I ran across this quote in Rogers' 1990 article, "Space-Age Paradigm for New
Frontiers in Nursing" in Malinski's and Barrett's (Eds.) Martha E. Rogers: Her
Life and Work. "continuous change emerges out of nonequilibrium and exhibits
punctualism rather that gradualism. Change is accelerating"

It has caused me some confusion.
At first reading, it would seem Rogers is contradicting her principles of
homeodynamics by referring to change as exhibiting punctualism as it seems to
imply an almost linear evolutional process.

I could not find punctualism in any of my sources, but did find
punctuationalism
The doctrine of punctuationalism(according to Oxford dictionary definition)
states that "evolutionary development is marked by isolated episodes of rapid
speciation between long periods of little or no change".

The doctrine of gradualism (same Oxford reference) states that "evolution
proceeds chiefly by the accumulation of gradual change"

Assuming the definitions of these two doctrines are what she understood them to
be, then is Rogers really saying that while change is always ongoing, evolution
of the species is associated with certain events or triggers? If so, then is
midlife transition in a woman one of the "isolated episodes of speciation" that
Rogers refers to as punctuationistic; and therefore the life patterning the
manifestation of the change that emerges out of the nonequilibrium? Using for
example the focus of my dissertaiton, women in midlife transition. During
midlife, women experience an unsettling or disequilibrium as many of their
relative-past ,relative-present, and relative future patterns are being
challenged. The changes are seemingly to occur rapidly, chaotically, and
simultaneously. Is this what Rogers meant by "exhibiting punctuationalism"?
Could it be said that change is constant and dynamic, but that the transitions
are those "isolated episodes of speciation" marked by rapid and pandimensional
change that are evolutional? If so, how does one get around the idea of a
linear process implied by punctuationalism?

I welcome your insights.
Thanks, NancyScroggs