Important things often happen suddenly.
Most people tend to think that things happen gradually – things like skill acquisition for example – but this, in my experience, is not the case at all. I think that when conditions are right, we undergo experiences that I like to call ‘emergent events’. Think of it like this …
Say we think of numbers – small numbers – they do logical things, they follow rules, and it’s all pretty simple and fairly predictable. We know that two times two is four, six plus four equals ten, etc. So it seems perfectly logical that huge numbers should pretty much just do the same thing as small numbers but on a larger scale – right – wrong!
Let’s apply this idea to say, brain cells. To paraphrase Dan Gilbert (excellent author and psychologist) – if we take a couple of brain cells – neurons - and we connect them via an electro-chemical circuit, we get something not any more powerful or remarkable than say a pair of walkie talkies. In fact it can be easily argued that the walkie talkie’s are more powerful. But what happens when we wire trillions of these neurons together (a very large number) we get something rather unique – we call this thing – CONCIOUSNESS – self awareness. That’s a pretty amazing thing. So obviously, when we got enough of these connections, some kind of critical event occurred and something new EMERGED – namely, we did! So two or three neurological connections cannot be deemed as ‘conciousness’ – not even two or three hundred connections – but something (or things) happened between those small numbers and the astronomically huge numbers that we actually have that causes us to BE! And be aware they we – BE!
So what is the point of this blog – well, it is my view that a similar thing happens when we undergo a learning process. People start out on the mat, in the world of BJJ, wrestling, boxing, etc – and they learn a bunch of independent techniques and theorems and they gather and collect as they steadily increase their experience and understanding – and if enough of this happens, something remarkable occurs – something that seems larger than the combined sum of that which they have learned – and they experience an EMERGENT EVENT. That is to say, suddenly, they are markedly better!
So, for any beginners that are reading this – or anyone else for that matter – never despair - steady practice, more and more connections and you can expect your own emergent events to take place. The interesting and uplifting thing is that this can also occur in all other areas of our lives.
I enjoy thinking and developing these types of ideas – they help me with my teaching process. So please let me know via the comments facility of you want to hear more or less of this sort of brain-food. When I weave these sorts of thoughts into the training during my seminars, most seem to enjoy it – but every now and then I see a pair of eyes glaze over - over to you …
Best wishes
JBW
