Structural Labyrinth: The rise and fall of ideas

Exploring the complex interactions between ideas and their role in shaping structures

Photo by Erez Attias on Unsplash

Have you ever paused to ponder the source of the structures that envelop us in society? The labyrinthine political system, the formidable legal machinery that dictates the boundaries of right and wrong, the formative family structure that molds our core beliefs, the ever-watchful banking system that subtly suggests how we should allocate our resources, and the relentless economic framework that proclaims the perpetual need to toil on. Like silent orchestrators, these intricate systems shape our lives, often without us realizing it. They are the frameworks we navigate daily, silently influencing our choices, actions, and aspirations, whether we’re consciously aware of their presence or not. So, who are the architects behind these intricate systems, and what prompted the birth of such elaborate structures that now define our existence?

I encourage you, reader, to stop and reflect on the following questions independently before sinking into the chaos of my thinking:

Note: 

If you are looking for music to listen to while contemplating, I highly 
recommend this Beethoven Sonata 6 instrumental: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjmzBuRnIHk&ab_channel=AshishXiangyiKumar

1. What ideas and beliefs do you hold? — What ideas do you hold about yourself, your family, the economy, politics, society, etc.? Where did these beliefs come from?
2. How much of your beliefs are completely original? — What role did your family, community, workplace or society play in what and how you think?
3. What is your definition of power? — What is individual power to you? How do you maintain or distribute power within your family, community, society, country, etc.? How is power distributed to you?
4. How does power affect a structure in your life? — Who is calling the shots in your life and how is right and wrong defined? Is this structure open to change? If so, to what degree? If not, to what degree?
5. How resilient are the structures in your life? — Have you or someone else tried to shift the dynamics in your family, community, country, etc., and what were the results or consequences of that attempt?

While some of these questions might seem completely unrelated to our topic, beliefs, power, and structures are deeply entangled with each other.

Photo by Samuel-Elias Nadler on Unsplash

The Power of Ideas

Ideas are the seeds that grow structures

Structures are not born out of a void. They are created and solidified in two main, often reinforcing, ways: top-down and bottom-up. While the top-down method involves hierarchies and policies, the bottom-up influences these hierarchies and policies through the momentum of collective ideas.

In a closed system, here is a small flow chart of how an idea can create and influence a structure. In reality, the flow itself is a lot more complex, convoluted, and non-linear.

A closed system is a system where there is no external influence. 
Therefore, this flow from idea to structure is entirely theoretical in this 
context where there is no external input or force. However, all social systems 
are fundamentally complex and are exposed to a myriad of ideas and influences
at all times. This makes modelling a complex, social system almost impossible.

Flowchart: How does an idea create a structure?

This flowchart depicts how an idea has ‘the potential’ to create structures. In reality, the process is more complex.

Ideas are the metaphorical harbingers of change.

Before we get into examples of ideas creating structures, let us narrow down the definition of ideas in this context. Ideas are the metaphorical harbingers of change; they announce a paradigm shift or point to a new direction. This new direction need not necessarily be drastically different from where the system currently is; these ideas need not even be introducing new technology or new ways of being. Ideas can be facts or opinions that gain momentum, they can revive an ancient way of doing something, they can suggest a necessary ending, they can even solely introduce a subtle change to an existing system, or can even be completely original and drastic. Ideas are anything that creates a shift that moves the system no matter how negligible that movement may be to someone witnessing it.

Now, with this definition, let us actually work through the lifecycle of an idea together:

1. A new idea is born: This idea can be just about anything from something small like replacing all forks with toothpicks to banning TV inside the household or even something monumental like suggesting that the environment is in danger from humanity. These ideas might or might not be backed by facts but they qualify as an idea regardless. Let us continue with the idea of replacing all forks with toothpicks purely for entertainment value.
2. The idea gains momentum: If I am all for replacing my forks with toothpicks, I might start within my house. I can share this idea with my family. They might completely disagree with me but I might succeed in convincing them to replace all forks with toothpicks regardless.
3. The idea is tested: Now that I have replaced all my forks with toothpicks, my first house party might be a complete success or failure. It can really go either way. This is where the idea is being tested against metrics that the group decides on. The toothpick idea might be tested against functionality (i.e. does it pick up fruit the same way a fork does? What about pasta?), convenience (i.e. can I carry the toothpick easily or can I buy it from a store, etc.), or entertainment value (i.e. do people enjoy using toothpicks more than forks, etc). These metrics are entirely defined by the idea.
4. The first structure is created: Now, if my house party is a success, my neighbors and friends might also potentially start replacing their forks with toothpicks. What might start off as a joke, could potentially gain enough momentum that it creates structures in complex ways. My neighborhood might start a ‘Toothpick Thursday’ meetup where we experiment on different types of food with a toothpick.
5. The first policy is created: Now that the town has multiple events around the toothpicks replacing the fork, the first influential person might attend these meetings. This can be a TikTok star, an actor, a politician, etc. On the flip side, the meetup founders might become so influential that they are able to influence businesses to support their causes too. This might mean that ‘Toothpick Thursday’ has enough power to send or stop sending residents to specific restaurants, buying from specific companies, or even voting for specific politicians. This amount of power might eventually influence the first law or policy that mandates restaurants to offer toothpicks in addition to forks. There might eventually be a law that prevents forks from being used altogether.

Ideas are powerful and create powerful actors in society

What started off as a fun idea has transformed itself into a powerful and formidable force in this imaginary society. I might have loved forks but I might never be able to use them again if they become illegal. While this example was meant to be lighthearted, all ideas can be seen in a similar light through their evolution across time. You can use the idea of toothpicks or forks or climate change or religious beliefs or abortion or interest rates or property rights and see the same evolution across time. All ideas go through this movement as they become more concrete and impenetrable.

If we continue to move through this society over time, we might notice a subtle paradigm shift happening under the surface. The ‘toothpick’ people might start labeling the non-toothpick people as not fun. This belief in their lack of ‘fun-ness’ might eventually slowly start to shift into judgment over the years.

I might tell my kid, jokingly at first, ‘Hey the neighbors do not like my toothpick idea, they cannot take a joke!’ If I say this enough times, even jokingly, my kid might really start thinking this and stop interacting with their neighbors. Now imagine the 10 people of ‘Toothpick Thursdays’ start saying this as well. This judgment might eventually but steadily create a mental and emotional divide. This mental and emotional divide creates a new idea: I am more fun than them. This idea spurs other ideas such as being fun is better than not being fun, therefore, I am better than them. If my toothpick idea has gained enough momentum, I might make a lot of money too. If I really dislike my neighbors now, I can move somewhere else. If my toothpick friends have also gained money, they might also move to my new neighborhood creating an accidental class division.

These divides, although seemingly silly, can create structural and socio-economic divisions within societies. Over generations, these structures (i.e. gentrification, socio-economic divides, cultural divides, etc.) become almost impossible to permeate. So now, either the non-toothpick people change their values and start adopting toothpicks as well so that they can bridge these divides, or eventually, the social differentiation will become so large that a ‘Toothpick revolution’ might take place to challenge the existing power structures.

This is an intergenerational process.

While the example of a toothpick is silly, you can see how any idea can go through this cycle. If you were born 10 years after the toothpick people gained power in a toothpick family, you might genuinely believe that the toothpick people are ‘better than’ the non-toothpick people. You might not even see how silly it is because you can only see the silliness when you are outside this system. The deeper you are in the midst of this idea, the more you will believe in it. The more people who believe in an idea, the more legitimacy it gains and the more the structures remain intact. These structures might continue to gain a following and continue to create a divide a society.

So, how do you prevent a revolution?

So, how do you prevent a revolution? Maybe we can start with those five questions I posed at the start and take it from there in another piece.

Note: This entire piece conceptualizes how an idea could potentially create a structure. In reality, the idea trail is not always easy to map or follow across time. Some ideas never create structures and some structures are too rigid to allow the influence of new ideas to affect their policies and their structures. Sometimes, ideas dissolve before they are conceived, and at others, they are successfully converted into a new structure that supports the community or society it was made for. Please keep in mind that just because ideas have power and influence does not always mean that an idea is a ‘good idea’. To explore this concept deeper, please read about ‘Tyranny of the majority’ or issues with populism. In these regards, the hierarchies can prevent herd mentality from creating unhelpful structures in society. As you can see, the power of an idea is more complex than meets the eye.