Hi Keith Nice questions! You nailed the linear/non-linear distinction perfectly - we considered making the argument and decided against and indeed as you correctly guessed, the issue will be dealt with (sic) in Red Tail Math. In fact, a formal representation of emergence (dynamic non-linear systems) is the issue we are working at present and our success there will determine the publication date for Red Tail Math will follow from that enterprise. You offer a very interesting characterization of psychology as social hypnosis - I urge you to pursue it. You explicitly state, "...what proponents of psychology believe we should do in terms of ‘normal’ behaviour?" The "should" is questionable from my point of view - I think the "norms" from "normal" that pop psychology promotes (JS, like the alliteration?) do push a sort of tyranny of the democratic average - another aggregation phenomena to be avoided if patterning is the prey you are pursuing (I can't help myself, JS - what have you done?). A critique of the horrific practice of aggregation and averaging the characterizes much of psychological "research" is offered in Whispering (see especially pages 71 - 92). All the best, John