Complexity Theory

Datamoshing and the emergence of digital complexity from digital chaos

by William Brown

Co-authored with Meetali Kutty, published in Convergence (online first - journal volume, issue and page references to follow)

In this essay, we explore the aesthetic possibilities that are opened up by datamoshing, a practice whereby... more In this essay, we explore the aesthetic possibilities that are opened up by datamoshing, a practice whereby audiovisual artists actively downgrade the quality of digital images in order to render a more ‘raw’ aesthetic on screen. We follow this up by exploring the ways in which datamoshing as a practice (together with ‘glitch art’ more generally) highlights the decay that digital images undergo over time. Because it takes place through the deliberate compression of images, we here argue that the aforementioned loss of quality is an ‘artistic’ form of entropy, which leads us to the possibility for a theory of ‘digital chaos’. However, since the loss of data is reworked by artists in order to create new forms, we argue that this is a form of digital ‘emergence’ of ‘order out of chaos’, or ‘digital complexity’.

Information-theoretic bound on the energy cost of stochastic simulation

by Mile Gu

Managing AEC project organizations at the edge of chaos: An analysis of AEC projects' adaptive capacity from a living systems perspective

by Beatrice Benne

The performance of a school psychologist: multi-referentiality, implications and clinic listening.

by Joao Batista Martins

Psicologia em Estudo,  vol.8, n.2, pp. 39-45, 2003

This article discusses the notion of clinic in the school psychology context. As we suggest the participant... more This article discusses the notion of clinic in the school psychology context. As we suggest the participant observation as research methodology and of intervention for the school psychologist, we understand that such discussion also refers to epistemological questions - once the knowledge production occurs in the order of implication, because it is an intersubjective production. Besides, considering the complexity of the  school quotidian, we present the multi-referential approach and clinic listening as perspectives for the understanding of the phenomena that are developed in the school context.

A Terminal Assessment of Stages Theory: Introducing a Dynamic States Approach to Entrepreneurship

by Benyamin Lichtenstein

Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 34 (2): 314-351

Stages of Growth models were the most frequent theoretical approach to understanding entrepreneurial business growth... more Stages of Growth models were the most frequent theoretical approach to understanding entrepreneurial business growth from 1962 to 2006; they built on the growth imperative and developmental models of that time. An analysis of the universe of such models (N=104) published in the management literature shows no consensus on basic constructs of the approach, nor is there any empirical confirmations of stages theory. However, by changing two propositions of the stages models, a new dynamic states approach is derived. The dynamic states approach has far greater explanatory power than its precursor, and is compatible with leading edge research in entrepreneurship.

Moving Far From Far-From-Equilibrium: Opportunity Tension as the Driver of Emergence

by Benyamin Lichtenstein

Emergence: Complexity and Organization. Vol. 11 (4): 15-25. 2009.

Spatial embedding and the structure of complex networks

by Ezequiel Di Paolo

Bullock, S., Barnett, L. and Di Paolo, E. A. (2010) Spatial embedding and the structure of complex networks, Complexity, 16(2): 20 – 28, doi:10.1002/cplx.20338.

We review and discuss the structural consequences of embedding a random network within a metric space such that nodes... more We review and discuss the structural consequences of embedding a random network within a metric space such that nodes distributed in this space tend to be connected to those nearby. We find that where the spatial distribution of nodes is maximally symmetrical some of the structural properties of the resulting networks are similar to those of random nonspatial networks. However, where the distribution of nodes is inhomogeneous in some way, this ceases to be the case, with consequences for the distribution of neighborhood sizes within the network, the correlation between the number of neighbors of connected nodes, and the way in which the largest connected component of the network grows as the density of edges is increased. We present an overview of these findings in an attempt to convey the ramifications of spatial embedding to those studying real-world complex systems.

Key Words: spatial embedding; networks; random graphs; random geometric graphs

Complexity Contributions to the Field of Entrepreneurship

by Benyamin Lichtenstein

In the new SAGE Handbook on Complexity and Management. Edited by Allen, Maguire and McKelvey, 2011. pg. 471-493

The fields of entrepreneurship and complexity science are linked in a number of important ways. In particular, studies... more The fields of entrepreneurship and complexity science are linked in a number of important ways. In particular, studies of entrepreneurship and complexity science are both focused on innovation, novelty and emergence: entrepreneurship scholars study the emergence of new organizations, while complexity science scholars study the dynamics of emergence (McKelvey, 2004; Meyer, Gaba & Colwell, 2005). Additionally both fields explore interactions and emergent phenomena at multiple levels of analysis, and both highlight the importance of non-linear and unpredictable processes that generate emergent order in dynamic systems.
For these reasons entrepreneurship has one of the most long-standing connections to complexity science as compared to other management disciplines. This connection formally began twenty years ago with Bygrave’s (1989) theorizing of entrepreneurship using chaos theory (also see Bygrave & Hofer, 1991). Since then complexity science has provided useful approaches for researching emerging ventures (Stevenson & Harmeling, 1990; McKelvey, 2004), explaining start-up dynamics (Cheng & Van de Ven, 1996; Lichtenstein, Dooley & Lumpkin, 2006), exploring the creation of new markets and new regional economic clusters (Chiles, Meyer & Hench, 2004; Chiles, Tuggle, McMullen, Bierman & Greening, 2010), and understanding the dynamics of technology innovation (Saviotti & Mani, 1998; Fleming & Sorenson, 2001).
These applications and dozens of others set the stage for the present chapter which addresses the following questions: What has complexity science contributed to our understanding of the emergence process at the heart of entrepreneurship? What more can entrepreneurship scholars learn from the sciences of complexity, i.e. how can complexity science continue to enhance our understanding of entrepreneurial action?

Levels and degrees of emergence: toward a matrix of complexity in entrepreneurship

by Benyamin Lichtenstein

International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management.
Vol. 1, No. 3, 2011

Abstract: Emergence is at the core of entrepreneurship research, which has explored the coming-into-being of... more Abstract: Emergence is at the core of entrepreneurship research, which has explored the coming-into-being of opportunities, new organisations, re-organisations, and new industries, agglomerations, and so on. Emergence is
also at the theoretical core of complexity science, which is dedicated to exploring how and why emergence happens in dynamic systems like entrepreneurship. I propose a definition for emergence, which leads to the notion that emergence can occur in ‘degrees’ – from 1st-degree emergence to 2nd-degree and 3rd-degree emergence. Next, I provide a complexity-based explanation for the driver of emergence – ‘opportunity tension’, which sparks the entrepreneuring process. Finally, I draw from recent analyses of emergenceto identify a process-theory of order creation, and show how this is driven or sparked by entrepreneuring. This leads to a matrix of emergence in entrepreneurship, which captures the degrees of emergence across the levels ofentrepreneurial organising.

Calculating the Middle Ages? Quantitative Research and Social Network Analysis as New Tools for Historical Studies

by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller

Guest Lectures at the Romanian Academy of Sciences, Calea Victoriei, 125, Bucharest, Council Room (Ground-floor), Wednesday, 18th of January 2012, 10.00, Slides online: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller/Talks/71263/Calculating_the_Middle_Ages_Quantitative_Research_and_Social_Network_Analysis_as_New_Tools_for_Historical_Studies

Overview on the possibilities of quantitative research and Network Analysis for Medieval Studies.

Three... more Overview on the possibilities of quantitative research and Network Analysis for Medieval Studies.

Three main focuses:
* Quantitative data from the natural sciences: climatic and natural phenomena

* Quantitative data from medieval sources: economic and demographic quantities

* The complexity of medieval societies: social network analysis on the basis of medieval sources

Conclusio:
* Complexity allows us to establish a framework for comparative research across time and space > the patterns of interaction between environment and society and within societies are and were always complex.
* We can analyse how similar crisis phenomena influenced the development of societies with different (or similar) traditions, religions, institutions, geographies or ecologies > differences matter!
* At the same time, we do not  loose track of essential commonalities (the “strange parallels”) of environmental impacts and historical change in pre-modern societies.
* We recognize the high significance of endogenous social dynamics in the polities in this period, on which exogenous changes (such as climatic) and extreme events had an impact, but not along the lines of an overwhelming linear causation as postulated in (older and) recent research.

Predatory trading and risk minimisation: how to (b)eat the competition

by Anita Mehta

Travels in Intertextuality: the autopoetic identity of remix culture

by Joel Flynn

Travels in Intertextuality aims for what John Berger would call “ways of seeing” digital media artifacts and... more Travels in Intertextuality aims for what John Berger would call “ways of seeing” digital media artifacts and interacting cultural texts. Using Lev Manovich’s Language of New Media, these “new media objects” are seen through the metaphorical “coordinated set of lenses” of Michael Cole’s Cultural Psychology. In addressing issues of “writing” and identity in the digital age at the intersection of technology, art, and commerce, this highly exploratory work looks for ways to perceive “value” in remix culture through ecological models of sociocultural systems. The thesis “follows the problem” of remix through “pioneering research”, “reflective practice”, and shifting contexts for expansive learning. Emerging from significant pools of digital media, “remix value” is analysed through cultural-historical perspectives, as well as through the autopoietic perspectives of “self-making” biological and sociolinguistic systems.

The Archaeology of Hunter-Gatherers as Complex Adaptive Agents (1998)

by Brian Jones

Just for fun, a portion of my 1998 dissertation dealing with CAS in archaeology theory axed (perhaps appropriately) by my advisor.  Looking back, this short portion was perhaps more influential on my later thinking than anything in the final version.

Humans are intimately enveloped by both ecological and economical systems, both of which are linked to one another at... more Humans are intimately enveloped by both ecological and economical systems, both of which are linked to one another at deep levels.  Human social organization itself can be described as a complex, adaptive system in which numerous agents act for their personal gain, but where all such actions result in system permutations as a result of interdependencies and conflicting constraints (e.g. Kauffman 252-271).  Complexity theory, and in particular the study of complex adaptive systems, is poised to shed light on patterns of human behavior, especially where the environments in which we live are undergoing rapid change.  For these reasons I examine how viewing  prehistoric hunter-gatherers as adaptive agents within a multi-tiered complex system may advance our understanding of  the prehistory of the Northeast at the close of the last Ice Age.

Urbanismo ecológico: O papel das forças físicas na construção da cidade

by Maria Rosália Guerreiro

“Nothing is experienced by itself, but always in relation to its surroundings…”(Kevin Lynch)

A frase de... more “Nothing is experienced by itself, but always in relation to its surroundings…”(Kevin Lynch)

A frase de Kevin Lynch aqui expressa equivale a dizermos que as propriedades da forma não são propriedades intrínsecas. Dito de outro modo, estas só podem ser entendidas no contexto dum todo maior. Esta forma de pensar o espaço está pois de acordo com as teorias sistémicas e ecológicas. O pensamento sistémico é pois um pensamento contextual, ambiental e ecológico, pois explicar as coisas em termos do seu contexto é explicar as coisas em termos do seu ambiente(Capra,1997:37).
Tal como o campo de gravidade, o contexto é o campo de atracção que origina uma estrutura de operação (um padrão) que por sua vez influencia o conteúdo, a forma, ou seja, aquilo que
aparentemente observamos, cremos e concebemos. O contexto é pois composto por campos de energia invisíveis, tão reais como a gravidade, que operam na fabricação da forma urbana, tais como o sol, o vento ou a topografia. Isto para me referir apenas às forças físicas, porque existem também as forças sociais, psicológicas, etc., que são ainda mais difíceis de visualizar. Sem entendermos essas forças, torna-se muito difícil interpretar correctamente as formas, ou de as conceber de modo
adequado a esse contexto. Assim o problema da forma inadequada é muitas vezes um problema de percepção do contexto e das forças que entram em acção, pelo que o mais importante no ensino dos nossos projectistas, é o entendimento do contexto no qual as formas emergem e não a forma em si
própria. Portanto, creio que grande parte dos nossos problemas urbanos e espaciais, se devem essencialmente a um problema de percepção do contexto. Isso acontece, exactamente porque as pessoas não estão despertas para os campos invisíveis em acção na cidade e nas nossas próprias vidas. A causa desta dificuldade deve-se essencialmente à nossa visão fragmentária da realidade com a qual descrevemos o mundo. Se pelo contrário, nós pensássemos a realidade duma forma holística,
veríamos como a separação das coisas é uma ilusão e que na verdade todas as coisas são parte do mesmo contínuo inseparável - é a ideia do universo holográfico, conforme o designou David Bohm (1980:143-147). O contexto é um molde para a forma: Enquanto a forma é aquela parte do mundo sobre a qual nós temos controlo, o contexto é aquela parte do mundo que impõe restrições a essa forma. Tudo o que impõe restrições à forma é contexto. A boa forma é pois o resultado da mútua aceitação entre estes dois mundos, ou seja, o resultado de como a forma se insere no resto do conjunto, Alexander, (1964:17). O contexto físico, no qual se enquadram as formas urbanas e arquitectónicas, como o clima, a topografia, os materiais, etc., estabelecem as irregularidades dum contexto não homogéneo, sendo que a forma que responde a esse contexto é um diagrama de forças (padrão) que tenta compensar essas irregularidades. Nas cidades orgânicas e de um modo geral em todos os organismos vivos, a forma é a solução para o problema definido pelo contexto, pelo que, quando falamos deste tipo de urbanismo, a discussão não é sobre a forma em si própria, mas sim sobre o conjunto que compreende a forma e o seu contexto. Assim, para o entendimento das formas da natureza, a ideia cartesiana de que a forma é independente do seu contexto, ou seja, a de que a realidade pode ser dividida e compreendida por partes deverá ser substituída pela ideia holista de que a forma é moldada pelo contexto, ou seja, pela ideia de que tudo está ligado a tudo, por um conjunto de forças e de relações que são responsáveis pela forma que aparentemente se observa.

Sustainability through biomimicry: Urban solutions inspired by nature

by Maria Rosália Guerreiro

Biomimicry means the imitation of life. The term arises from the combination of the Greek roots bios, life, with... more Biomimicry means the imitation of life. The term arises from the combination of the Greek roots bios, life, with mimikos, imitation. Biomimicry is a new science and design discipline that studies nature’s models and then emulates these forms, process, systems, and strategies to solve the problems of our time. The core idea is that nature is creative and sustainable by necessity and it can be used as an ecological standard to judge the sustainability of our innovations. After 3.8 billion years of evolution and bottom-up design brilliance, Nature has the key to solve many of the problems we are grappling with because it has learned what works and what lasts.
This research is about the scientific understanding of the concept of "life" in urban space and its main purpose is to explain the underlying order that is present in self-organized structures. Until now architecture has been especially interested in models of pure rationally; informal cities were without any interest. Today this perspective is changing as we look more deeply into Nature.
We realize that more our built environment functions like the natural world, more sustainable it is. Therefore, this paper intends to speculate about the existence of patterns of self-organization in nature and in cities. The methodology adopted is the process of abduction or hypothesis, which is a kind of scientific inference not purely abstract or inductive. It is above all a process that involves an aesthetic and holistic vision of the world which allows applying a certain knowledge domain into another different domain. It is a mere suggestion of something that can be explained by the assumption that there are some general rules which govern the entire universe.

An upper bound on Reidemeister moves

by Alexander Coward

Submitted

We provide an explicit upper bound on the number of Reidemeister moves required to pass between two diagrams of the... more We provide an explicit upper bound on the number of Reidemeister moves required to pass between two diagrams of the same link. This leads to a conceptually simple solution to the equivalence problem for links.

The Resilience of Neoliberalism: Order and Self-Organisation in a Complex World

by Jonathon Louth

Invited presentation to ‘The Global Political Economy in Uncertain Times: Change and Continuity in Neoliberalism’ workshop, University of Manchester, United Kingdom June 9-10, 2011.

Order will always emerge. Basically, any inter-relation of ‘open’ systems will produce an order. Indeed, it is best... more Order will always emerge. Basically, any inter-relation of ‘open’ systems will produce an order. Indeed, it is best imagined as a series of orders nested and scaled over time and space. Orders become self-sustaining – reproduction, adaptation and path dependence are central to any series of interlocked ‘complex adaptive systems’. Yet, conversely order is not a static affair – it is a series of high energy processes that are, on occasions, prone to phase transitions and rapid and unpredictable transformations. These are lessons drawn from complexity theory; really an assemblage of non-linear dynamical theories that focus on emergence, far-from-equilibrium processes and self-organisation. It is a scientific paradigm that runs counter to dominant notions of orderliness that draw from a Newtonian worldview that privileges linear cause and effect. The relevance to international politics? Meta-theoretically informed by an unstated Newtonian worldview, dominant theories of international relations, inclusive of neoliberal perspectives, are guilty of considering a particular idea of the international system as a final (and, often, natural) form. Indeed, an end of history scenario or a ‘common sense’ position that the world just is. This Newtonian view is delivered to the study of international relations via an economic ontology. Complexity, as an alternative meta-theoretical commitment, might also be utilised to illustrates neoliberalism's continued dominance. But the revivals and resilience of neoliberalism is underscored by positive (away from equilibrium) feedback effects; a high energy affair that is by no means a natural nor permanent set of arrangements.

Complexity Definitions

by Andrés Ginestet

These definitions are included in a dynamic process and they change as the theory developed by Andrés Ginestet changes. Complexity is based on dynamics, and the response needs to follow the dynamics of complexity itself.

- Environmental complexity (C0) is any portion of organized information in any state that is required to fulfill... more - Environmental complexity (C0) is any portion of organized information in any state that is required to fulfill survival conditions for human complexity (C1+C2+C3)
- Absolute complexity (C1) is any defined portion of organized information in an inert state.
- Relative complexity (C2) is any dynamic communication (communicative exchange) of a defined portion of information.
- Contingent complexity (C3) is any dynamic multiverse possibility of any transformation of any absolute information that has (had) a relative quality to it.

Redux: The State as a Non-Linear Conceptual Variable

by Jonathon Louth

Paper presented to the Global Studies Association conference, Merton College, Oxford University, United Kingdom, September 2-4, 2010.

This paper proceeds in two parts.  First, it revisits J.P. Nettl’s 1968 World Politics article ‘The State as a... more This paper proceeds in two parts.  First, it revisits J.P. Nettl’s 1968 World Politics article ‘The State as a Conceptual Variable’, which looked at the variation and institutionalising of what he referred to as ‘stateness’.  Second, the paper offers complexity theory as a further means to argue that the state can only ever be understood as a durable yet malleable aggregated variable. The state is not diminished in importance, instead, any theoretical response to international and indeed, global, politics needs to be aware of the fluidity of this International Relations touchstone.  The implications of this paper is that the state should be understood as a fluid concept that is as much defined by the linkages within the system as it is by the intersubjective actions between the micro and the macro. This is a nod to the interplay between structure and agency. Without slipping too far down the reflectivist slope, some elements within constructivist and historical sociological thought has meaningfully engaged within this particular theoretical space. However, complexity theory offers a new alternative to examine the linkages between the discipline of International Relations and the broader (and often more inclusive) global studies frameworks. In doing so this paper reasserts Nettl’s claim that the state is a ‘sociocultural phenomenon’, but it is one that is bound by the emergent properties associated with the patterned yet unpredictable nature of non-linear dynamics.

Global Order: Resilience, Ramifications and Unintended Consequences.

by Jonathon Louth

Invited presentation to the ‘Is Complexity the New Framework for the Study of Global Life’ workshop at the Rachel Carson Center, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany, February 11-12, 2011.

This paper explores how interwoven networks contribute to what might be called a global order. However, the very... more This paper explores how interwoven networks contribute to what might be called a global order. However, the very concept of order has long been tied to a linear and deterministic worldview. Complexity theory (CT) offers an alternative vision; order is not abandoned, but it is contingent and multifarious. Networks, in this sense, should be appreciated as intersubjective relationships that interconnect across multiple levels. Yet, although adaptive, they are self-sustaining, allowing for a degree of pattern recognition. Newtonian-informed social sciences have sought to explain patterned behaviour from a ready-made lens adopted from the Scientific Revolution. Here, agents, whether they be states or non-state actors, are atomised. CT allows for global life to be recast. Co-evolution, driven by positive feedback processes, not only contributes to an order (or orders), but it can be used to explain how and why agents within a system have difficulty responding to particular challenges. CT may well be used to highlight the ecological interconnectivity of global lives. Indeed, it can show the link (or expose the false division) between the natural and social sciences. However, what should not be ignored is that the resilience of particular processes, aggregations and networks is as much a part of understanding complex systems as is the focus on flux, change and unpredictability. A complex dance occurs; driven by multiple desires to maintain (or continue to manufacture a perception of) a status quo, even when significant pressure is placed upon the system (traditional analysis often refers to endogenous and exogenous pressures, a line blurred by CT). This defensive reaction should not be merely dismissed, as it is inextricably a part of a more encompassing emergent order; a considerably more flexible notion. Order, then, needs to be recognised as a high-energy affair that is constantly informed by and informs the environment it is thought to describe. This understanding offers useful insights for a range of debates, including action and inaction surrounding climate change.