Metaphysical Musings — #1 Struggle (Part-0)
“Struggle” — All of us are well aware of this word. Each one of us will have a different definition of struggle. So, what determines the struggles we face? Is it determined by the goals and ambitions we have? Is it governed by our surroundings? Struggles are often thought of as being something to avoid but there are multiple benefits of a “proper set of struggles” which make us wiser and stronger.
To resolve these complex answers I would like to start with a binary classification of struggles as follows :
1. Struggle caused by external agencies
2. Struggle that is self-inflicted
(There is a third classification too I’ll come to it later.)
Let us name the first type of struggle as “Extrinsically Induced Struggle (EIS)” and the latter as “Intrinsic Struggle (IS)”.
The picture on the left helps to visualize the classification wherein the system corresponding to the first classification and the surrounding corresponds to the second one. The boundary, in this case, could get deformed. I’ll come to this part a bit later. For now, one could think of it as a result of dynamic interaction between the system and the surroundings.
Let us now jump onto the fundamentals :
EIS constitutes all those struggles which are a result of circumstances which do not fall into the realm of our control. For example, if one’s car suddenly stops working in the middle of the road and there is absolutely no way you could have caused it. It may be a result of poor weather or road conditions. So the external environment interacts with the system to cause an effect (Now you see the not-so-uncanny resemblance this has with “Thermodynamics”!)
IS are those struggles we face which are self-inflicted i.e. caused by the person or a group (if we take a larger (and more complicated) system). One often makes the wrong decisions and ends up struggling a lot. This is a case where the “system” is faced with problems due to the “system”. Again, IS can be divided into two components-
I. Intrinsic Struggles due to the Individual’s Complete Lack of Understanding (IS-Weak)
II. Intrinsic Struggles which are literally self-inflicted (Assuming Complete Understanding) (IS-Strong)
The former arises out of a complete lack of understanding i.e. due to poorly thought out decisions that lead to an increase in the current “Level Of Struggle”. When I say “Level Of Struggle” I mean to say that these choices one makes may amplify the already existing level of struggle in ones life or may give birth to a new one!
The latter arises out of ambitiousness or recklessness (over-ambitiousness). As one increases the difficulty or count of one’s day to day activities it becomes increasingly difficult to satisfy the level one sets. This type of struggle in moderate level can be really beneficial for an individual (as long as it is not a result of partial understanding) as one stays just out of one’s comfort zone and thus, ensures constant improvement which arises from somewhere within the “system” (intrinsic).
In general, some mixture of both is seen. I would not claim it as being a weighted mean, nth power mean or whatever!
But, it does consist of these two components. This is simply because a person’s understanding is usually never complete. A decision is optimally the best available decision. And, the struggle ideally depends on one’s understanding of the choices available and his/her own goal(s).
The IS-Weak and IS-Strong components are what make up the IS matrix of struggles. A matrix of choices and each of these choices have their own true level of reliability.
Well then! That was well represented but the sad part is that this matrix is frame dependent. (Again, this resembles tensors which are basically matrices which are frame dependent). This is because a decision in my frame may have some level of reliability which may in truth be higher or lesser than the true reliability of that decision. On a side note: “Who knows the truth?”
Get ready to witness the EIS-IS Coupling Theory -
The choice matrix is not independent and depends on the external environment. In other words, choices made by the “system” are affected by the “surroundings” and not only dependent on the current state but also the “surroundings” of the past as well “surroundings” which are virtual (fantasies fabricated in the mind). The “surroundings” also largely determine the effect the implementation of the choices in the choice matrix will have on the “system”. Just like in Thermodynamics the state of the system is largely dictated by the surroundings (in Steady State).
Conversely, it is the culmination of all those “choices” (made by aware systems) or “spontaneous processes” (that are governed by fundamental laws of nature) that have led to the current state of the “surroundings”. In a simpler sense, it is our decisions which have shaped and will shape the environment.
The bottom line is that EIS and IS are coupled. I treated them individually in order to build up to the part where one can appreciate the coupling between them. I hope that the readers with contradicting thoughts during the initial stages of this text will now feel more convinced.
After all this discussion, there’s a question that stays unanswered :
“How does one stay on the “proper” side of struggle?”
