Recursion is a foundational pattern: systems feeding outputs back into themselves, shaping continuity and change.

This episode explores recursion across mind, relationships, organizations, and society—from identity and trauma to culture and systems. We don’t escape the loops we’re in. We change them—iteration by iteration.

💡Key Takeaways

•  Recursion drives both stability and change 
•  The present is built from repeated patterns of the past 
•  Identity is recursively constructed through narrative and behavior 
•  Relationships reflect repeated interaction patterns 
•  Culture and organizations emerge from repeated behaviors 
•  Social systems are sustained by reinforcing feedback loops 
•  Awareness enables intervention 
•  Small changes, repeated, reshape systems 

🎤Memorable Quotes

•  “The system becomes the input to its own future.” 
•  “Over time, biography becomes strategy.” 
•  “We live inside the stories we repeat.” 
•  “Trust is built through repeated experience.” 
•  “Culture is recursion made social.” 
•  “Institutions become what they repeatedly rehearse.” 

🔗Resources

•  Hofstadter — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_loop
• Jung — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individuation
•  Watts — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts
•  Ram Dass — https://www.ramdass.org/
•  Fromm — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Fromm
•  van der Kolk — https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/
•  Levine — https://traumahealing.org/
•  Bromberg — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_M._Bromberg
  
  

Related Episodes

•  Emergence — https://fractalsofchange.buzzsprout.com/1783825694/episodes/14614664-emergence
  
  
•  Polarity — https://fractalsofchange.buzzsprout.com/1783825694/episodes/14701886-polarity
  
  
•  Disruption — https://fractalsofchange.buzzsprout.com/1783825694/episodes/14795072-disruption
  
  
•  Thomas Gartenmann — https://fractalsofchange.buzzsprout.com/1783825694/episodes/14864025
  
  
•  Cottrell & DelMay — https://fractalsofchange.buzzsprout.com/1783825694/episodes/14732069
  
  

Disclaimer:

***The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice.***

Credits: Written, produced and hosted by: Mary Schaub. Theme song written by: Mary Schaub

Contact: FractalsofChange@outlook.com  

Website: M. Schaub Advisory (MSA)