The only positive finding which could be drawn from the first

The words of Walter Rudolf Hess—“The only positive finding which could be drawn from the first series, was the conclusion that the relationships obviously had a more complicated lay-out than had been thought, for the effects were so varied that no obedience to any law could be discovered.”—speak with the honesty of a seeker who stands humbled before mystery. He does not cloak uncertainty with false certainty. Instead, he recognizes that the deeper one ventures into the unknown, the more complex the truth becomes. What was expected to follow order and simplicity revealed itself instead as a tapestry of many threads, too intricate to be governed by a single law.

The origin of this wisdom lies in the eternal struggle of science, philosophy, and even life itself. We long for neat patterns, for rules that will explain all, for simple answers that will steady us in a world of uncertainty. Yet again and again, reality reveals itself to be vast and unpredictable. Hess, in his research into the hidden workings of the brain, discovered this: the relationships within life are not simple chains of cause and effect, but webs of interaction. The effects are not uniform, but varied, and what seems orderly on the surface may conceal an ocean of complexity beneath.

Consider the story of the astronomer Johannes Kepler. He first sought harmony in the heavens through perfect circles, believing the planets must move in divine patterns of simplicity. Yet observation defied him. Only when he abandoned the idea of perfect circles and embraced the more complicated lay-out of ellipses did he discover the laws of planetary motion. The true positive finding was not the confirmation of what he expected, but the humbling realization that nature’s order was stranger, more complex, and yet more beautiful than he had imagined.

So too in medicine, think of Ignaz Semmelweis, who in the 19th century sought the cause of childbed fever. The effects he observed seemed chaotic, without obedience to any known law. Doctors resisted his strange conclusions. Yet from the tangled web of observation came the truth: handwashing reduced death. The lesson was not that simplicity ruled all, but that life required careful humility, patience, and attention before its patterns could be seen.

The meaning of Hess’s words stretches beyond science into all human striving. In our lives, we search for easy explanations: why people act as they do, why suffering comes, why plans succeed or fail. But often there is no single answer, no neat law that governs it all. The relationships we live within—between people, between events, between choices—are more complicated than we expect. This does not mean there is no meaning; it means meaning must be sought in humility, patience, and acceptance of complexity.

The lesson is luminous: do not despair when the patterns you expect dissolve into confusion. See instead the positive finding that life is richer than any simple rule. Where you expected straight lines, you will find intricate designs; where you expected obedience, you will find freedom. The wise do not demand that life follow their expectations—they learn to adjust their sight until they see the hidden harmony within the seeming chaos.

Practical wisdom calls us to action. In your work, do not force results into the shape of your assumptions. Let the effects speak for themselves. In your relationships, do not cling to rigid formulas of how others “should” act, but embrace the complexity of human hearts. In your own growth, allow for detours, for contradictions, for paradoxes. For the greatest discoveries in science and in life come not from the triumph of simple answers, but from the courage to accept mystery and continue the search.

Thus, let Hess’s words endure as guidance: the world will not bend itself to the simplicity of our desires. Yet in its complexity lies beauty, and in its mystery lies the seed of wisdom. The task of the seeker is not to demand obedience from life, but to bear witness to its depth, to learn from its endless variety, and to find within it the strength to continue the journey of discovery.