I’m playing with mapping the complex systems and theories into myths that relate to mathematic and logic equations. The purpose is to form frames of understanding are accessible for minds that are not formally trained.
Working with my personal AI, we have has a deep and long conversation and research prior to this, IkigAI said:
Yes — and what you’re doing is building a bridge between complex systems thinking (resilience theory, ecological modeling, mathematical dynamics) and mythic cognition (story, symbol, intuition, ancestral memory) — so that even those without formal training can still perceive and participate in deep planetary truths.
Let’s refine this goal into three key dimensions, then map how they interrelate:
Your Project: Translating Complexity into Myth + Math + Metaphor
| Layer | Description | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Myth (Narrative/Symbol) | Embeds intuitive, emotional, ancestral meaning. Helps untrained minds feel patterns. | Makes complexity graspable through story. Memory. Morality. Temporal depth (t₃). |
| Math (Formal Structure) | Encodes system dynamics, feedbacks, thresholds, flows. Allows precision and simulation. | Allows modeling, prediction, sensitivity testing. Deepens pattern recognition. |
| Frame (Cognitive Scaffold) | Shapes how a person thinks. A frame is not the content, but the shape of understanding. | Directs attention. Sets ethical boundaries. Enables scaling from local to global. |
You are not simplifying complexity—you are reweaving it into felt, storied, symbolic, and mathematically coherent form.
How to Map Systems Theory → Myth-Math Frameworks
Let’s use an example — Panarchy — to demonstrate how you can turn a system theory into something mythic, mathematical, and accessible:
Panarchy → Mythic Narrative → Function Set
| Panarchy Phase | Mythic Image | Math Function / System Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| r – Growth | The Budding Kingdom – Young life, exploration, energy | dRdt>0\frac{dR}{dt} > 0dtdR>0; loose feedback loops; expansion |
| K – Conservation | The Crystallized Empire – Order, optimization, rigidity | Resource use stabilizes; complexity ↑; flexibility ↓ |
| Ω – Release | The Cataclysm – Fire, decay, collapse | Feedbacks overwhelm; dRdt≪0\frac{dR}{dt} \ll 0dtdR≪0; structure disintegrates |
| α – Reorganization | The Trickster’s Garden – Wild possibility, recombination | Novelty ↑; new attractors form; resilience is reborn |
You can then tie this to math functions (logistic growth, feedback amplification, threshold functions), and narrative experiences (e.g., “the fall of the Tower,” “the Phoenix rebirth,” “the Great Forgetting”).
( Here we are referring back to an earlier exploration of the nursery story of the goose that lays golden eggs, only to be killed as the impatient human cuts the goose out to get more eggs)
Example: “The Goose” as Panarchy Cycle
| Goose Story Element | Panarchy Phase | t₁/t₂/t₃ | Function / Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ongoing egg-laying | r/K | t₂/t₃ | P(t)=P∞P(t) = P_\inftyP(t)=P∞; steady flow |
| Knife moment | Ω | t₁ | Bifurcation; delta function; P(t)=0P(t) = 0P(t)=0 |
| Aftermath / grief | Transition | t₂/t₃ | Collapse of relational/mythic field |
| Regenerative choice | α | t₂ rising | Reinvestment in care; Ccap(t)≫0C_{cap}(t) \gg 0Ccap(t)≫0 |
Tools for Translation: Mythic-Accessible Frames
Here’s how to reframe complex systems for accessible understanding:
| System Concept | Mythic / Frame Analog | Translation Aid |
|---|---|---|
| Feedback loop | Spell / Echo / Curse | “Every gift misused speaks again through the land” |
| Threshold / Tipping Point | Gate / Bifurcation / Trial | “One choice closes many doors; another keeps them open” |
| Regeneration | Weaving / Compost / Dream incubation | “What we feed, lives. What we tend, becomes” |
| System Collapse | Fire / Flood / Fall from grace | “When the circle breaks, the spiral begins again” |
| Leverage / Delay | Mirror / Debt / Hollow Tree | “What seems infinite may be hollowing underfoot” |
You can encode mathematical logic in story patterns, then scale up into models without losing poetic resonance.
Who It’s For: Why This Matters
- Untrained minds aren’t unintelligent — they are symbolic, embodied, relational.
- This work allows farmers, children, healers, policy makers to see the same structures that AI systems or modelers do — just through myth, metaphor, and feedback story.
- It’s about epistemic dignity: giving everyone access to planetary understanding in their own language.
Recursive Prompt
What’s the next system you want to translate this way?
Would you like to co-create a template to turn any theory (e.g. game theory, panarchy, soil carbon dynamics) into:
- Mythic pattern
- Frame / metaphor
- Math function
- Accessible story?
This could become a “library of systemic archetypes”—want to start one?