Dear All
I agree with Pedro's perspective, it looks very reasonable from the
standpoint of social sciences.
I would like to put a question to Joe and other colleagues regarding the
constraints of managing social complexity (whatever, objective or
perceived). Humanity has reached a high historical degree of
interconnectance, where we exchange material (products), energy, and
information over a variety of different pathways and across the globe. At
the same time we have been introducing new chemical compounds, new
materials (e.g. nanotechnology) and even new species in the natural and
human environment. This at a pace which is likely to favor unintended
consequences. New institutions (rules, habits, organizations) emerge to
deal with the "complexity" of these overlapping networks of communication
and material exchange. These come at a cost for a society, a cost which is
not only monetary or material but also taxes our ability to deal with the
overwhelming information that is produced in the process. In a way we tend
to produce "complexity" and respond to its challenges by introducing more
"complexity". Joe emphasized in his work the importance of diminishing
returns to complexity in problem solving.
Considering that we necessarily operate under certain genetic constraints,
are there (absolute) upper limits to our ability to manage social complexity?
I guess that there are also cultural constraints involved here, and that
these can be stretched to some limit, but eventually, a threshold is
reached where the culture may not be stretched beyond our biological
underpinnings.
The best
Igor
----- Original Message ----- From: "Pedro Marijuan" <marijuan@unizar.es>
To: <fis@listas.unizar.es>
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 2:04 PM
Subject: [Fis] Re: Continuing Discussion of Social and Cultural Complexity
>Dear Joe and colleagues,
>
>Thanks for the new angle. The problem on how to ascribe complexity looks
>quite "complex" in itself... It connects with the aspect of
>decomposability in parts / components of entities which surfaced last
>month (when arguing on the "human factor"). For obscure reasons,
maybe
>connected with the philosophical and methodological dominance of
>reductionism, we have not assimilated yet that informationally "open
>systems" (or entities) cannot be treated in isolation neither of
their
>boundary conditions, nor of their intrinsic activity. The brain itself is
>an excellent case in point. Depending on both external boundaries and
>inner propensities it is not complex nor simple: it depends. (Thus I agree
>with the comments below). However, it should not be read as an argument in
>defense of relativism or radical perspectivism. Rather it means that
>informationally open entities cannot be treated cavalierly in the same way
>than mechanical, closed entities ... they are structured in a different,
>strange way. Perhaps this type of proper, general treatment should be, in
>other words, the "info sci. methodology", the so much looked
after "sci.
>of open systems."
>
>regards,
>
>Pedro
>
>
>At 22:31 26/01/2007, you wrote:
>
>>So the brain is simple for this purpose. Therein lies the broader
>>question. Is the complexity of the brain relative to the perspective
of
>>the analyst? Or is the complexity of the brain innate? Surely a simple
>>brain of three parts could not generate social and cultural complexity
as
>>we know them? But to a doctor treating a patient with epilepsy, this
is
>>irrelevant. The brain is simple, and so is the treatment.
>>
>>Inevitably we are led to more general issues. Is social/cultural
>>complexity an attribute of a society/culture, or is it an attribute of
>>the observer's perspective? Is complexity innate or asscribed? Clearly
>>this question applies to any kind of complex system, not just social
or
>>cultural ones.
>
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Received on Fri Feb 2 13:58:22 2007
