feel about something.

It is of interest to note that our ability to think symbolically and appreciate the abstract is strongly linked to our ability to be objective. Animals cannot really think objectively. They may have instinctive awareness of cause and effect but – apart from, perhaps, non-human primates who have some limited awareness – they cannot really imagine what will happen if the effect is two or more steps distant from the cause.

In order to figure out how to solve a problem and then – instead of doing something that will offer short-term relief – build a solution that will last we need to be able to think objectively.

Important Note:

The terms objective and subjective will be used a good bit in the website – many discussions, explorations etc. will make more sense if they are understood.

While I am on about the Sun (see previous post) and our attitude to it, I think that it might be interesting to consider how we view darkness and light.  We have a general belief since time immemorial manifest in our legends, stories, songs, religions etc. right up to the modern day that darkness is to be avoided and light is what is desired.

Darkness Into Light as we say!

Darkness is associated with depression, misery, gloominess, unhappiness, fear, sometimes even suicide and everything that humans do not want for themselves.  We generally don’t like walking alone in the dark.  Little children are often afraid of the dark going to bed at night.

In the world of therapy there is a general belief that our shadow side is a negative trait of our personality that we need to bring into awareness. But as my colleague Peter Nevin alerted to me one day, our shadow can, equally, contain positive aspects that we are unaware of.

Our fear of the dark and the general negativity surrounding blackness and darkness manifests in our language i.e. a black day in our history, the black economy, the black death, we wear black when we are mourning, (in Ireland anyway), the black sheep of the family is the one that doesn’t fit in, or causes trouble, if we want to disparage someone we might blacken his name, and then there is the notorious black Mass which is supposed to call up the devil!

The Dark Ages were a period in history where (supposedly) there wasn’t much scientific discovery, and they were followed by The Enlightenment.  And I remember in the halcyon days of the All Ireland Rugby League five Limerick teams lost on the same day and people that I knew called it Black Saturday!

Light, on the other hand, is associated with vision, forward-thinking, imagination, creativity, inspiration, goodness, hope, relief and similar traits.  We have loads of sayings promoting the benefits of light to humanity.  For example, we have the light-bulb moment, light will always conquer darkness, throw some light on the subject, the light at the end of the tunnel, see the light, that’s how the light gets in, and the one that really shows it, better to light a candle than curse the darkness, and hundreds more I’m sure if we looked hard enough! And light is also the word we use if something is easy to carry. (The only negative association that I could think of in respect of the word light is that if a play, film, book, event, programme, course of study etc. is not that substantial or deep it is said to be light).

And one that I was always confused about; the darkest hour is just before the dawn – is it – really?   (Now that might be a very subjective one)!

But is darkness intrinsically bad?  Maybe the principal reason that we find the dark frightening is that we can’t see properly in it – so we are not forewarned if we are in danger.  And maybe the reason that we associate it with depression is that it lacks colour.

Even at dusk, the world becomes lacking in colour.  The light of a bright moon is rarely strong enough to reflect colour either.  As I sit here writing this at 11 p.m. it is dark outside but very bright inside because of electric light.  But this has only been possible for a tiny, tiny fraction of human history.  Humans have always tried to light up the darkness with artificial light from fires, candles, etc. but their light was never bright enough to match daylight until electric light was invented a mere 120 years ago.

It can be worthwhile pausing to explore what is good about something that we all feel is bad, or are afraid of, or associate with negativity – and vice versa, because there is beauty in darkness too.

In fact, far from being the absence of light, darkness has its own transcendent quality of rest, silence, and recuperation.  Also, it is easier to have privacy and solitude.  I often think that the air seems fresher at night.  Unless we are at a night club or in a pub late at night, it is generally quieter at night than during the day, so we have less distraction. We may also have opportunities to think. (And perhaps the beauty of darkness inspired Paul Simon to write his lovely song, ‘The Sound Of Silence’ which begins with the line ‘hello darkness my old friend’).

And intimacy and romantic activity, including lovemaking (and therefore procreation of our very species) seems – for some reason – to favour the nighttime over bright light – though whether this is due to some learned puritanical inhibition about our bodies which seeped into us over many thousands of years due to some kind of civilising process (or not) I don’t know.

And, of course, vital to our health, darkness helps us to sleep and allows us the opportunity to recover from the busy-ness of the day.   And it will also allow us to hide – perhaps contributing to our feelings of safety rather than making us feel unsafe – for example if we are on the run from the law.

But probably the greatest beauty of complete darkness, with no artificial light from towns or cities, (and it is very hard to find places like that nowadays – at least in the developed World), is observation of our night sky – the stars, moon and planets.  It’s like the darkness highlights the light!

So in terms of cause and effect, the effects of both fear and safety can be caused by darkness.

Like the Sun, our attitude to it is dependent on our circumstances.

Before I finish, consider the oft-used expression Darkest Africa – so-called because it had to be enlightened by European civilisation. This places darkness firmly in the Continent where the vast majority of black people in the world come from.

I read some radical black literature once that proposed that black people are disadvantaged because blackness and darkness are associated with undesirable things. (Though this doesn’t, obviously, pertain to Ireland where our national drink is black – or the world of banking, where being in the black means having money).

At first reading this seemed to me to be an extreme version of the linking of the word left with sinister and gauche – which, being a citeog [1] I can obviously relate to, and if I wanted to make much of could feel a teeny little bit offended by – but maybe there’s something in it. (Here is Muhammad Ali being interviewed by Michael Parkinson on BBC in the 1970’s where Ali wittily – and very perceptively – explores this theme, as only he could).

And to finish this discussion on darkness, I said earlier that this website was a bit of a shot in the dark.  I’m not sure where whatever I put out there will land, or what I’ll hit with it.  In other words, it’s a bit of a risk – but exciting too – thanks to darkness!

[1]. Sinister (which means kind of evil or threatening) is the Latin word for left. Gauche (which means vulgar, clumsy or awkward), is the French word for left.  Citeog is the Gaelic word for a left-handed person.