Editor's Section




Fuzzy

A fast way to understand fuzzy is to think of the difference between a conventional on/off electric light switch and a dimmer switch (sometimes called by its technical name of rheostat).

The on/off switch is Aristotelian bivalencyAristotelian bivalency

Can be summarized by the statement that you cannot have both A and not - A. Effective in some applications such as digital computing, it unfortunately gets applied by domineering people as a means of control and influence. (e.g., the Nazis said you are either Arian or not-Arian) Aristotelian bivalency has sadly been the unseen and uncritically applied logical framework for much theology. Unrecognized, it also shapes much of our social policies such as housing or services for special needs people. From the point of view of the weak it generally means, you're in or you're out, or, "we don't do that here - go somewhere else".

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The rheostat is fuzzy, using a single operation that you control according to how bright you want the light. Can you see how this is similar to merismusMERISMUS

An ancient Sumerian literary device by which a continuum is described poetically by its end points. As in Genesis: "the evening and the morning were the first day". Merismus has come down to us and today we can see it in our traditional wedding vows - "in sickness and in health"; "for richer, for poorer".

And to complete the meaning, we should probably add "and everything in between".

? (Don't forget the glossary) Fuzzy allows access to the entire continuum described by the end points.

The on/off switch is used in applications other than light switches. An example is a thermostat that controls forced air heating, such as is common in North America. Air is heated in an oil or gas or electric heating unit and a fan drives the heated air throughout the house. You set the thermostat for room temperature and when the house gets colder than this the furnace comes on full blast. Once the temperature gets above the setting the furnace shuts off. This is again bivalency: on or off with nothing in between.

A fuzzy control for forced air heating might have a sensor instead of a thermostat. The sensor senses not just the change in temperature but the rate of change of temperature. This is possible with electronics that were not yet developed when the old thermostats were produced. Within a defined temperature range, both the heating unit and the fan operate all the time. However, the rate at which they operate is determined by rules and the trigger is the rate of temperature change. So, if someone leaves the front door open in winter the sensor senses a rapid drop in temperature and puts both the heating unit and the fan on at full capacity. If the temperature drops more slowly as heat dissipates through the glass of the windows and through the roof, the sensor slows the rate of the heating unit and the fan. More sophisticated controls might operate the heating unit and the fan separately.

As a result of the fuzzy controls the temperature of the house is more easily kept at a fairly constant temperature at a reduced running cost.

So, the dimmer switch is fuzzy with one rule operating and the temperature control of the house is fuzzy with two rules operating. More complex systems will have even more rules operating.

Now, let's look at the way we do ministry. In most North American and British cities there are branches of The Salvation Army and often inner city missions as well. If you came across someone living on the street, or someone who just got out of jail and asked the average middle class church member what should be done for this person you would most likely be directed to The Salvation Army or the inner city mission. This is the bivalent approach. And it does work for some of the people some of the time.

A drawback of the bivalent approach is that it establishes and reinforces a structure. You will recall what we said about structure speaking louder than words. The bivalent approach to peripheral people becomes set in the cultural meme and becomes a thought corral. But for the peripheral person, however, they are either in or out. Either on the street alone or in The Salvation Army or the inner city mission. Like the light switch, only one rule is operating.

A fuzzy approach would have a number of rules operating all the time but at varying rates. A fuzzy approach would also modify the Christian cultural meme in an iterative process, in time getting us back to the practices of the first few centuries of Christianity.

Rules that might operate in a fuzzy approach could be:

If another homeless person comes into the picture the same four Christians might change roles. Or other Christians might get involved at various and varying rates, perhaps visiting the person, or taking them out for a treat.

This too is an example of reification. Just by consciously applying the fuzzy approach to ministry we establish a structure. And if we deliberately measure our approach against scripture we will be sure to approach the attractor and the system will not go chaotic.

And speaking of homeless people, and other peripheral people as well, we have a mostly bivalent way of looking at them and housing them. Much of our thinking has to do with getting street people into homes. We think of them as housed or not housed. Very little thought is put towards the perception the street people have of housing. Or, of their changing perception of housing and things in general after they have lived on the street for a while. Our old pal merismus can help us out considerably.

Thought experiment: Using housed and not-housed as the end points of the continuum, list all the present situations in between. Then, fill in the blank areas. The blank areas will represent the possibilities and not all will be useful. Can you, your church or a group with which you are associated discuss with street people how they might view the possibilities? Can you then begin a work that would try out the results? When you do, please share your results in the feedback page.

Now let's look at those who can or cannot attend church. The church building itself is an on/off switch. Does your church have the standard 'greet the person next to you' part in the service? Ask how this would feel to a young woman who had only just become a Christian and who had been a prostitute only the week before. Would she be able to join in? Ask how an unemployed divorced middle aged man whose access to his children was being blocked would feel.

Thought experiment: Establish the end points of the continuum of people you think should attend your church. Ask whether they could attend your church. Now ask whether the end points you are thinking about are biblical. Then, fill in the continuum and measure your church and yourself against every part of the continuum.

If you follow through with these thought experiments you will have turned fuzzy into a powerful tool for self-criticism. And once you know what's wrong you can set about fixing it.