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#13  COMPLEXITY--IN OUR HANDS: DANCING WITH SYSTEMS

Complex systems are difficult to model due to interacting parts and distinct properties that can arise unexpectedly. Modeling physical systems with many levels of organization, even ecosystems, is much easier than tackling social systems. That task, applicable to a wide range of problems, should involve “dancing”: humbly gathering and valuing data, learning, being mentally flexible / alert to how the system creates behavior, and to feedback. We plan and anticipate. Trends è Predictions è Policy Changes. Averting catastrophe to create a future we choose.

More Information About This Worldview Theme

a diamond WV Theme...

...individual <---> knowledge

the theme is paired with: #9B  Simply In God's Hands: Apocalypticism to make Choice #13    in the Choices We Make cards 

this theme as presented in older version of theme structure:     version 2.0 & 3.0   is this theme new to version 4?--new name 

click to look at the Project Worldview Cultural Literacy Encyclopedia Related Words, Beliefs, Background articles for the above choice 

 Project Worldview authored discussion, Worldview Watch related issues, songs, etc.  

Discussion from The Worldview Literacy Book Songs
Worldview Watch #72, posted 12/15/2022 Democracy, Citizen Assemblies, and the US Supreme Court 
Worldview Watch #56, April 13 2018:" Pointing Facebook in a 'Dancing With Systems' Direction"
 

Wikipedia articles related to this theme:

Living Systems Systems Thinking  Systems Theory
modeling  biological systems  Systems Biology Systems Ecology
Emergence in system Systems philosophy   Complexity 
feedback loops 12 Leverage Points to Intervene in a System     holism in science
Predictive Analytics  Network Effect about the digital snowballing phenomenon World Systems Theory
Causal Layered Analysis Object-oriented analysis and design Dynamical Systems
Environmental Impact Assessment  Synthetic Environment for Analysis and Simulations The Fifth Discipline  about Peter Senge's work)
  Information Cascade Quantum Computing
 

 worldview internal inconsistency related: Strongly valuing this theme and any of the themes in the list below is a contradiction:

#4 Spreading Disinformation /Tactical Deception #5B Vitalism #7B Magic #8B   Belief in a Personal God
 #9A   Religious Fundamentalism #12A Polytheism, Animism, Pagan   #25  Evil is Out There #201B Positive Expectations
   
   

More to Explore -- Worldview Theme #13: In Human / Computer Hands: Dancing With Systems

Evolutionary Algorithms (overview from Sandia National Lab) 
"Dancing With Systems", article by Donella Meadows
Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella H. Meadows (read excerpts of this 2008 book at Google Books)
The Five Disciplines of Organizational Learning (from The Dance of Change, by Peter Senge, etal)
Systems Thinking -- An Operational Perspective of the Universe
Living with Gaia, by James Lovelock (excerpt from book Gaia: The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine)
The Systems Thinker Newsletter
Centre for Systems Philosophy (Surrey, UK-based non-profit research institution) 
Systems Thinking (from Thinking.net)
Santa Fe Institute ( think tank devoted to "complexity research expanding the boundaries of science")
Overview of Principia Cybernetica ("an...attempt to develop a complete cybernetic and evolutionary philosophy")
The Human Brain Project (website of effort to build computer models to simulate the actual working of the brain)
Halving of the uncertainty in projected warming over the past decade by Nathan Gillett  (from NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science June 22 2024)
What are the biggest challenges and innovations for new climate models? (from MIT Climate Portal April 2024)
What Uncertainties Remain in Climate Science? – State of the Planet by Renee Cho (from Columbia Climate school  Jan 12 2023)_
How Much of the World Is It Possible to Model?  by Dan Rockmore (from The New Yorker Jan 15 2024)
The World Is Falling Apart--Blame the Flukes by Brian Klaas (chaos theory and predicting human events, review from The Atlantic Jan 16 2024)
"Superforecasting the end of the world: What are the chances of an AI apocalypse?"  (from The Economist July 15  2023) 
Quantum Entanglement Isn't All That Spooky After All by Chris Ferrie (from Scientific American Feb 13 2023, offers help understanding what's behind quantum computing --see next link as well==>)
IBM Quantum Computer Programming Composer Website (offers hands-on quantum computer coding experience tutorial)
Living Earth Simulator: The Ultimate HPC Big Data Application by Michael Feldman (December 2011 news item)
"Managing Complexity in Socio-Economic Systems" by Dirk Helbing (on Future ICT website, 2009 paper)
The MIT Integrated Global System Model
The Infamous 1972 Report That Warned of Civilization's Collapse. How does it hold up 50 years later? (from Wired –July 2022)  
The Social Data Lab (at Stanford University, "acts as a hub connecting key players in the social data landscape") 
System Dynamics Example (illustrating a six step approach)
Complexity Digest ("networking the complexity community")
Neuroscience--The Other Brain Cells (report from The Economist Jan 28 2023)
Artificial Intelligence--Battle of the Labs (report from The Economist Feb 4 2023)
Briefing: Artificial Intelligence (from The Economist June 11 2022)
"Computational Biology -- The Shape of Things to Come"  (report about predicting protein shapes; from The Economist December 5 2020)
“Brain - computer interfaces” (report from The Economist September 5 2020)  
“Catastrophic Risks: What's the Worst that could happen?” (report from The Economist June 27 2020)

“Computing Climate Change--Model Behavior” (article from The Economist May 2 2020)

“AI Copernicus ‘discovers’ that Earth orbits the Sun” by Davide Castelvecchi  (article about neural network that teaches itself the laws of physics in Nature Nov 8 2019)
“The Uncertainities of Climate Change: Throwing the Dice”  (article from The Economist September 21 2019)
Google reportedly attains 'quantum supremacy' by C. Reichert (report its quantum computer can far outperform classical ones from CNET Sept 20 2019)
Jared Diamond: There’s a 49 Percent Chance the World As We Know It Will End by 2050 (article by David Wallace-Wells about Diamond’s 2019 book Upheaval  from New York Magazine)
“Model and manage the changing geopolitics of energy” by Andreas Goldthau, Kirsten Westphal and colleagues (technical paper from Nature May 1 2019

“Criticality” by Cesar Hidalgo (Essay 2017 contribution to Edge.org) 

"Artificial Intelligence: March of the Machines" (leader for cover story re: lengthy section on this topic in The Economist June 25 2016)
"When Science Goes Wrong: Computer Says Oops" (report on neuroscience modeling mishaps from The Economist July 16 2016)
"Decisions Handed Down By Data" (a "What If..." article in The Economist July 16 2016)

"Artificial Intelligence: machines for thinking" (review of books related to this topic from The Economist October 3 2015)

"Quantum Computers: A Little Bit, Better" (report from The Economist June 20 2015)
"Virtual Biology: Computer Worms" (report on effort to make world's first simulated organism from The Economist May 24, 2014)
"The Man Who Would Teach Machines to Think" by James Somers (article about artificial intelligence pioneer D. Hofstadter from The Atlantic Nov 2013)
"Neuromorphic Computing: The Machine of a New Soul" (article from The Economist August 3 2013)
Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking by Daniel C. Dennett (review of book printed in June 15 2013 The Economist
"Can Engineers and Scientists Ever Master Complexity?" by John Horgon (Dec 10 2012 post on Scientific American blog)
Links to Systems-Oriented Thinking Websites
A Primer on Systems Thinking and Organizational Learning
Applied Systems Thinking (a look at thinking tools from a systems view)
System Dynamics: A Learning & Problem Solving Approach to Development Policy, by Khalid Saeed
Feedback, by Piotr Golec ( from Economics Web Institute)
A Summary of the Principles of Hierarchy Theory (hierarchy theory is "a dialect of general systems theory")
Hidden Order, by John Holland (1995 book about "how adaptation builds complexity" preview at Google Books)
Introduction to Evolutionary Computing, by A. Eiben and J. Smith (read excerpts of 2003 book at Google Books)
Too Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge by David Weinberger (read excerpts of 2012 book at Google Books)
The Black Swan--The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Taleb (read excerpts of 2010 book at Google Books)
Ackoff Center for the Advancement of Systems Approaches
International Society for the Systems Sciences
Global Vision: Communicating Sustainability  (about cybernetics pioneer Gregory Bateson and cybernetic wisdom) 
The Systems Architecture of a Bacterial Cell Cycle with Lucy Shapiro (June 15 2009 UCTV program)
"Quantum Entanglement in Photosynthesis" by Mohan Sarovar, etal  (2009 paper re: a many body quantum system)
Building the Brain: From Simplicity to Complexity with Nick Spitzer (2005 UCTV program)
The Lifebox, The Seashell and the Soul by Rudy Rucker (read excerpts of 2006 book at Google Books)
Information Theory, Evolution, and the Origin of Life, by Hubert Yockey (preview of 2005 book at Google Books)
"Information is the Difference Between Life and Matter," by Gert Korthof (explains ideas of Hubert Yockey)  
Central Nervous System for the Earth Project -- Hewlett-Packard (2009 press release about this project)
A New Kind of Science - Stephen Wolfram (2003 UCTV program about science of complexity)
From Complexity to Life: On the Emergence of Life and Meaning ed. Niels Henrik (review of this 2003 book)
The Genius Within: Discovering the Intelligence of Every Living Thing by Frank Vertosick (review of this 2002 book posted on The New York Times site)
A New Kind of Science, by Stephen Wolfram (website for this 2002 book re: cellular automata)

The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems, by Fritjof Capra (from Google Books)

"Emergent Phenomena and the Secrets of Life," by Peter Macklem (2008 article by McGill University researcher)
"Is "Nonreductive Physicalism" An Oxymoron?" by Nancey Murphy (paper: downward causation ==>neurobiology)

"Downward Causation: An Example Involving Human Reproductive & Neuroendocrine Systems", by S. Cook

"The Art of Simplexity," by Jeffrey Kluger (excerpt from his Simplexity book, in Time June 23, 2008)
"Restricted Complexity, General Complexity," by Edgar Morin (2005 paper) 
Bowen Family Systems Theory (applies systems thinking to describe and understand family interactions)
Deep Ethology: Levels of Organization ("Deep Ethology begins with a behavioral pattern and seeks insight as to its causes and consequences")
Global Vision Planning Manual    (subtitle: cognitive process in self-organizing systems)
quotes from systems thinkers
 

back to Theme Choices version 5.0 structure

"As you shop in "The Reality Marketplace" avoid spending your "reality cash" too early,  before you have seen everything. " 
from Coming of Age in the Global Village,  by Stephen P. Cook,  with Donella H. Meadows. 

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