Sínteses   

The Philosophy of Complexity
(Chris Lucas)

Philosophy is essentially about the questioning of assumptions, those axioms that form the starting point for any mathematical or scientific perspective. The various fields that comprise the complexity sciences utilise a set of axioms that differs in many ways from those used in conventional science. Here we will introduce our take on the ideas that comprise this new viewpoint or 'paradigm' and contrast them with traditional views, in a way that emphasises the value of this new thinking. We will also try to pull together our series of thematic introductions of integrated whole. The complexity viewpoint is not however restricted to scientific areas and can usefully be employed in considering many personal and social situations where complex interactions and difficult decisions need to be evaluated.

Nonlinear Science – Chaos Tamed
(Chris Lucas)

The terms "linear" and "nonlinear" are often made synonymous mathematically with simple and difficult. Linear is a property of straight lines, of simple proportions, of predictability and good behaviour. Nonlinear on the other hand applies to systems that do unpredictable things, that cannot be solved exactly and need to be approximated, the one-offs that don't fit the expected pattern. So now that we understand these terms, what things are nonlinear exactly ?
Answer - almost everything !

Attractors Everywhere – Order from Caos
(Chris Lucas)

One of the main themes within the field of Complex Systems theory is in what circumstances order can result from the random interactions of multiple agents. In order to understand this, we shall introduce the concept of an attractor, look at attractor basins and identify the forms of order we encounter. We also look at fitness landscapes and co-evolution, state space, evolution and mental categories.

Autopoiesis and Coevolution
(Chris Lucas)

Autopoiesis is based on the way living systems address and engage with the domains in which they operate. This biologically based theory, introduced here, (originated by Maturana and Varela) defines life as the ability to self-produce, rather than as (conventionally) the ability to reproduce. Like complexity theory it is a systems perspective, and is applicable to brains and societies as well as to biology and artificial life. In its original form it was applied to cognition, and replaces an external objective view of this subject with an internal relativistic understanding, in terms of an embedded observer.

A torrente da consciência
(Oliver Sacks)

É possível que o fluxo do pensamento seja só uma ilusão similar à do cinema e gere movimento a partir de seqüências de imagens instantâneas...

Freedom Beyond Control
(Chris Lucas)

The possibility of an increase in the real liberty of the subject depends not in a continual compromise between individual rights, but in a continual attempt to remove limitations which are non-automatic, that is to say, do not proceed from what we call the laws of nature.

Caos e Complexidade nas Organizações
(Ruben Bauer)

O maior dos desafios para as empresas tem sido a tentativa (freqüentemente mal-sucedida) de acompanhar a evolução de seus ambientes. Tamanha dificuldade se deve a dois fatores: primeiro, as empresas desejam sempre chegar a algum estado estável, acreditando ser isto possível pela adaptação às mudanças ocorridas no ambiente externo (princípio do retorno ao equilíbrio); segundo, acredita-se também que decisões e ações conduzam aos resultados previstos (princípio da linearidade causa-efeito). O que a ciência contemporânea vem demonstrando, por meio das Teorias do Caos e da Complexidade, é que tanto o equilíbrio quanto as relações lineares de causa e efeito são antes exceção do que regra, meros casos-limite no mundo dos eventos naturais. Por que assim também não haveria de ser no mundo dos eventos sociais? Um tal entendimento vem nos permitir compreender melhor as dinâmicas organizacionais nestes contextos de forte turbulência, bem como divisar novas possibilidades para que as empresas tornem-se capazes não apenas de "dialogar" com esta turbulência, mas de tirar partido dela para poder evoluir.

Freedom Beyond Control
(Chris Lucas)

One of the findings from the study of self-organizing systems is that maximum benefit comes from de-centralisation, the ability of the parts to do their own thing without overall control. This has major political implications for business and society and here we will look into the ramifications of this on the conflict between state or company interests and those of the individuals making it up.
Many countries around the world pride themselves on their democratic systems, yet we will show that in practice the world still operates under the assumption that control from the top must over-ride the interests of all the individuals. The apparent anarchy of uncontrolled society will be contrasted with the self-organized stability of complex systems and we will see that self-organization, not governmental control, is the most effective way of establishing a true democracy.

Global Power Networks
(Chris Lucas)

Perhaps more than any other social concept explicit discussion of personal power and its actual (rather than assumed) effects on others is rare. Yet wherever we look in our society the use and abuse of power is evident. In a complex interconnected world the causal effects of these actions do not restrict themselves linearly to just local issues but have nonlinear ramifications throughout the globe. Here we will examine the effects of power on overall social fitness, and look at how our power behaviours could be changed by complexity thinking to generate fitter political and economic structures.

Globalisation, the New Economy and Regionalisation
(R. Sugden and J.R. Wilson)

There is a popular view that the world is moving towards a 'globalised', 'new' economy, and that this implies a strong role for regionalisation of some form. This paper provides a framework for analyzing and understanding these trends. We offer a conceptualisation of globalisation that captures three widely recognised features: it's cross disciplinary character, its roots in a changing geography, and its association with alterations in transport, information and communication technologies. From this context, it is argued that knowledge and governance are fundamental to the attainment of economic prosperity, and our analysis leads to a distinction between types of globalisation. Acknowledging the disagreement over the role of nations and regions in today's globalisation process, but also recognising the common view that territory is in some sense important, we introduce the notion of locality. The approach is fluid, allowing consideration of different layers of locality and accommodating different communities. Our discussion goes on to consider 'networking'. It focuses on networking in production governance and emphasises the possibility of networks within and across localities, including multilocational networks. This is explored in the context of the 'world cities' literature. We see the ultimate challenge as moving towards a scenario where all actors in each locality, and in the communities within and across localities, participate in the democratic governance of their development. Achieving this would imply the identification and pursuit of a new, multidisciplinary research agenda.

História x Globalização
(Jared Diamond)

Entrevista
Jared Diamond, autor de "Armas, Germes e Aço", relativiza o papel da comunicação no sucesso das sociedades e destaca riscos ambientais

Será que a “nova economia” existe de fato ?
(Alvin Toffler)

Na Terceira Onda, o conhecimento é a principal forma de capital. Você e eu podemos usar o mesmo conhecimento ao mesmo tempo. Este fato, por si só, derruba o alicerce dos pressupostos tradicionais acerca do capital e abre um rombo na própria definição de economia como a ciência da alocação de recursos escassos.

O tempo e a mente
(Marcelo Gleiser)

Matéria publicada na Folha de São Paulo sobre a percepção humana do fluxo do tempo.

Em busca do gênio da lâmpada
(Ulrich Kraft)

Lampejos intelectuais não aparecem do nada, idéias criativas são resultado de um processo cognitivo complexo. Passo a passo pesquisadores do cérebro e psicólogos desvendam o mistério do pensamento criativo.