The Journey series
Mustard Seeds
|
Mustard Seeds
|
![]() Last week I wrote about cycles. This week I will look at cause and effect relationships. Cause and effect relationships are assumed when a particular state of being consistently precedes another state of being. One assumes this pattern will continue. The sun rises and it becomes warm, the sun sets and it becomes cool. We recognize that the sun shining causes the Earth to warm. We also realize early in life that we can affect our environment in a manner which precipitates a desired outcome. Babies learn that when they cry Mommy comes. When they smack their hand in their food it sprays all around. When they slide things over the edge of the table they fall – sometimes it pushes Mom over the edge too. We learn what we can and can’t do and push against our limits. We create simple tools that allow us to stretch those limits out a bit. This is not unique to man. Monkeys and birds use sticks and strings to fish for ants in an ant hill. Elephants push rocks around to step up on them and reach higher into a tree. Some crows in Japan even use cars as nutcrackers. They have learned to follow the walk-signal; placing nuts in a crosswalk and returning to the curb in one walk cycle, waiting for cars to drive over the nuts and crack them, and then retrieving the meat during the next walk cycle. We learn to form associations, co-operating to push the boundaries a bit further. Many animals also associate, they hunt in groups. Geese fly in skeins, taking turns leading a V-formation which reduces air resistance for those following. These actions are learned through instinct, impulsive responses to opportunities which present themselves. Man exceeds other creatures when he looks to the future. He acts according to what he predicts will happen; he plans. Because man is looking to the future rather than the present, he is able to see more than one event. This, in turn, enables him to combine simple tools into more complex tools. It also allows him to resolve complicated problems into simpler tasks. Then he can schedule those tasks in the necessary sequence. He can assign particular tasks to individuals or groups. Those people may spend their entire lives completing intermediary tasks, never actually seeing, or possibly even knowing, the end effect they are causing. We associate cause with effect to determine what will happen. Next week we’ll examine the effect of asking why.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorPeter T Elliott Archives
August 2022
Categories |