Spontaneous Self-Organization in the Brain-Mind may be natural, inhibited or enhanced. It is natural when left to itself, inhibited when interfered with in an unintelligent manner like most educational systems do, and enhanced when intelligently aided. And when so intelligently aided that the spontaneous self-organizing tendency is coupled with the self-actualizing tendency inherent in the human being, it becomes stimulated self-organization.

Da Vinci: Leonardo, we now come to the most significant part of our work, that of simulated self-organization.

Leonardo: So why not begin by defining what simulated self-organization is?

Da Vinci: I think from the term spontaneous itself, there is a suggestion of stimulated, like in the laser.

Leonardo: Laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

Da Vinci: And that is a good point to begin our dialogue. Now, consider spontaneous emission of radiation. As we know, this is the emission of radiation by an atom when an electron jumps to a lower energy level from a higher. And the process is spontaneous because it happens by itself. We don’t have much control over it except in providing the energy to the electron by some means by which it temporarily gets excited to a higher energy level. And as this energy level is not stable, the electron immediately falls to its previous stable level by the emission of a photon of radiation. So if you have a material that has a large number of atoms all capable of emission, we can have spontaneous emission of radiation.

Leonardo: And this radiation is not coherent, nor monochromatic, nor focussed.

Da Vinci: Yes, not coherent in the sense of the radiation of each atom is not being in phase with the rest.

Leonardo: And in stimulated emission, the radiation is in phase and so, coherent, and also monochromatic and intensely focussed.

Da Vinci: yes, Leonardo. This is sufficient for our analogy. So you have spontaneous self-organization wherein the self-organization need not be coherent, nor focussed but nevertheless, there is an order. 

Leonardo: Perhaps you can outline how a spontaneous emission can be transformed into stimulated emission in the case of radiation.

Da Vinci: Suppose you feed in atoms with a similar energy level as that of the higher excited energy level to which the earlier atoms have been raised to, at least half the percentage, then, these new atoms can resonate with the old and the energy doubled as if. When the combined atoms emit radiation, it comes out as an intense, coherent, monochromatic narrow beam, the laser.

Leonardo: Similarly, in the case fo self-organization, by supporting the initial self-organization by a resonant order, it is possible to have a stimulated self-organization!

Da Vinci: You have captured the analogy quite well, Leonardo. Now to spell out the details.

Leonardo: How do we stimulate the spontaneous self-organization then?

Da Vinci: Leonardo, the key term seems to be resonance. It is necessary to set up a resonance between several quantities so that all these may be amplified. Now you tell me what you think are these, Leonardo.

Leonardo: I would say, interest, motivation, passion, skills, purpose.

Da Vinci: That’s good, Leonardo. Let me put this more clearly: essentially we need to set up a resonance of ordered complexity. And interest, motivation, passion, skills, purpose, as you point out are the ingredients of ordered complexity. To cast them even more powerfully, let us consider the hierarchy of needs and the neurological levels.

Leonardo: I am aware to a certain extent of the hierarch of needs, Da Vinci. But as to the neurological levels, I have no clue.

Da Vinci: Let me explain, Leonardo. As to the hierarchy of needs, it is due to Abraham Maslow. There are essentially three zones of needs, already captured by our dialogue on spontaneous self-organization. If you recall, we came across three zones when we talked about critical phenomena on self-organization in the brain-mind. 

Leonardo: Yes, Da Vinci, the pain-pleasure zone, the flow zone and the purpose zone.

Da Vinci: Exactly, Leonardo. Now, for our purpose, let us recast these slightly as - the pain-pleasure zone, the passion-flow zone and the vision-purpose zone. Our task is to set up a resonance in the corresponding zones of the learner and the mentor. And remember, the mentor need have nothing to do with being a teacher but only one who knows how to initiate the resonance.

Leonardo: So the mentor is more of a master facilitator.

Da Vinci: That’s aptly said Leonardo, a master facilitator. For, an ordinary facilitator would not do. One needs to have reached the level of mastery by climbing the ladder of meta-learning. 

Leonardo: The ladder of meta-learning? What is that, Da Vinci?

Da Vinci: Hmm…now that I mentioned it, I might as well spell it out, Leonardo. Though, to really explain it requires an immersion in another deep dialogue. The ladder of meta-learning is - interest, motivation, dedication, practice, expertise, creativity, mastery.

Leonardo: Wow, that’s great to hear, Da Vinci.

Da Vinci: And meta-learning as you know, Leonardo, is learning about learning or learning to learn. Of course, it need not stop at the first order, that is learning about learning. It could move on to the second order learning about learning about learning…and this is no mere tautology. It is quite serious. It is similar to meta-cognition, - thinking about thinking. The meta faculty is distinctive of and unique to, the human brain-mind. And as you see, Leonardo, mastery comes at the top of the ladder of meta-learning. A master facilitator, therefore, is one who has, in one’s own experience, reached the top of the ladder of meta-learning and can effectively initiate and guide others through the ladder.

Leonardo: So we take it that try mentor we mean the master-facilitator.

Da Vinci: Yes, Leonardo. So, coming back to our theme on the hierarchy of needs, first, the mentor needs to set up a resonance in the three zones, - the pain-pleasure zone, the passion-flow zone and the vision-purpose zone. And then similarly in the neurological levels. I am now going to explain to you what these neurological levels are.

Leonardo: Are they similar to the levels of needs?

Da Vinci: Quite similar, Leonardo. In a sense they reflect the hierarchy of needs. The neurological levels are - environment, behaviour, skills, beliefs, identity, purpose.

Leonardo: Ah, again the end point is purpose!

Da Vinci: Yes, Leonardo, both the hierarchy of needs and the neurological levels culminate in purpose. However, the neurological levels facilitate making changes by conditioning the nervous system and is therefore more action-oriented and workable. And it is not surprising why purpose is the culmination. For, do you recall one of the definitions of order we spoke about earlier?

Leonardo: Da Vinci, yes, I do, order is information that fits a purpose.

Da Vinci: There you are, Leonardo. Since order is information that fits a purpose, purpose infuses order onto information. And so all the information relevant to the hierarchy of needs and the neurological levels gets infused by order due to the overarching purpose.

Leonardo: Please go ahead with the neurological levels, Da Vinci. I can hardly wait to know about it.

Da Vinci: Leonardo, let us take the neurological levels as I mentioned above. The first is Environment. By this is meant the surrounding physical space and the objects in it we interact with. These objects may be animate or inanimate. Essentially, the objects have an effect on us and in the hierarchy of the neurological levels, the least effect. Nevertheless, by changing the environment, we can effect a change in us. So environment plays a key role in change work. In the context of learning, the mentor needs to set up a resonance between the environment and the student, a resonance that enhances learning. 

Leonardo: So the mentor begins this process by sharing the environment and responding to it in a way that paces the student’s response?

Da Vinci: Apparently yes, Leonardo. But there is a subtle problem in this. And indeed, in all of pacing. You see, Leonardo, the mentor no doubt needs to pace the student in order to lead the student. However, if the student’s pace is not conducive to the learning, the mentor may, in attempting to pace the student, end up enhancing the undesirable pace of the student. Herein lies the paradox of pacing, a paradox that we must resolve before arriving at the secret of effective pacing.

Leonardo: What is that secret, Da Vinci?

Da Vinci: The secret is that the mentor must succeed in nudging the student to pace the mentor and not the other way. I call this inverse-pacing. And this in turn is possible only if the student is already infused with a sense of purpose.

Leonardo: You mean, if the student is without a sense of purpose, this inverse-pacing is not possible?

Da Vinci: Yes, Leonardo, unfortunately, so. At least, I know of no case wherein effective pacing is possible without the student having a sense of purpose.

Leonardo: That means…that means…this kind of learning is not possible for one without a sense of purpose?

Da Vinci: Yes, Leonardo. Without a sense of purpose, one can nevertheless, learn. But that does not lead very far. And certainly not towards accelerated learning. So from now on, we leave out the case of the student who is not already infused with a sense of purpose. We assume that all we are going to talk about from now on, applies only to the student having a sense of purpose.

Leonardo: Ah, I see how purpose seems to be the alpha and omega of all great learning!

Da Vinci: Yes, Leonardo, purpose guides and shapes the beginning, middle and end of all great learning. It is like a wave-guide or pilot-wave for learning.

Leonardo: Because, purpose endows learning with order!

Da Vinci: Exactly, Leonardo. And so from now on, we can continue with that as a working hypothesis.

Leonardo: So to inverse pace the student, the mentor begins to endow the environment with positivity?

Da Vinci: Yes, Leonardo. The mentor focusses on the positive elements in the environment and inverse-paces the student. That is, allows the student to pace the mentor in focussing on the positive elements. And then, as the student begins to so pace the mentor, the mentor gently leads the student to more and more positivity till the environment becomes conducive for positive change.

Leonardo: Da Vinci, I am struck by this process of inverse-pacing you mention? Could you elaborate it a little?

Da Vinci: Yes, Leonardo. In fact, I was quite sure you would want to know more about it, inverse-pacing and in fact, inverse-leading. 

Leonardo: Inverse-leading, oh, I get it, it must be a natural extension of inverse-pacing.

Da Vinci: You guessed it right, Leonardo. Now, as to inverse-pacing, the mentor, instead of allowing the student to begin, uses language in such a way that he appears to invite the student to begin but in fact invites the student to invite him to begin. This prevents any undesirable elements from emerging rom the student. You see, the student is not necessarily coming from the purpose but to the purpose. This from and to is in fact the crucial distinction. The mentor comes from the purpose and the student to the purpose!

Leonardo: Ah, I get it exactly. It is necessary to come from the purpose. That is descend from the higher level and bring its light to the lower and not the other way around.

Da Vinci: Yes, Leonardo. The mentor with the greater experience and knowledge must invite the student to invite him to pace. This is inverse pacing. And as this inverse pacing begins to take place, the mentor leads in such a way that the student thinks and feels that he is leading. This is inverse leading. And always it is the mentor who is inviting the student to invite him to lead. In this manner, the student owns the learning. Never for a moment he thinks he is following the mentor but rather that the mentor is following him. In reality the mentor is all the time pacing and leading the student.

Leonardo: Da Vinci, this then, is no ordinary communication that the mentor has with the student. I am sure something deep is at work here.

Da Vinci: Of course, Leonardo. The mentor to do this needs a mastery over language, not just the literal command but the command over the conscious and unconscious use of language.

Leonardo:  What do you mean, Da Vinci?

Da Vinci: Leonardo, the mentor needs to know how to pace and to inverse-pace, how to lead and to inverse-lead. And for this he needs to know how to deploy language to tune cognitive load.  He needs to know how to speak in such a way as to steadily increase cognitive load so that the student begins to slip into a trance like state. And in such a state, install learning that could emerge at a later stage. And likewise, he needs to know how to steadily decrease cognitive load so that the student becomes alert and aware to ask questions and pose problems.

Leonardo: I think I get what inverse-pacing and inverse-leading is, Da Vinci. And I could not help focussing on the term cognitive load that you mention…

Da Vinci: I was sure you would ask me about it, Leonardo. Indeed, cognitive load is one of the most significant and important aspects of communication. The very best communicators are those who know how to use it effectively.

Leonardo: You mean, how to decrease it Da Vinci? Of course, I am anticipating its meaning even before you have spelt it out though…

Da Vinci: And your anticipation is that it is desirable to decrease cognitive load, Leonardo. Yes, most often it is. And most often, cognitive load swamps communication by coming down so heavily on the student that one is unable to remain conscious. Decreasing cognitive load, therefore, facilitates grasping of the content. Nevertheless, being able to decrease cognitive load is one aspect of communication. Another is being able to increase it effectively. And by effectively, I mean, in deliberately taking the student away from the conscious to the unconscious modes of listening.

Leonardo: It would be helpful to go further into this, Da Vinci. I am asking this because it appears that increasing cognitive load in itself takes the student off from the conscious to the unconscious modes of listening, doesn’t it?

Da Vinci: Not necessarily, Leonardo. increasing cognitive load in itself takes the student off from the conscious mode of listening to the unconscious mode of hearing but not listening. This is the crucial difference.

Leonardo: Hearing and listening!

Da Vinci: That is so, Leonardo. Merely increasing cognitive load does not ensure that the student listens unconsciously. The student may hear unconsciously. Let me explain. Cognitive load may be increased simply by non-pacing the student’s way of communication. This is what most teachers do. They don’t pace the student’s communication modes. As a result, the student begins to lose the thread of the communication. The mind wanders away and the student begins to get bored and stops listening and only hears. In this case, the conscious mind cannot take the cognitive load and switches over to the unconscious mode. And as the communication is not paced, the unconscious mind also hears and does not listen. The information is rejected out of the system as it were and the mind falls into a day dream or sleep state.

Leonardo: And if the communication has been paced?

Da Vinci: Then, as the cognitive load increases, the unconscious mind listens and absorbs the information. Now, instead of the conscious mind falling to a daydream or sleep state, it moves into a hypnotic state of deep listening.

Leonardo: I now get it, Da Vinci, this way of deploying cognitive load in communication.