In his article “From myth to math: chaos and consciousness” Ralph Abraham champions the view that we would be better off with a society that embraces chaos. He argues that we have an education system that “is producing sickness and contributing to the global ecological problems on the planet by destroying the native intelligence children have…” and that our schools are “full of false ideas and bad habits” so that a new education system rather than reform is the only viable remedy.” As the possessor of one undergraduate and four graduate degrees on top of the usual 12 years of public education (in the United States) about all I care to say on this is that I have had both wonderful and terrible teachers. I don’t feel that my native intelligence was destroyed in the process, but I acknowledge that I might not be able to tell. It is certainly true, however, that my math education was, I think, way too limited–perhaps too limited to understand chaos theory without effort that I can no longer afford. So, maybe Abraham has a point.

As to chaos, Abraham writes: “The repression of chaos began with the patriarchal takeover 6000 years ago.” He then posits that the Minoan civilization, flourishing before that, is an example of a “high culture accepting chaos” which serves as a model of sorts for what a non-patriarchal chaos-embracing civilization may look like.

Much rides on how we understand the words “patriarchal” and “chaos.” Both words reside in a thicket of meanings and the meaning of meanings. Not wishing to spend much time in this forest, let me only say that regarding patriarchy there are always concerns when some exercise control over others and no gender or person should ever have control over another–save to protect them or others. Note that even with this caveat of protection there is a forest of concerns about who gets to make these decisions–another set of concerns I will avoid for now.

As to Minoan civilization, this is another subject I best avoid–it’s just too remote to comment on in any way that would enlighten our current social troubles.

Chaos is another story. Abraham views it a purely positive light. Chaos is “the essence of life: more chaos as healthier” (p. 28). Pure chaos, however, is understood by most, I believe, as leading only to more chaos. There is, however, order that arises from the chaos of the world. Chaos may be the engine that produces change, but its tangential gyrations do not upset everything but rather fit into the great scheme of things –somehow–or they do not persist. We need chaos, but chaos in itself can never be the end, only a new potential flourishing that may take hold. With this caveat, I concur with Abraham: “We must learn to see the good side of Chaos, to understand the shadow side of order [repression], and to recognize how we participate in the repression of Chaos and creativity by Cosmic (order) in our daily lives” (p.31).

Professor Abraham did not live to see publication of our book. I, like some of the other authors, only had brief interactions with him over Zoom, but he was clearly –and will forever be–a beacon of the creative spirit and dearly missed.