Theoretical Musings on "Reality"

Good ol' Z-Man has an interesting thought experiment about 'new' reality going on.  

People who work with large complex systems understand that you don’t always know what will result from even the smallest change in the system. Usually this lesson is learned the hard way, by making some small change that seems simple, only to find out it caused serious downstream problems. Large complex systems are often highly dependent on initial conditions. Those small changes to the initial state, after they branch through the system, can have a huge impact.

This was a point wiser heads made about the Covid panic. The American economy is a wildly complex nonlinear system....

Large chunk of text follows in which he discusses the change in entertainment from "sportsball" to "politics."   Then he goes a bit Zen:

...In a complex system like a large human society, when the initial conditions change sufficiently, a new dynamic ensues. The unexpected downstream effects loop back and inform the evolution of those initial conditions. The feedback loop between downstream effects and those evolving initial conditions becomes fuel for the changing state of those initial conditions. This is the revolutionary dynamic. Change fuels more change, until the system collapses in on itself.

When the rulers broke the old rhythms with their lock downs, they started a revolution in the minds of the people over whom they rule. As those minds now evolve, seeing the reality of the world created by their betters, the ruling class is desperately trying to contain the process. Like all radicals, they remain supremely confident they will be the vanguard of this revolution.....

With or without "revolution," there are good reasons to be concerned about the next couple of years.  "Sportsball" was not the only loser; the Met (e.g.) has cancelled all of 2020 AND 2021.  The local symphony hasn't had a live show since the WuFlu 'got real' sometime in early March.  Live and movie-theaters are almost dead, and restaurants/bars are on life-support, as are most of their (former) employees.

Despite Rush Limbaugh's heated assertions to the contrary, there WILL be a 'new normal.'  Much of it is already present.  

We don't think riots and insurrection will be a permanent feature, but the method of quashing them may well change to the "Rittenhouse model"---armed citizens guarding lives, properties, and cities in conjunction with police.

Interesting times lie ahead; 2021 will be just as fascinating as is 2020.