Apology
What does an apology look like?
The form of course is inextricably related to timing, but there are a number of other variables that in their many possible combinations can dramatically affect the direction and the outcome of an apology.
Consider this. Given the presence of variables, apologies and the incidents to which they correspond can be likened to the models of catastrophe theory. Loosely paraphrased this theory positions an event as a continuum of change influenced by one or more variables. A catastrophic moment occurs when stable and unstable variables meet causing a sudden shift of gears and resulting in a radical transition to some new and different behavior. There are several models for catastrophes that differ in their mathematical beauty and complexity based on the number and behavior of variables.
With the simple fold, a variable that is slowly increased in intensity can be followed and compensated for by a stable control, but this can be maintained just until a value that represents the minimum level of tolerance is reached. It perhaps goes without saying that minimum tolerance is often unknown and is therefore the subject of repeated tests that incrementally push the variable until finally, at the zero point, both the variable and control extinguish each other.
The cusp introduces a second variable and provides an alternate solution which takes effect just before the point of least tolerance. This causes the event to feed back onto itself — until of course, this new direction also loses stability and causes a shift back to the original course. Careful adjustment of the force a variable exerts can keep this loop going, over and over and over.
More variables bring greater complexity and drama. For instance, the surface of a swallowtail catastrophe is defined by three folds that meet in two cusps and culminate at a single spectacular point called the swallowtail — after which the turmoil will dissipate and reform with new parameters.
A swallowtail catastrophe can be very challenging to resolve with an apology.
The apology is itself a variable responding to another complex set of variables, and in a way resembles what is known as the butterfly point — a catastrophe in which the folds, the cusps, and the swallowtail all converge and disappear, leaving in their wake a single new cusp that attempts to right the course — to reset the direction. But this too will lose its stability because a cusp, like an apology, has no capacity to undo or erase, it merely creates a new situation for which the variable of acceptance remains unknown.
I’m thinking about drafting a chart of some sort — an infographic that would allow one to quickly assess a situation and choose according to variable scales such as the private or public nature of a location, the number of people and allegiances amongst those present, the gravity of the incident, and of course the presence of any substance that may affect judgment and behaviour.
If it were an app, this system could even provide mid-stream feedback to determine whether or not one should stay-the-course or cut-and-run when a situation appears to have taken on unforeseen and epic proportions. All that would be required to predict the outcome are a few simple selections dialed in to controls that have the pleasant and reassuring appearance of analog devices from simpler times — when one did not have to describe such things as analog. Each scale would be operated with the ease of a volume knob on a transistor radio, and then a crank from an old-timey adding machine would be activated to compute the likelihood of acceptance. And shaking your device like a magic-eight-ball would offer different courses of action should the first recommendation start to fail.
Underpinning the operation of this app would be a soundtrack designed to create a worrisome feeling, perhaps indicating that one should not trust advice that is generated with algorithms and inauthentic representations, and that it may be better to just deliver your heartfelt apology, accept the consequences — catastrophic as they may be — and let time heal any wounds.
