All together, one after the other

Definition

A phrase used by F. M. Alexander (The Use of the Self, p.64, Orion 1985 edition) to describe the nature of conscious direction: a coordinated series of acts to be carried out “all together, one after the other.” This formulation encapsulates the paradox of simultaneous intention and sequential mental ordering.

Alexander writes:
“The directions…form a coordinated series of acts to be carried out ‘all together, one after the other’.”
He adds:
This process is analogous to the firing of a machine gun from an aeroplane, where the machinery is so co-ordinated that each individual shot of the series is timed to pass between the blades of a propellor making 1,500 or more revolutions per minute.

This vivid metaphor illustrates the precision and systemic integration required for effective direction. Rather than executing directions serially or mechanically, the student is invited to project them as a unified intention, sequenced mentally, but held together in awareness. The process is one of non-doing, where the directions* are projected, not performed.

(*When I employ the words ‘direction’ and ‘directed’ with ‘use’…I wish to indicate the process involved in projecting messages from the brain to the mechanisms and in conducting the energy necessary to use these mechanisms.-FM Alexander pp35 Use of Self Orion 1985)

Systems theory connection

Alexander’s phrase “all together, one after the other” describes a process where several directions are mentally organised in a clear sequence, but projected as a single, unified intention. This kind of coordination is not mechanical, it’s systemic. That means the parts (the directions) work together in a way that produces something greater than the sum of each part.

In systems theory, this is called emergence: when a system behaves in a way that none of its individual parts could achieve on their own. For example, elastic uprightness or dynamic stillness don’t come from one direction alone; they arise when all directions are projected together, in a well-timed and integrated way.

Alexander’s machine gun metaphor helps clarify this. He compares the process to a warplane firing bullets through spinning propeller blades. Each bullet is timed so precisely that it passes safely between the blades. If the timing were off, the bullets would hit the propeller. But because the system is coordinated, the result is smooth and continuous.

In the same way, when directions are projected with clear mental timing and coordination, they don’t interfere with each other. They work together to produce a new quality; something that emerges from the whole system, not from any one part.