4. Is This All There Is?

G’day legends,

Ever looked at the way medicine, nutrition, climate science, or big business runs, and wondered, “Hang on, isn’t there more to it than this?” Too often we get treated like cogs in a machine, expected to follow a textbook formula. But let’s be honest, life’s a lot messier—and a lot more interesting—than any instruction manual.

Here’s the thing: the world isn’t just a complicated system where you tick the boxes and everything falls into place. No, it’s complex—full of wild connections, surprising feedback, and outcomes that no computer could ever fully predict.

Let’s break it down. If you treat a complex system like it’s just complicated, you’re setting yourself up for trouble. Take the debate about cows and climate: some folks reckon cutting down our beef numbers will save the planet. But that argument misses all the other relationships in the mix—what cows do for soil health, how natural cycles work, and much more.

Only a tiny portion of the system is looked at and understood – how much methane cows produce – and that is mistaken for the full story.

It’s this flawed point of view that makes it easy for the pharmaceutical and military-industrial complex to convince people that:

• the sun is bad for you (when actually, sun avoidance is as harmful as smoking)
• statins prevent heart disease (when heart disease is a result of metabolic dysfunction)
• red meat is harmful because it “causes cancer” (when it’s one of the most bioavailable sources of nutrition available)
• the success of a company is measured in stock price, and the success of a country is measured in GDP (when going to war also increases GDP)
• mass industrial farming is a good idea because it produces more food and better profit margins (at the expense of topsoil and nutritive value of the plants). 

 

It’s all tunnel vision—building a story out of one tiny thread, not the whole rich tapestry.

Here’s a better way of looking at it. You, me—every one of us—is a complex system. Sure, you sprang from just two cells, but look at you now: thoughts, feelings, quirks, and a lifetime of relationships. Nobody can predict exactly what you’ll do next, and that’s half the fun, isn’t it? Complex systems bounce back, heal, and grow in unexpected ways. You’re not a car that breaks down and needs a part swapped; you adapt and evolve.

On the flip side, complicated systems—like computers or factory lines—work only because every part is mapped and measured. Change a piece, and the whole thing shifts exactly as the blueprint says. Problem is, these systems don’t repair themselves, don’t adapt, and they create waste we can’t easily fix.

Now, let’s talk loops. Open-loop systems just crank out the same stuff over and over, no matter what happens. Closed-loop systems, though, learn and change as they go—think of a healthy ecosystem that recycles, renews, and thrives, even after a setback.

Nature’s a closed-loop marvel. When things go right, every bit flows back into the cycle—plants grow, animals live, die, decay, and feed the next generation, no waste, no shortage, nothing chucked out. But when we toss in toxins, break natural connections, or “fix” things with shortcuts, we push these systems out of whack and risk losing the magic.

So what does this mean for you? Well, don’t buy into quick fixes or one-size-fits-all answers. Choose local, choose relationships, choose complexity over complicated. Buy your food from farmers who care for the land, think twice about glossy “miracle” solutions, and stay curious about how things connect.

Most importantly, remember: you’re not a machine, and neither is the world. We need each other, and we need to build solutions that honour the wild, unpredictable, and wonderful nature of life. If we want a future that lasts, it’s going to take all of us—thinking together, working together, and refusing to settle for anything less.

Let’s keep the conversation going. Next week, we’ll chat about what a truly regenerative, community-driven model might look like. Spoiler: it’s got a lot to do with being part of something bigger.

Here’s to our Forever Freedom

Susannah