Complexity Matters Posts

Complexity Matters: A Re-Introduction to Complexity

"Scientific knowledge, originally seen to make possible the prediction and manipulation of nature, appears now to be pointing us toward a new relationship with the natural world based on sensitive observation and participation, rather than control." Brian Goodwin During 2018, Plexus Institute’s Thursday Complexity Matters posts will continue to offer stories, new thinking, research and practices related to complexity in action. And, we will also be sharing fundamentals of "complexity" by reviewing the language, distinctions and metaphors that define complexity. [...]

admin2023-07-27T09:00:35-04:00Complexity Matters Posts, Complexity Science, Plexus History|

Complexity Science Reframes Healthcare For Women and Everyone Else!

In an early PlexusCall (September, 2003) guests Birute Regine, Eileen Hoffman and Justina Trott held a wide ranging conversation that explored how the distinctions in the “nature” of women aligned with the theory and insights of complexity science to human systems. “The system becomes more complex when you bring your whole self into it. For women who need to have their stories told and understood, that changes the whole dynamic of the profession of medicine, and the dynamic of the [...]

admin2017-12-28T16:49:20-05:00Archive Resources, Complexity Matters Posts, Healthcare, Stories|

Where Will Your Story Lead Plexus?

Gathering and sharing stories is a human behavior both ancient and universal. Our stories express our understanding even of the most complex situations; reflect our core values; and articulate our intentions for future action. Story telling is also one of the most enduring tools available to every person and every organization regardless of specific social, economic or cultural contexts. In the HBR article, The Irrestible Power of Storytelling as a Strategic Business Tool, author Harrison Monarth understands that "stories" add measurable [...]

admin2017-12-04T15:40:54-05:00Catalyst Project, Complexity Matters Posts, COMPlexus Podcast, Plexus Pop-Up Conversations|

Entrepreneurial Chef Plans Food Desert Transformation

Frederic Byarm earned a culinary degree and trained in France, became an acclaimed chef, and owned four restaurants. He earned lean and Six Sigma Black Belt Certifications in manufacturing, and he has worked at an Arizona non-profit designed to serve homeless and impoverished individuals and families. Returning to Camden, where he grew up, Byarm plans to open a farm and market place that will provide fresh food and new jobs in his hometown. Byarm's Invincible City Farms took first place in the Camden [...]

admin2020-03-01T10:35:07-05:00Complexity Matters Posts, Environmental Complexity|

Plexus Institute is Self-Organizing

Plexus Institute was founded as a network for learning and engagement focused on practical implications and applications of complexity theory in real-life events. Through open conferences, research collaborations, projects and a diverse and active community, Plexus encouraged adopting a complexity lens for addressing organizational and institutional opportunities and challenges.Change is guaranteed and we are setting the conditions for the future with Plexus 2.0, a self-organizing network to connect, engage, practice and support people shaping learning and projects rooted in complexity [...]

admin2017-10-17T13:28:56-04:00Complexity Matters Posts|

Rx for Opioid Addiction: More Social Trust

Opioid overdoses have become the leading cause of death of Americans under age 50, and researchers say social isolation, economic distress, and fraying human ties can increase the physical and emotional pain that drives opioid abuse. A recent study published in The Journal of Health Economics reported that for every one percent increase in unemployment, the opioid overdose death rate in the U.S. rose by nearly four percent. Researchers from Harvard University and Baylor College of Medicine found that U.S. counties with the lowest social [...]

admin2020-03-01T10:37:20-05:00Complexity Matters Posts, Healthcare|

Leadership and ‘Self Directed Neuroplasticity’

Understanding the workings of our own brains and practicing habits of thought that neuroscientists call self directed neuroplasticity can improve decision-making and over time contribute to greater capacity for leadership. "The Neuroscience of Strategic Leadership" an article in Strategy + Business, describes research showing dynamic interactions between activity in the mind and the differing regions of the brain. The authors, Jeffrey Schwartz, a research psychiatrist at the University of California, Los Angeles, Josie Thomson , a leadership coach, and Art Kleiner, editor and chief of the magazine, [...]

admin2017-10-12T20:35:01-04:00Complexity Matters Posts|

Athletes, Scholars, Gut Microbes Have Their Own Circadian Rhythms

Circadian Timing: Vital to Us and the Microbes Living in Us Circadian rhythms are the 24-hour cycles of physiological processes that take place in all living things, including fungi, cyanobacteria, plants, insects, animals and humans. These rhythms are important in the sleeping and eating patterns of all creatures, and in humans their influence ranges from moods, metabolism and obesity to health and illness, mental acuity and the performance of sports teams. Scientists at Harvard, Stanford, and the University of [...]

Prucia Buscell2017-11-17T01:20:19-05:00Complexity Matters Posts|

What Do We Learn From Catastrophes?

The social, physical and economic anguish that Hurricane Harvey visited upon flood-devastated Houston is reminding officials and residents in cities across the country of the need to plan for unexpected catastrophes. People rarely think ahead about the possible 500-year flood or likelihood of the tsunami or earthquake that kills thousands of people and leaves thousands more homeless. Scientists say such events have low probability and high consequence. And unless there is a recent memory, people don't pay too much attention to risks that seem [...]

admin2017-09-12T19:13:38-04:00Complexity Matters Posts|

Teacher Plays Saxophone as His Brain Tumor is Removed

For Love of Science, Music,and Medicine When a young music teacher stayed awake and played the saxophone during surgery to remove his brain tumor, it was part of an extraordinary six-month collaboration. The teacher wanted to be reassured he wouldn't lose his musical ability. The medical team wanted to know more about how the brain processes music. Dan Fabbio was teaching music and finishing his Master's degree in music education in the spring of 2015 when dizziness, nausea and oddly [...]

Prucia Buscell2017-09-08T16:22:28-04:00Complexity Matters Posts|

Networks of the Brain

An illustration of two important features of hierarchical brain networks: modules and hubs. Adapted from Zamora-López et al. (2010). Updating the Map In 2009, the Human Connectome Project (HCP) was launched to to build a "network map" (connectome) for the healthy human brain. The purpose of the connectome is to decipher the amazingly complex wiring diagram to reveal what makes us uniquely human and what makes every person different from all others. Dr. Olaf Sporns from Indiana University at Bloomington, [...]

admin2017-09-06T18:33:35-04:00Complexity Matters Posts|

Infections May be the Key When Genes and Cells Go Rogue

A gene believed to have protected human survival in ancient times may have become a rogue agent that nudges many contemporary humans toward Alzheimer’s disease. Fluorescent In-Situ Hybridization (FISH) identification of human chromosomes, Image by Steven M. Carr, after original by Genetix Dr. Ben Trumble is an anthropologist trained in evolutionary medicine who spent years learning about the lives of the Tsimane people, an indigenous forager-farming group in Bolivia. Interviewed in a New York Times story by Pagan [...]

Prucia Buscell2017-08-27T23:03:18-04:00Complexity Matters Posts|