The Co-Creation Hypothesis

Abstract

This article presents a general hypothesis based on empirical studies and mathematical models of creative processes: processes create opposites (bifurcation cascades) and opposites co-create processes and structures. Natural processes are spontaneously creative, displaying pattern transformation, novelty, diversification, and nonrandom complexity. These measurable properties distinguish creative processes (physiological, economic, meteorological series, and bios generated by mathematical models of interacting opposites) from attractive processes (equilibrium, periodicity, chaos), and from conservative processes (mechanical, random). A model of bipolar (positive and negative) feedback generates a development from steady state asymmetric equilibrium to multiple bifurcations, periodicity, chaos, bios, and infinitation. In nature, action (transformation of energy) is the sole constituent of systems; opposite actions coexist; feedback is bipolar; and bifurcation cascades and biotic-like patterns are widely observed. These facts suggest that the interaction of orthogonal actions (similar in one dimension and opposite in another) generates a creative development at all levels of organization. Determined creation represents an alternative to both deterministic and probabilistic models of nature, and to the notion of unavoidable decay to entropic disorder. Co-creation involves both synergy and conflict, integrating one-sided theories of biological evolution, historical development, and socioeconomic processes. Clinical observations and experiments with mathematical models of bipolar feedback show that the more complex patterns emerge when the interacting opposites are fairly equal and of moderate energy. This suggests practical guidelines for family therapy and for social organization.