On Chaos and Conflict So many things in nature appear at first glance to be chaotic, but on extended observation are seen to embody a kind of order not apparent to the comparative mode that acknowledges nothing other than the known -- patterns recognizable by thought -- as "orderly" or otherwise benign. Perhaps what we really mean by "chaos" is more like "conflict" which, as Jim is so fond of pointing out, is something we seem to be "choosing" (by yet more arbitrary labeling). In this very moment there is no conflict because there is no comparison with an imagined (concocted from fragments of memory) "better" future. This does not mean we cannot see and act as necessary, it simply means we are not rendered "chaotic" or "conflicted" by such situations -- thought serves us by devising solutions rather than infuriating and enervating us by obsessing on problems. (An excerpt from - Listening-I email list)