- Glossary of Terms Category: Resources Posted by: Aaron and Ken The following definitions are brief, loose, and approximate. But despite these features, they should give readers a decent understanding of what we mean when we use these terms. ParadigmOfComplexity The last few decades have seen the emergence of a growing body of literature devoted to a critique of the so-called “old” or “Cartesian-Newtonian” paradigm which, in the wake of the prodigious successes of modern natural science, came to dominate the full range of authoritative intellectual discourse and its associated worldviews. Often coupled with a materialistic, and indeed atomistic, metaphysics, this paradigm has been guided by the methodological principle of reductionism. The critics of reductionism have tended to promote various forms of holism, a term which, perhaps more than any other, has served as the rallying cry for those who see themselves as creators of a “new paradigm.” At the forefront of such a challenge, and in many ways the herald of the new paradigm, is the relatively new movement of transpersonal psychology. In taking seriously such experiences, transpersonal theory has been compelled to transcend the disciplinary boundaries of mainstream psychology. C.
The eClock - Learn all about time - Interactive Clock Digital On/Off Words On/Off Roman/Arabic To rotate the hands on the interactive e-Clock, move the cursor over the clock face, press the left mouse button down and move the mouse. Simplexity Simplexity is an emerging theory that proposes a possible complementary relationship between complexity and simplicity. The term draws from General Systems Theory, Dialectics (philosophy) and Design. Jeffrey Kluger wrote a book about this phenomenon that describes how house plants can be more complicated than industrial plants, how a truck driver's job can be as difficult as a CEO's and why 90% of the money donated to help cure diseases are given only to the research of 10% of them (and vice versa). The term has been adopted in advertising, marketing and the manufacture of left-handed screwdrivers. Design aspects[edit]
Complexity: It’s Not That Simple Complexity theory has been around for a generation now, but most people don’t understand it. I often read or listen to consultants, ‘experts’ and media people who proffer ludicrously simplistic ‘solutions’ to complex predicaments. Since it seems most people would prefer things to be simple, these ‘experts’ always seem to have an uncritical audience. Because most of what’s written about complexity theory is dense, academic and/or expensive, I thought I’d try to summarize the key points of complexity theory (focusing on the social/ecological aspects of it, not the mathematical/scientific ones) using lots of examples for clarity, and in a way that might be used practically by those grappling with complex issues and challenges. Complexity theory argues that simple, complicated, complex and chaotic systems have fundamentally different properties, and therefore different approaches and processes are needed when dealing with issues and challenges in each of these types of systems.
Energy transition and co-operative education and training - On Society (Image by rawpixel from Pixabay, CC0) While traditionally the integration of theory and practice is routine in vocational education, in tertiary education theoretical education is often separated from practice. After all graduates shall satisfy requirements in jobs and society. This is often not the case due to a lack of exchange between theory and practice during education. In contrast to classical education formats co-operative learning approaches offer alternative opportunities to solve this problem. Too complex to exist - The Boston Globe ON . 10, 1996, a single power line in western Oregon brushed a tree and shorted out, triggering a massive cascade of power outages that spread across the western United States. Frantic engineers watched helplessly as the crisis unfolded, leaving nearly 10 million people without electricity. Even after power was restored, they were unable to explain adequately why it had happened, or how they could prevent a similar cascade from happening again - which it did, in the Northeast on Aug. 14, 2003. Over the past year we have experienced something similar in the financial system: a dramatic and unpredictable cascade of events that has produced the economic equivalent of a global blackout. As governments struggle to fix the crisis, experts have weighed in on the causes of the meltdown, from excess leverage, to lax oversight, to the way executives are paid. Answering these questions properly requires us to grapple with what is called "systemic risk."
Studies in Complexity Home Relational Science and Holistic Analysis Our goal for this Relational Science site is to build a basic synthesis of relational complexity on the foundations developed by Robert Rosen. Rosen himself did not attempt a comprehensive synthesis of relational complexity as a general theory of nature (or world view); his interest was in its derivation and application to living systems, to help him answer his central question: “What is Life?”