Mr. Norretranders shows that notion to be a fallacy. More is different. He explains in his wonderful book The User Illusion how life evolved from the simple to the complex. And it evolved thusly from repetition. Specifically from the repetition of the same thing over and over and over again.
In a different context, consider the idea of splitting a slab of marble. The marble could conceivably take ninety-nine blows from a hammer and not split in the least. And yet that hundredth blow might split the slab from top to bottom. More is different.
The notion of banging your head against the wall. Conventional wisdom would say to stop. Find a way around the wall. 'More is different' would say, 'Keep banging. One more knock might knock the damn thing down.'
From my personal experience I can report that there is definitely something to seemingly irrational persistence. I used to be lousy at a lot of stuff and just pigheadedly stayed after it until I became pretty darn good at it. Oh, I haven't pursued everything that way—I gave up on playing the guitar in a hurry ('put your fingers here on the neck and then shift them onto an entirely different position' What!!). But most stuff I've stuck with.
My favorite saying in life is: ruthless striving overcomes everything.
I remember the story by Kate Chopin called "The Awakening" and the line: "I have overcome everything!"
Overcoming is how my life has worked. It's like that pounding on the marble, day after day, year after year, decade after decade. There really haven't been any sensational breakthroughs, no clearly demarcated lines of achievement crossed. But there have been many soul-satisfying moments of, Hey, I can do this thing now. This thing that has baffled, demoralized, intimidated, exhausted me for so long has been overcome.
No great intelligence, no superior genes or talent. Just simple ruthless repetitive striving.
And overcoming.
More is different.
In a way it is nice to hear that one can have breakthroughs. However, what if you don't have a breakthrough? When do you decide to give up? How do you know when to give up?
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrea. That's a good point. You might be right on the edge of a breakthrough and you might not be. I remember something Walter Payton said. 'When you really give it your all, you're always on the very edge of injuring yourself.' It's a major paradox for sure.
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