I New Discoveries defining Complexity

Three main lectures are scheduled on this topic to focus on particular aspects of complexity, i.e. complexity and biological systems; complexity in climatology; complexity - an approach from epistemology and philosophy.

There are many ways of studying complexity. They generally all handle it by trying to understand the dynamic behaviour of complex systems that range from individual organisms to the largest economic, technical, social, and political systems. By confronting and allowing these approaches to interact, by exchanging views on different complex systems, we expect to gain new ideas and to try to answer such questions as : Which way did science work until now, how did it evolve, and how might it evolve in the future? How can big pictures emerge from a sea of data ?

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Of Mice and Cities

The derivation of mathematical formulas to describe biological and social systems

September 15, 2006
Type/Items(s): I New Discoveries defining Complexity, Scientific Sessions

B-movies may be fun, but the open circulatory systems of arthropods and real, physical limits on their scaling means they are mostly bad science. Image: Kobal Collection

Nature is a complex system that defies definition by mathematical formulas... or is it? Can certain biological processes be defined quantitatively revealing a certain simplicity? Similarly, can social organizations be modelled using a similar method, resulting in general formulas that define societal behaviour? Theoretical physicist Geoffrey West, president of the Santa Fe Institute (SFI), posed these questions in his presentation entitled "Searching for Simplicity in Complexity; Growth, Innovation, Economies of Scale, and the Pace of Life from Cells to Cities."

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Unravelling Complexity

Scientific Session 2: New Discoveries Defining Complexity

September 15, 2006
Type/Items(s): I New Discoveries defining Complexity, Discussions & short presentations, Scientific Sessions

"Complexity is what remains when you have simplified everything": WKD Delegate. Image: Wikipedia

In the second of the three main Scientific Sessions of the World Knowledge Dialogue, multiple presenters brought forward their own work and new discoveries in the broad field of Complexity. More than just a showcase for different research areas, the main speakers chose seminal works in their respective domains that attempt to simplify problems and look at complexity from the point of view of both the natural sciences and the social/human sciences -- in order to arrive at a more lucid and unified understanding of the topic.

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The Brain is Wider than the Sky - a Neuroscientific View of Consciousness

From Brain Dynamics to Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination

September 14, 2006
Type/Items(s): I New Discoveries defining Complexity, Scientific Sessions

Modern scientists are trained in the scientific method and aim to reduce complex problems to a testable model system. While originating the idea that parts of the mind may be linked to function, phrenology itself is now discredited as pseudioscience.

While the Greek philosophers and Renaissance men made no distinction between studying natural phenomena, philosophy or creating art, with the advent of the scientific revolution, dualism was introduced and a rift was perceived between natural sciences and humanities. The human mind was removed from the study of modern science and became a subject of philosophical discourse.

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