The Senior Common Room is unusually green today. A dozen potted plants line the windowsill, leaves brushing one another, sunlight falling unevenly. The faculty notice subtle movement.
Elowen (peering closely at a fern):
Do you see that? The fern… it seems to have shifted slightly toward the window.
Blottisham (suspicious, clutching his notes):
Shifted? Plants do not move! They are… immobile.
Quillibrace (dry, observing carefully):
Ah, but in relational terms, every plant is a field of potential. Leaves respond to light, soil, air — every cut is actualised in motion, however slow.
Blottisham:
Potential in leaves? Ridiculous.
Elowen:
Perhaps, but the whole windowsill is subtly reconfiguring. Each plant seeks its niche; patterns emerge without a gardener’s hand.
I. Minor Rebellion
Blottisham (pointing to a succulent tilting sideways):
That one is… defiant.
Quillibrace:
Defiance is an anthropomorphism. Observe relationality: the tilt is a response to light, to neighbouring plants, to subtle drafts.
Elowen:
Yet it feels like revolt. The system has shifted without centralised direction.
Blottisham:
I cannot tolerate metaphorical rebellion in my faculty room.
II. Synchrony Emerges
Quillibrace:
Notice, Elowen: as the sunlight angle changes, leaves adjust simultaneously. The system is not static. Even stillness contains trajectories.
Elowen:
And a tiny fan across the room produces subtle vibrations… the plants sway in synchrony.
Blottisham:
So… wind, light, and soil conspire to reorganise a windowsill?
Quillibrace:
Exactly. Co-individuation without consciousness, yet fully relational.
III. Minor Power Plays
Elowen (adjusting a pot slightly closer to the light):
Even my intervention creates new cuts. The pattern of sway and shadow changes.
Blottisham (horrified):
You… meddle with the natural order!
Quillibrace:
Order emerges relationally. No single action dominates; all perturbations resonate.
Elowen:
The “revolt” is therefore cooperative — a network of micro-adjustments.
IV. Reflection and Delight
(The plants settle into a new pattern. Shadows stretch across the floor. The faculty sip tea quietly.)
Elowen:
Even without speech, awareness, or intent, the plants actualise potential. Patterns emerge, adapt, and persist.
Blottisham (mutters, grudgingly impressed):
I… suppose nature is more relationally complex than I imagined.
Quillibrace (smiling faintly):
Every system is. We simply notice it in cups of tea or on a windowsill.
No comments:
Post a Comment