GLOSSARY

Angle of Consciousness.  Angle formed by using the values of consciousness (vertical) and the personal unconscious U_P (horizontal) in a coordinate system for the four states of the ego.

Anima.  Jung’s term for the archetype of femininity within the psyche of every man. Jung equates this with the soul.

Animus.  Jung’s term for the archetype of masculinity within the psyche of every woman. Jung equates this with the soul.

Archetypes.  The components, structures, or organs of the psyche that are located in the collective unconscious.

Assimilation Factor.  A psychic ordering parameter that is a measure of how well the ego can assimilate an experience.

Attractor.  A fractal structure with noninteger dimensionality whose shape is shown in phase space and to which trajectories are attracted. In classical chaos theory, “an attractor is an invariant set to which all nearby orbits converge” (Devancy, 1989, p. 201).

Autopoietic system.  An autopoietic sysytem is one that undergoes

self-generation such as an animate or living dissipative system. Evolution involves a process of material cooperation between living systems. Autopoietic structures are the result of a long series of cooperative exchanges; a holistic unfoldment, not simply an interaction of separate parts.

Bifurcation.  Term used in chaos theory for a sensitive decision point of a complex system. At a bifurcation, a choice is made between two possible outcomes.

Chaos. Webster's dictionary (1988) defines chaos as "the disorder of formless matter and infinite space, supposed to have existed before the ordered universe", and "extreme confusion or disorder." In terms of systems, chaos is a state space (the condition of any system at a given time) where a system exhibits disorder, confusion, uncertainty, or instability.  

Chaos Theory.  “The qualitative study of unstable aperiodic behavior in deterministic nonlinear dynamical systems” (Kellert, 1993, p. 2). Aperiodic behavior is observed when there is no variable, describing the state of the system, that undergoes a regular repetition of values. Unstable aperiodic behavior is highly complex:  it never repeats and it continues to manifest the effects of any small perturbation.

Collective Unconscious.  That part of the unconscious below or under the personal unconscious where contents are shared between all human beings.

Complex.  The name given by Jung to autonomous or semi-autonomous psychic structures within the personal unconscious that compete with the ego for psychic energy.

Complex System.  These are systems with a large number of interrelated parts.  Thus the term is somewhat subjective and interpretive.

Deterministic Chaos.  The dynamics of complex systems whose behavior appears random but actually follows rigid laws.

Dissipative System.  A system that takes on and dissipates energy as it interacts with its environment. The term itself expresses a paradox, because dissipative suggests falling apart or chaos, while structure suggests organization and order.  Dissipative systems are those which are able to maintain identity only because they are open to flows of energy, matter, or information from their environments (Prigogine & Stengers, 1984). 

Dynamic Systems.  These are systems in motion. Most dynamic systems, and all living systems, are open.  Our body, for example, is an open system (Atkins, 1984, p. 179). It also addresses dynamic systems. There are two main types of dynamic systems: discrete and continuous. 

Ego.  A complex within the psyche which constitutes the center of a  person’s field of consciousness and which appears to possess a high degree of continuity and identity. Jungian psychology speaks of an ego complex, which is both a content and a condition of consciousness.

Extensity.  An ordering parameter of a complex system associated with energy.  Here extensity is defined as the area of consciousness in phase space.

Individuation.  The process of forming and specializing one’s individual nature. It is the developmental process of the psychological individual or personality

Instinct.  An impulsion towards certain activities. Those psychic processes over which the ego has no control.

Intensity.  A measure of meaning or what Jung calls value or  “feeling tone.”

Irreversible Systems.  Systems that change over time and whose processes cannot be traced backwards without leaving some sort of evidence, are irreversible systems (Çambel, 1993). Reversible processes are those which can take place forward or backward over time; mathematically, changing time t in their equations to -t will have no effect. Most processes that real-life systems undergo are irreversible just as most complex systems are irreversible.

Libido.  This is the name that Jung gives for psychic energy. Just as the physical body has energy, so does the psyche.

Non-Deterministic Chaos.  The dynamics of systems with sensitive decision points. As the trajectory of a system passes through such points, future behavior becomes unpredictable.

Order.  Webster’s dictionary defines order as "a fixed or definite plan; system; law of arrangement." In terms of systems, order is a  state space where a system exhibits clarity, certainty, or stability. Chaos and order can be considered polar opposites. We can go even farther here because, according to Çambel (1993), order and chaos, or determinism and chance, are like two sides of the same coin, and contrary to traditional thinking, there is no cause-and-effect relationship between the two (p. 21).

Personal Unconscious.  That part of the unconscious that is personal to an individual.

Phase Space.  The state space of a system, a mathematical abstract space used to visualize the evolution of a dynamic system (Nicolis & Prigogine, 1989). Phase space for the ego is defined here as a 2-dimensional chart showing relationships between consciousness, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious over time.

Psyche.  Jung’s term for the totality of each person’s psychic contents.

Psychic Mass.  The psychic equivalent to physical mass. It is defined here as intensity times psychic probability.

Psychic Probability.  A term used by Jung to denote the probability of archetypal activity as opposed to random chance.

Self.  The central archetype of the psyche. This is the archetype that directs the individuation process.

Self-Image.  The image that an ego has of itself. This is formed by memory, a sense of identity, and feelings of self worth or esteem.

Synchronicity. A Jungian term for a meaningful coincidence that has a low probability of being a random or chance event.

System.  Webster's dictionary (1988) defines a system as "a group of things or parts connected in some way so as to form a whole." A system is also, "the body, or a number of bodily organs functioning as a unit." Modern thermodynamics teaches that there are three basic kinds of systems:  isolated, closed, and open (Çambel, 1993, pp. 41-43). Isolated systems are those which are totally independent of their environment (these exist only in the laboratory).  Closed systems are closed to matter (no matter may pass through the boundaries of the system) but are open to energy and information. Open systems are dependent on environment. Matter, energy, and information may pass through the boundaries of open systems. 

Unconscious.  All psychic contents or processes that are not conscious.

Worldview.  The view of the world relative to an ego. The ego uses a worldview to explain and assimilate experience.