4.2.3 Critical Mass

Later (in Sub-Chapters 4.2.5 and 4.2.6) I will propose further applications or uses of chaos in some detail – and link it to systems theory (that I described in a previous Section) but prior to that I will briefly explore critical mass.

This term was originally coined by physicists experimenting with nuclear fission to describe the point at which a nuclear device will be self-sustaining, there being no way of stopping it after that point.

In addition to its relevance in the world of nuclear fission, you might have heard of critical mass as it applies in a phenomenon popularly known as the butterfly effect. That is, the flap of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world setting off a tornado in another part.  (A butterfly’s flapping wing represents a small, virtually imperceptible change in an initial condition of a climatic system, which causes a chain of climatic events leading to a tornado).  Had the butterfly not flapped its wings the tornado might not have occurred! 

More importantly, at some point along the course of events, the process reaches critical mass that is, a tipping point [1] after which there can be no reverting to the original state.

So let us consider critical mass when applied to human behaviour. 

There is a saying among stand-up comedians that if a third of an audience laughs all will laugh.

We are all familiar with the phenomenon of the buzz, that is, we know something is happening and we want to be associated with it.

And why does a team usually play better at home?  And related to that, consider a big crowd in a stadium, how each individual’s identity becomes blurred as everyone behaves as one.

Another example would be a country at war.  Enthusiasm to embark on a campaign to kill others and/or be killed reaches critical mass so that if one is seen to be against the prevailing feeling then one becomes separate from the tribe. On the other hand, I have referenced, in a previous post, people power that reached critical mass in USA in the 1960’s-70’s that was very influential in putting an end to the Vietnam War.

This, of course, also shows the power of relationship – one of our root foundations – in us. That is, our need, or even our necessity to belong.

[1]. In terms of human violence the most destructive tipping point in human history could be thought to be the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Serbia in Sarajevo in 1914, which resulted in the start of the First World War, the perceived unjust consequences of which (many would argue) led to the rise of Nazism and thereafter the Second World War.  Between 1914 and 1945 it is estimated that over 70 million people died because of the rivalries, power struggles and expansionist ambitions of the Great Powers (including the USA) that had been going on for a hundred years that had reached critical mass prior to the assassination of the Archduke.  This I covered in more detail in the Chapter on Power and Control in Society.

Very often – in respect of critical mass in human behaviour – a tipping point is reached along a timeline where there is a substantial element of predictability.

For example, in a sports championship, over a season, a team might be improving match-by-match and a sense, or feeling, comes over the team that they are going to win the championship outright. An away victory, three-quarter’s way through, against particularly challenging opposition might be considered to be the tipping point. Thereafter, little things begin to go their way and their belief reaches critical mass as the weeks turn into months and eventually they win the championship.

Another example might be a political party on the campaign trail, as week by week they gain more and more support to the point where the party’s belief in winning the election reaches critical mass. As momentum builds, there may be an event that people can point to that is significant in swaying public opinion. (In US Politics, this is called ‘The Big Mo‘)!

In the present day, many scientists are speculating that global temperature increase will reach a tipping point sometime soon, and that no matter what we do after that we will be unable to stop the temperature rising to catastrophic levels. It is tragic that we appear to be so helpless in this very predictable sequence of events.

However, an unpredictable event can also spark a tipping point!

Sometimes there are hidden forces that have been building up unnoticed by the vast majority, and an unpredictable event reveals, to everyone’s surprise, just how powerful those forces are, or were. (I gave an example of such an event in footnote [1] in the previous post when I mentioned the murder of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914).

Unpredictability is in everything we experience, starting with our own existence, but also in the world in which we live; e.g. the weather, the ups and downs of the stock market, political life, economics, religion – everything.

For example, in the late 1970’s, when Pope John Paul II visited Ireland, very few would have predicted the downward spiral in the status, esteem and power of that most certain and predictable entity when I was growing up, the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The Bishop Casey affair in the early 1990’s (which, from the perspective of the third decade of the 21st Century might be deemed to be relatively innocent) was the unexpected event – the tipping point – that, like a dam bursting, unleashed an unstoppable torrent of negativity not only about the Church itself but about how the Pillars of Irish society were perceived – with, of course – hindsight, to have lived a lie through many decades.

The speed at which anger, cynicism, suspicion and apathy replaced reverence, obedience and respect astounded everyone.  Reaching a tipping point implies the point of no return and it is very unlikely that there will be a return to the unassailable status that the Catholic Church held in decades past in Irish society.

Currently the amount of concern about protecting the environment is probably greater than it has ever been.

Take one example – the dangers that plastics pose to our oceans.  In this, we can do all the small things we want like recycling plastic but until legislators face down the corporate world and actually force them to do something radical about plastic nothing substantial will be achieved.

And the legislators are people who spring from our communities and are elected by us, the ordinary people.  So until a critical mass of society want things to be different – they won’t be – really!

At a different level, and once again, more relevant to our subject matter, all adult males will be familiar with, and will probably have been affected by, the gang or pack mentality, in teenage years, that demands loyalty and can be very destructive and harmful.

Much late night street violence results from this pack phenomenon where a group of young men’s willingness to be violent reaches critical mass, seemingly due to the influence of each other, (that is, it becomes self-sustaining) and one or more or all of them do things that they most probably would not have done had they been on their own.

The butterfly effect is observed here also, as the result (output) of the incident (serious injury or possibly even death) is highly disproportionate to the input, (possibly an innocent remark, a look, or a mistimed joke).  The event takes on a life of its own and proceeds with little relevance to the input.

More importantly, somewhere along the timeline a tipping point is reached where there is no going back to rational thought or reasonable behaviour. (Remember the example that I gave describing how a tipping point in such a situation was avoided by compassion, and compassion alone)?

Fashion is not something that we immediately associate with crime, child protection or responsibility!  Yet fashion is very influential in human behaviour.  This is known to anyone involved in sales and marketing and the word fashion sometimes suggests ostentation or showiness, as if it is only applicable in the world of clothes, advertising, music, etc.

When I was a teenager, the tendency of young male teenagers to wear their hair long, reached critical mass around the middle of the 1960’s.  Something that was not at all fashionable became fashionable because one pop group who got very famous (The Beatles) wore their hair long.  In addition to their music, this was a very creative (and original) thing to do.

In the context of this discussion fashion could be a common expression or manifestation of critical mass and as such is interesting to us in our discussions on patterns of behaviour in humans.

I believe that Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) [1] uses the concept of critical mass even though I cannot recall seeing the term referred to in any of the books that I have read on SFBT.

In focusing on solutions instead of problems, (as the medical diagnosis traditionally does), SFBT ensures that the client’s strengths will be affirmed by the client him/herself on an ongoing basis until they have more power than the problems and the solution becomes more the norm than the problem, so the practice of thinking about solutions becomes self-sustaining.

If I am a young man or woman growing up in a family in the Focus Group, and I am getting involved in at-risk behaviours – on a journey towards a life of chaos, crisis, addiction, crime and ultimately imprisonment – critical mass may be reached at some point where I form the belief, at a deep unconscious level, that self-destructive behaviour has become self-sustaining, and that there is no turning back, no matter how I might coach myself at a cognitive, conscious level to be better behaved to please others and have an easier life.

And – now for some good news – I propose that responsibility can reach critical mass if I am say, recovering from addiction.  I reach a point where I am confident enough, (though not arrogant, which in fact comes from lack of confidence), that I can live a drug-free, life-affirming existence, and that there is no going back.  (I have that feeling myself at this point in time as a former smoker, though it took me some years to get here).

I believe that this can also happen in a family (or any group of people, but more particularly a small group) as responsibility becomes the norm where previously the norm had been irresponsibility. (This belief is very important in the context of the principal aim of this website).

The important term to remember here is self-sustaining.  This implies that a feedback loop of unconscious (or barely conscious) positive reinforcement of behaviour is enough to maintain the behaviour, as it (over time) becomes the norm.  This is further explored below when we discuss uses and applications of chaos in Sub-Chapters 4.2.5 and 4.2.6.

[1]. It is important to note that in SFBT the word brief can refer to the duration of an encounter or the number of sessions offered.