Yogic exhalations ;)
Pattern Readers and Pattern Agnostics


When you come to think of it, we spend most of our adult lives making decisions, or planning for them. Its just that simple. From the stupid and mundane ones about daily challenges, to those which have a significant bearing on our lives and on the lives of others.

All thinking beings learn and act based on a common skill ... that of pattern recognition. From Pavlov's salivating dog to the stock trader to the physicist or economist, all at some point rely on what they can 'see' in data and what they have learnt to 'intuit' from it. Pattern recognition is applied innately and universally, but it is in the challenge of breaking new ground where obvious patterns have not been encountered is where simple pattern recognition is challenged. Let's call this is a 'pattern vacuum'.

How does one make a decision on a future course of action about a situation he or she encounters for the first time, and has no learning to fall back on? How does one know whether one shall be successful or not? Which factors carry heavier weights than others? What may matter and what may not?

If you believe in the theory of Intelligent Design, then you may have already juxtaposed your life's 'pattern vacuums' against the 'purpose' of Intelligent Design. If you do not believe in Intelligent Design, then read no further ;). (I have not interest in changing the course of your life)


But to veer back to the topic at hand, the question that appears is ... if there is intelligent design and if life should have a purpose ... and if a choice set is placed before one, what should one do in a 'pattern vacuum'? Clearly the logical answer is to find the objective, that of personal growth, meaning and direction, and look at the most efficient way of meeting that.

I guess here it may be possible to make an oversimplification, much along the lines of that in any book about people and behaviour ('Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', etc).

Let me for a moment lead you to believe that there may be two groups of people.
1. those who are forever looking for a pattern in what is happening around them, and
2.those who are simply not.

I guess I could be right, because at an aggregate level, there will always be two groups of people, will there not? :)



The first group of 'pattern readers' attempt to associate and plot a curve through events, science, people, karma, faith, experiences, etc etc, seeking to make sense of their lives, and in the process attempting to read the blueprint of their life through the thick veil of tracing paper that is everyday reality. The holy grail of this lot is a working model of their future lives, and the most efficient paths to get there.

The 'pattern agnostics' choose not to plot the curve. They may ascribe to intelligent design, but they are happy to take these experiences for what they are, and are not concerned with reading the blueprint or extrapolating the same. In a pattern vacuum, this lot will ignore 'Intelligent Purpose' and decide purely materially, even with a willingness to repeat their past mistakes. Everyones knows a number of such people, regardless of demographics. A fair choice, given that it is impossible to know anything for sure behind the thick veil of daily existence.


For this one reason, 'pattern agnostics' will always outnumber the 'pattern readers'. I have also found this to be empirically true.

If you are with me so far, let me tell you that I think I am a pattern reader. Like most traits, introvert-extrovert, shy-outgoing, garrulous-reticent, courageous-timid, etc, the classification may be unpopulated at either end of the scale (I firmly believe no one is absolutely shy or timid or courageous and like everything else, it is about average time spent closer to any particular end) but is simply a way of stating which end of the spectrum you would prefer if it came to making a choice.


So where is all this going?

This is going to the territory of the application of pattern reading at the level of individual life.

I guess the only real application of 'pattern reading' today at an individual level is in the somewhat gray area of astrology. Astrology, at its core an empirical science, is inexact at best, and is unreliable give the levels of disagreement between astrologers (trust me, I know :))


Who's the best pattern reader for your life? Well, obviously YOU.

As someone who ascribes to the above, albeit moderately, given that this theory is simply mine :), and given I'd like one "ascriber" at least, I have some follow on thoughts on the same. If you base your choices on pattern reading, like any trained statistician, you are burdened with cleaning up data - what to consider and what not to consider. At some point, you shall arrive, albeit theoretically at a 'life model' based on what you perceive as the blueprint of your choice. Theoretically at this point, if you have been right, all the choices you make, will be exactly the choices that will align your free will with your perfect intelligent destiny, accelerating your own growth. Perfection.


Alas I am human. As much as I exhibit a preference for pattern recognition, I have still found it wiser and somehow easier to "let it be" and keep the faith.


More on this from time to time. If you actually read all of this, I hope it was time well spent. Here's a nice picture of the Pacific for your troubles ;)