The cycle described in Premise 8 can result in "evolution" (at the scale of a species) or "learning" (at the scale of an individual). Paulson writes
Out of the perturbations that threaten to destabilize organisms, to modify their structure and possibly undo their organization, they produce new and more complex forms of organization. ("Literature, Complexity, Interdisciplinarity," in Hayles, N. Katherine, ed., Chaos and Order: Complex Dynamics in Literature and Science, Chicago, U. of Chicago Press, 1991, 40)
As Van Gennep shows, initiation rites, in their pattern of separation, initiation, and return, exhibit this cycle. And in his many books, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates that learning occurs in the "flow" state between boredom and anxiety, when a person increases skills to confront new challenges.
Narratives often portray the initiation, or learning, of characters. Aristotle called this initiation "recognition." And drama can be seen as ritual (in origin and in effect).
As readers or audience members, we also move through a cycle of initiation or learning (perhaps what Aristotle meant by catharsis).
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