Moving From Nothing to Something Amidst VUCA-Plus Conditions
There is a significant challenge associated with the transition from nothing to something when we live with conditions of volatility (how do I know I have created something that will endure), uncertainty (how do I know that I have actually created something), ambiguity (what is it that I have created) and turbulence (how can I concentrate on creating one thing with everything swirling about me). However, I propose that there are even greater challenges associated with the movement to something when faced with complex and contradictory conditions. I provide some evidence for this claim.
Complexity
Those who study the nature and dynamics of complex systems often point to the powerful influence of a specific dynamic that tends to operate when complex conditions are present. This dynamic is called a “strange attractor.” When operating in a complex system, we are often pulled into a state or pattern (fractal) from which it is hard to extricate oneself. Furthermore, the creation of a strange attractor is hard to predict in terms of not only when it will occur but also the way in which it will operate. In many ways, strange attractors operate as if they are a vacuum that pulls in whatever exists in a specific space.
Given the dynamics of strange attractors, it is hard to be creative in a consistent, enduring manner. I know in the writing of dissertations by my doctoral students, there is often a period when they are stuck. A specific theme or observations keeps repeating in their head and in their writing. They find it hard to move beyond this “attractor.” I am also reminded of the tragic story of Ellen West, who is preoccupied with the prospect of suicide. It is only at the point when she can take her own life that Ellen feels she has some control over her life (Binswanger, 1958).
Artists in all fields often describe being blocked by a recurring image or theme. They are caught up in a strange attractor, as are those trying to be creative in solving a problem or preparing an innovative project. Jungians would even suggest that these artists and problem-solvers are trapped by powerful archetypes that dwell in our unconscious. These archetypes (related to such images as mother, father, fate, and wisdom) pull us downward to a set of primitive images. An archetype of the uroboros or the Mandala pulls us into an unending search for unity, while an archetype related to Alchemy pulls us toward the search for making something precious out of something that is basic and unrefined.
More generally, there is a Jungian based proposal that the fractals appearing in strange attractors relate to the way in which we store memories. More generally, Harry Shirley (2025) suggests that fractals align with the Unus Mundus—a shared, archetypal realm of number and pattern. This perspective would lead us to view the challenge as particularly great when we try to be creative and produce something out of nothing during the mid-21st Century. For the complex field in which we are operating is filled with many strange attractors and fractals. We are pulled and yanked in many directions when things are complex (and volatile, uncertain, ambiguous and turbulent). Even our memories may be wrapped up in compulsive fractals.
