Wilson Speaks on Complexity The first thing that must be said of Edward O. Wilson is that he is a gentleman. Not that he is one of the world’s greatest living scientists (which he is), nor that he has twice won the Pulitzer Prize (which he has); nor even that he founded the field of science that is sociobiology (which he did). What is most striking about the man is his humility, his humanity. This is significant, not [...]
ComPlexus podcast, host Bruce Waltuck is joined by a true pioneer in the field of seeking meaningful insights in complex human situations, Cynthia Kurtz. From her early work as an Ethologist, studying animal behavior as an “evolutionarily adaptive trait,” Cynthia went on to work at IBM, where she co-developed the globally-known Cynefin Framework with Dave Snowden, Sharon Darwen, and others. From there, Cynthia developed her own approach to what she termed Participatory Narrative Inquiry, creating her own open-source narrative [...]
Vital Capacities and the Prospects for Thriving Together If our response to the Covid pandemic had been creation of a system designed to address the needs of all people, the spread of the disease would have slowed, fewer would have died, and economic pain would have been reduced. Bobby Milstein, one of the editors of the Thriving Together Springboard (http://Thriving.US), has been studying the difference between organizing ourselves against adversity versus organizing ourselves FOR well-being. He will share a summary of those [...]
If Our Senses Lie, Who Knows What's True? Can We Recognize Reality, and Would it Help? If you tend to think of reality as a great hulking mass of moving parts where definable events happen among substantial and identifiable agents, you’re probably deluded. And from an evolutionary standpoint that might be just fine. Donald D. Hoffman, a professor of cognitive science at the University of California at Irvine, has spent decade studying perception, artificial intelligence, evolutionary game theory and [...]
A Scoping Review of Complexity Science in Nursing One of the things that complexity theory has taught me, is the value of looking at complex systems from a variety of perspectives. The article reviewed here, A Scoping Review of Complexity Science in Nursing, online ahead of press in the June issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing, takes a very broad view of the use of complexity science in nursing literature and so naturally includes a variety of [...]
The Interdependence of Health, Climate, and Equality When the first Earth Day event took place 50 years ago, no one was talking about climate change and the swine flu pandemic of 1918 was a distant memory. Today, in the midst of a global health threat from a novel and poorly understood virus, we also face an increasing number of severe storms, floods, droughts, fires, and ecological disruptions that scientists have been predicting for years. Many scholars remind us [...]
The Hammer and The Dance Metaphors matter, especially in uncertain times, when the only way to frame a complex predicament is to use models from a familiar past. The title of this blog borrows from Tomas Pueyo’s excellent article and the picture that accompanies it is a mashup of one of my ecological images and it. When it comes to the coronavirus, war metaphors abound. British politicians summon the spirit of the Blitz, while Donald Trump describes himself [...]
Complex Challenges of Covid-19 or Coronavirus As business and government leaders struggle to protect public health and forestall economic devastation in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has already sickened hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, scientists are racing to understand how the novel coronavirus works. Daily updates available here. The disease Covid-19 is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. It’s one of several corona viruses that have caused diseases such as the common cold, flus, SARS, and MERS, [...]
Business & Organization Guidelines for Addressing the Coronavirus How to Take Action Now The role of business and organizational leaders is to provide critical guidance and policies that balance the needs of employees, customers and the greater communities they work and live in. This is a guide for implementing immediate actions to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. Taking appropriate action begins with understanding and supporting the scientific and best practice protocols for practicing healthy safety throughout an organization. [...]
Hotter Futures for Cities Escalates Plexus Institute's archives of Complexity Matters Posts offer valuable insights into the most pressing issues confronting our world and society. We will continue to link current knowledge, work and thinking in new posts, conversations, projects emerging throughout the Network. During the first half of 2011, Tornados devastated Joplin, Missouri, and Tuscaloosa Alabama. Deadly storms have smashed through Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas, severe droughts have parched the Southwest, record wildfires burned in Texas, [...]
Are Multiage Classrooms Better for Children? Advocates for multi-age education believe children flourish in environments where youngsters of different ages learn together in settings that feature collaboration, leadership, empathy, and social awareness along with academic achievement. They think linearity is a fine principle for some types of manufacturing, but not for kids. So why are most U.S. schools organized by grades that restrict classes to children of the same age? Dr. Sandra J. Stone, author, speaker, and former [...]
Die-offs Endanger Food Webs and Human Health Scientists examining the catastrophe unfolding in the path of Australia’s deadly bushfires may discover mass mortality events, terrifying phenomena in which vast numbers of a species die inexplicably in a very short period of time. A VOX story by Segal Samuel reports that Chris Dickman, a biodiversity expert at the University of Sydney, estimates more than one billion mammals, birds, reptiles, bats, frogs, and invertebrates have perished so far from flames [...]