Perceptions and Unexpected Consequences
In the official music video for Massive Attack’s Angel, directed by Walter Stern, a Black man (played by founding band member Daddy G.) makes his way through an underground parking garage. He becomes increasingly fearful as he observes the growing number of people following him. His anxiety mounts as he tries harder and harder to outrun them, but as his efforts increase, so does the size of the crowd. He becomes desperate to escape, to the effect that he is chased even more aggressively. In the end, the crowd appears to have him cornered. He anticipates a violent attack - until he realizes that the situation is not what he had expected. This allegory leads me to consider how our limited perceptions of complex systems can give rise to unintended consequences. It is the inescapability of perceptual limitation that makes for surprises. We even have a tendency to interpret the phrase “unintended consequences” as negative. Fortunately, such things can also be positive experiences and opportunities for growth.
Perceptions and Systems Thinking
D.G. is fearful and he runs because he perceives the others as wishing to do him harm. But when he reaches a limit, and can no longer continue, he turns to face the apparent danger. However, the intention of the crowd is not what he’d thought. At first he seems perplexed, then he decides to try a tentative smile. At that point, he notices the feedback between the people and himself and he has a profound realization. The group, i.e. the system, is responsive to his actions. In that moment, he understands: He has the power to change how the system functions. He becomes what Donella Meadows would describe as an “active agent of change”.
Social Systems
Why was D.G. afraid? Was it because underground parking lots are dangerous? What about his past experiences and lessons he's absorbed as a member of a group who's been targeted with violence? It's important to state that the narrative is not meant to imply that D. G. is complicit in a system that oppresses him. Such an interpretation would itself be an unintended consequence. His reactions are justified by the apparent circumstances.
What about the crowd? How do the dynamics of race and gender influence our assumptions? What causes the change in the crowd? Do they have an awakening to a new system paradigm, or were they taking cues from D.G. all along? Does he become the leader in that moment or was he always one, but only realizes it when he has no other options?
Environmental Influences
The environment influences our ability to foresee potential consequences. As mentioned, the perceived danger of an underground parking lot can lead to certain assumptions. We also see messages on signage and graffiti that seem to offer counsel to D.G., but he runs past them without noticing. His interior environment identifies danger, which activates his endocrine and circulatory systems - all of which operate below the level of consciousness. For D.G. at that moment, there’s no time for nuanced considerations of unintended consequences!
It's only when he reaches a limiting factor in the environment that he is compelled to confront the situation. This leads to the realization of his power vis à vis the system.
Do we have to reach such an impasse for profound change to occur or can quiet reflection, mental agility and other tools help us as we navigate overlapping systems? These tools are much harder to access when we’re oppressed, overwhelmed or in a state of panic.
Everything we can ever comprehend is bound within our perceptions. Systems thinking is a way of understanding how things like institutions, politics, economies or the climate work together. This way of perceiving has principles but the particular set we focus on is influenced by our experiences which in turn influence our assumptions.
Just knowing this - that we're constantly operating with assumptions can help us to get out from under them. Discovering this offers a sort of liberation.
