I next offer an example of Polystasis by returning to the classical homeostatic example of thermostatic regulation. It is Essential that I live in a comfortable environment. I must address this Essential matter of comfortable living in my home. I do so by adjusting the thermostat if I anticipate that the window will remain open to provide some ventilation. However, there is an even more immediate adjustment I can make. I can choose to put on or take off my sweater. I can change chairs, so that I am sitting further away from the window. Even more immediately and intimately, my body will be making its own adjustments based on what it predicts I will do in accommodating to the change in temperature. The thermostat is actually a slow and often secondary player in the world of Polystasis. The homeostatic adjustments of the thermostat often arrive late. They are not very effective when compared to putting on or taking off that next layer of clothes or moving to another chair.
What about our production of finely crafted chairs? There is the more distant (“distal”) solution. Much as we may have to change the thermostat in our home, a decision might be made to train someone else to build the high-priced chairs. We do this if we are uncertain about the long-term health condition of our master craftsman. However, our polystatic adjustments are much more immediate (proximal). They are based on immediate predictions regarding what is taking place on our production floor. As the manager of the production facility, I immediately predict that something has to change when my master craftsman calls in sick. I set new (temporary) standards and priorities regarding what we are going to produce today. We’ll produce more of the cheaper chairs. Predicting into the future (distal planning) I will inform our marketing person that we need to push the sales of these cheaper chairs (at least for a short period of time).
At an even more proximal level, my mind will be predicting that the level of stress in my body is about to increase. I will be activating the sympathetic level for a short duration until such time as I get things “arranged” and “adjusted” for the coming day of production. I will also spend some time reflecting on what is likely to be the longer-term health status of my senior craftsman. I can over-think and over-worry (inventing lions) or I can be realistic (assessing the presence of real lions). The way in which I approach this task of planning for my craftsman’s absence will have a major impact on how I manage my body and manage my production staff. That which is Essential (the financial viability of this company and the quality of the finished product) will provide important guidance and stability (statics) while adjustments at all levels (dynamics) are being made and remade under the conditions of Polystasis.
The key point to be made is that the baseline itself is likely to repeatedly change when Polystasis is operating in a shifting (dancing) environment. This change might involve quantity (raising or lower the baseline) or quality (shifting to a different baseline). We remain vigilant regarding real and imagined lions. We weigh the costs and benefit of changing environmental conditions (such as an open window in Winter). Our priorities are considered. Do we want fresh air, or do we want to reduce the cost of heating in our home? We decide that reduced costs are Essential. As a result, we not only keep the window closed but also reduce the thermostat to 66 degrees and put on a sweater.
