Devin Looney

Systems theorist. Nursing educator. Recursive architect.

States of Emergence

May 19, 2026

Currently, systems theory treats feedback loops (positive or negative) as scalar coefficients -- static single numbers. Each field of outcomes, then, are bounded.

How does each feedback loop impact the system? A better question, how does a system increase its outcome field?

A positive feedback loop allows the system to grow at a stable rate, while a negative feedback loop tightens the system down to a functional, stable loop. By necessity, negative feedback loops cannot increase the potential outcome fields of a system, because they constrain toward stability of function. In contrast, positive feedback loops constrain the system to a growth function -- which, similarly, eliminates the possibility for increased outcome fields. So, again, how does a system increase its outcome field?

Divergence -- breaking what is currently working (… or, not). The feedback loops cannot lead to novelty, as they are, and as such, the system cannot grow or gain new opportunities to stabilize/simplify. For a system to resist collapse despite its current operations, it must gain new opportunities.

These new opportunities are bounded, however. A system is constrained by prior connectivity and current availability. All emergent possibilities -- divergent breaks from function -- are bounded by what was and what is, which explains why emergent growth might be surprising, but not unconstrained.

The two main functions of phase space manipulation are simplification and divergence. Simply:

• Divergence describes the breaking down of attractor structure and expansion of probability of phase space
• Simplification describes the removal of degrees of freedom/dimensionality, which then expands accessible phase space. This seems counterintuitive, at first!
• Third point