Inaugurating the Apophenaeon

Apophenia, to see patterns and connections in random or meaningless data. An apt concept for this blog I think.

Seeing patterns and connections where others do not can, at best, open up new perspectives and shed new light on old problems. Riane Eisler, for instance, identifies two orientations or strands of thought that to a great extent has shaped the world we live in - that of the "dominator" and "partnership" society, with roots as far back as ancient Babylon and the myth of how Marduk slew Tiamat and fashioned out of her the world. Thus providing a myth of how we can tame nature by dominating her, teaching us that either we dominate or we're dominated.

Of course, apophenia can lead astray as well. A lot of xenophobic groups see patterns of immorality, violence, degeneracy and threat tied to, say, particular ethnic groups. From there they make the assumption that those ethnic groups, "the others", pose a threat to what they perceive as their own culture and ethnic group. Others see a connection between high taxation and stunted economic growth, or they see patterns in nature that convince them that the world we live in must have been created by some "God" with a plan.

Simply seeing a pattern doesn't do or prove anything by itself, other than provide a different and new perspective. Sometimes, however, this is precisely what we need in order to come to terms with problems we face, or even look at problems in a different way - perhaps even discover that "the problem" wasn't where or what we thought it was. Take the environmental problems and the energy crisis for instance. Sure, CO2 emissions are a problem - but could it be that they are not the root problem? Degradation of the ecosystems, our habitat and the habitat of every living being on the planet, is not only achieved by global warming. And look further, to the power - financial and political - that comes with control of our energy sources.

To an extent, apophenia is something we find in everyone. We are all conditioned, socially and biologically, to see things a certain way and to "connect the dots" in a particular fashion, it is a function of that neural network we call "brain".

This blog will deal with some of these things, but there will also be posts about music, about litterature, about movies and anything else that catches my fancy (I shall try to spare my family from exposure however). Running through the whole thing, however, will be a red thread connecting the dots in a pattern, and that pattern is me, who I am. Multifacetted, sometimes incoherent and inconsistent I'm sure. Perhaps some of what I write here will make someone reading it see something in a new light. Perhaps someone other than me will even read it. If so, comments would be greatly appreciated, because it is in interaction - in relation - that identity arises. Or so I think.

I should comment on my decision to write mostly in English. Why? Well, primarily because I imagine some non-Swedish speaking people might read this. Also, a lot of my ideas and thoughts come from, or are inspired by, litterature that's mostly in English - writing in English then is easier. Keep in mind I'm not a native English speaker, so of course grammar won't be perfect. And of course feel free to leave comments (hah!) in either Swedish or English.