The Left, The Free-Market and Complexity

In their book Turbulent Mirror: An Illustrated Guide to Chaos Theory and the Science of Wholeness (1989) the authors John Briggs and F. David Peat talk about the main surprise-generating mechanism of Chaos Theory or Complexity Theory. I think why the Left (especially the elite) think man cannot rule himself is because of these mechanisms in the human mind. And since the elite cannot manage or control any of these mechanisms and that makes them nervous. These mechanisms are what show up not only in the mind but also in the free-market system—which a reflection of the mind in a way. What are the main surprise-mechanisms?

1. Paradoxes. A paradox is just a bunch of statements that lead to a contradiction. Or it could be just one like: “This statement is false.” If the statement is really true then it cannot be true because it says it is false. Paradoxes mean people can be irrational. The elite think everyone except for themselves are irrational. Like they are special or something. But they are deluding themselves. Here are some paradoxes in economics and other social systems: Abilene paradox (a form of groupthink), Inventor's paradox, Paradox of hedonism, and the Icarus paradox (this gov’t cannot do anything about).  Paradoxes make you think about situations in different unexpected ways.
2. Instability- large effects from small changes. This is also called The Butterfly Effect. If you raise taxes, or implement a regulatory law even no matter how small could lead to bigger changes down the road. The free-market system is a dynamic system. The Left doesn’t seem to get that. And there is no way to make the free-market system completely stable. It is perfectly normal for it to have instability once in a while. It will readjust itself eventually. If there isn’t stupid regulations blocking its normal “free” behavior it will readjust itself quicker.
3. Uncomputability- behavior transcends rules. This is maybe why the Left elites think man cannot rule himself. Human behavior cannot be completely predicted. If you cannot predict something you cannot control it. You cannot completely regulate it. Thus you can’t trust it. And that bugs the progressives to no-end. Here’s the thing though. Even if you did know most of the rules you still might not be able to predict or control the dynamic system. Case in point. The old Soviet Union (and most of the radical Left) believed the Soviet Union was a “utopia.” No violence and everyone living peacefully. Wrong! Come to find out they had a serial killer there. They couldn’t predict him and couldn’t stop him either. So, much for a perfect society. Computer scientists know this mechanism pretty well.
4. Connectivity- behavior cannot be decomposed into parts. If you cannot break something down, you cannot analyze it real well. If you cannot analyze it so much for trying to control it. Another bugaboo for The Left. Although that doesn’t stop them from trying to regulate life.
5. Emergence- self-organizing patterns. This is the essence of creativity and innovation. In this instance, the self-organizing patterns are inventions. Gov’t couldn’t predict Thomas Edison’s light bulb, or Ford’s model T, or the personal computer, or even the paper clip for that matter. Who knows what inventions will come up in the future. That’s why it is called “self”-organizing not gov’t organizing systems. Obama wants America to have green-technology. But the gov’t cannot force it to happen like magic. Any technology will happen in its own time when the conditions are right. The problem is no-one knows what the conditions are. That’s the nature of dynamic systems especially economic systems. Well, low taxes and less regulations would help but even that might not be enough.

In the brain there isn’t any neurons controlling or planning what the other neurons are doing. Just like the brain the free-market system should not be planned by some central authority. If the free-market system is centrally managed then you will not have a functional dynamic system that produces these “surprises.” You will have a flat-lined system that produces no surprises, no spontaneity, and no innovation. It’s that simple.