This is a conversation with cognitive scientist Mark Michael James, highlighting his journey from understanding patterns of being to shaping habits and realigning health. Mark shares his experiences from Ireland (including the ‘craic’), his academic pursuits, and his present work at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology.
Andrea and Mark talk about synchronicity, embodied cognition, and the philosophies and practices of the arising 'school of way', a loose collection which includes 'wayshaping' and 'waymaking' and is in the tradition of the wayfaring of Tim Ingold and the work of J.J. Gibson’s ideas about wayfinding.
This discussion calibrates around a paper Mark has recently written with
Tom Froese, Aisha Belhadi, Anna Panagiotou, and Dave Snowden called Wayshaping: A Multiscale Framework for Behavior Change.It all ties back to practical applications in health, navigating complexity, and striving for a dynamic balance in life. Mark's personal stories and reflections add depth to a conversation already rich in ideas and explorations. This conversation took place in 2024, nearly a year ago, when Andrea and Mark were brainstorming about wayshaping and waymaking (and the other ‘way orientations’ in science & philosophy).
00:00 Introduction to Unexpected Contributions
00:35 Exploring the Concept of 'Craic'
00:56 Welcome to Love and Philosophy
01:02 Introducing Mark Michael James and His Work
02:23 Discussion on Synchronicity and Relevance Realization
06:47 Mark's Journey to Okinawa
12:39 Navigating Personal and Social Patterns
51:23 Health Challenges and Personal Stories
55:06 Sensory Irregularities and Scripts
56:21 Breaching Experiments and Sociological Insights
57:13 Cultural Patterns and the Irish Concept of 'The Crack'
01:03:26 Health, Habits, and Personal Transformation
01:08:05 Philosophical Reflections and Practical Applications
01:19:49 Wayshaping Framework and Multiscale Health
01:27:57 Personal Reflections and Future Directions
Andrea and Mark on OIST podcast
Mark's website
What is Wayshaping?
Wayshaping, at its most basic, is the practice of preparing ourselves here and now to meet our needs there and then. This typically happens in environments that we revisit or anticipate returning to. When Hansel leaves the breadcrumbs to find his way out of the forest, or Tom Sawyer unfurls the line of this kite to retrace his steps in the cave, they are wayshaping. When we pack for a trip or set a reminder to do our laundry, we are wayshaping. But as a formal practice, wayshaping is an intentional approach to change grounded in the idea that both we and the world around us are always already changing, and we are always already adapting to that change. Rather than imposing change from the top down, wayshaping helps us notice and work with the patterning processes that stabilize us.
These processes manifest across biological, psychological, social, and existential dimensions in the form of our habits, identities, narratives, norms, environmental settings, and designs. It offers tools to engage these multiple layers so we can better attune our personal, collective and ecological needs. Drawing on complexity science, embodied cognition, and ecological psychology, wayshaping treats sustainable change as something that emerges through ongoing negotiations and realignments across these nested layers. It helps us recognize where change is already underway, what’s holding current patterns in place, which constraints we can influence and which we can’t, and how to seed and cultivate new habits in ways that resonate with the possibilities of the systems we are working with. In short, both conceptually and practically, wayshaping scaffolds our capacity for self-scaffolding.
Thank you for being here. ❤️
For more, please read this guest post below about Wayshaping from Mark Michael James, which unpacks the ideas in more detail:
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