Managing Complex Adaptive Social Systems

2011 ◽  
pp. 1034-1045
Author(s):  
Roy Williams
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Adaptive Networks ◽  
Open Communication ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Complex Adaptive Social Systems

Complex Adaptive Systems, for our purposes, are social systems that that evolve and display new, emergent properties, and self-organizing behavior of their components; they are based on a reasonably stable infrastructure, on the satisfaction of the most basic needs, and flexible, frequent, and open communication and interaction. Complex Adaptive Systems may be based on a few, simple rules, but can yield complex and unpredictable outcomes. The ‘Hole in the Wall’ project is an interesting case in point in the design of spaces for complex adaptive systems, or complex adaptive networks. In this project, touch screen computers were literally put in ‘holes in walls’ in places where unschooled children congregated. The children were given no instructions on how to use the computers, or what to do with them, but with startling results: the children soon taught themselves how to use the computers and the Internet, and much more (Mitra, 2003).

scholarly journals The Substrate-Independence Theory: Advancing Constructor Theory to Scaffold Substrate Attributes for the Recursive Interaction between Knowledge and Information

Systems ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
John Turner ◽  
Dave Snowden ◽  
Nigel Thurlow
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Structure Learning ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
External Threats ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Construction Tasks ◽  
Post Hoc

The substrate-independence theory utilizes sensemaking techniques to provide cognitively based scaffolds that guide and structure learning. Scaffolds are cognitive abstractions of constraints that relate to information within a system. The substrate-independence theory concentrates on the flow of information as the underlying property of the host system. The substrate-independence theory views social systems as complex adaptive systems capable of repurposing their structure to combat external threats by utilizing constructors and substrates. Constructor theory is used to identify potential construction tasks, the legitimate input and output states that are possible, to map the desired change in the substrate’s attributes. Construction tasks can be mapped in advance for ordered and known environments. Construction tasks may also be mapped in either real-time or post hoc for unordered and complex environments using current sensemaking techniques. Mapping of the construction tasks in real-time becomes part of the landscape, and scaffolds are implemented to aid in achieving the desired state or move to a more manageable environment (e.g., from complex to complicated).

Web Knowledge Turbine as a Proposal for Personal and Professional Self-Organisation in Complex Times

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Rubio Royo ◽  
Susan Cranfield McKay ◽  
Jose Carlos Nelson-Santana ◽  
Ramiro N Delgado Rodríguez ◽  
Antonio A. Ocon-Carreras
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Collective Narratives ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Complex Ecosystem ◽  
Professional Self ◽  
Self Organisation ◽  
Web Knowledge

This article describes a proposal for sustainable way to adapt to current complex process of global transformation, using the ‘Web Knowledge Turbine' (WKT) as a self-organised ecosystem for the co-creation of personal and collective narratives. The authors contemplate all human social systems as Complex Adaptive Systems with the capacity for self-organisation derived from a permanent learning process. Accordingly, a shift in the focus of teaching programmes from mere mechanisms of knowledge transmission, to a process focused on learning and in particular, a process of self-directed, connected, and deep learning which has at its core the profile of the eLearner as the central protagonist. The cornerstone of this process is a Complex Ecosystem of Personal Knowledge (CEPK) which will support teaching at an undergraduate level, progressively and transversely, from its outset. Considering the classroom as a networked community of learners whose objective is not only to gain a command of a particular subject (WHAT content do they need to learn?), but also HOW and WHY they need to learn it.

A Review of Human Factors Challenges of Complex Adaptive Systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 983-995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waldemar Karwowski
Keyword(s):  
Nonlinear Dynamics ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Human Centered Design ◽  
Work Systems ◽  
Human System ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Contemporary Work

Objective: In this paper, the author explores a need for a greater understanding of the true nature of human–system interactions from the perspective of the theory of complex adaptive systems, including the essence of complexity, emergent properties of system behavior, nonlinear systems dynamics, and deterministic chaos. Background: Human performance, more often than not, constitutes complex adaptive phenomena with emergent properties that exhibit nonlinear dynamical (chaotic) behaviors. Methods: The complexity challenges in the design and management of contemporary work systems, including service systems, are explored. Examples of selected applications of the concepts of nonlinear dynamics to the study of human physical performance are provided. Results: Understanding and applications of the concepts of theory of complex adaptive and dynamical systems should significantly improve the effectiveness of human-centered design efforts of a large system of systems. Conclusion: Performance of many contemporary work systems and environments may be sensitive to the initial conditions and may exhibit dynamic nonlinear properties and chaotic system behaviors. Human-centered design of emergent human–system interactions requires application of the theories of nonlinear dynamics and complex adaptive system. Application: The success of future human–systems integration efforts requires the fusion of paradigms, knowledge, design principles, and methodologies of human factors and ergonomics with those of the science of complex adaptive systems as well as modern systems engineering.

scholarly journals Globalization and the erosion of geo-ethnic checkpoints: evolving signal-boundary systems at the edge of chaos

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-109
Author(s):  
Chris Girard
Keyword(s):  
Signal Processing ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Extraction Process ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Major Transitions ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Zero Sum ◽  
Economic Specialization

AbstractSpatial boundaries, thermodynamic–economic specialization, and signal processing are at the core of evolution’s major transitions. Centered on these three dimensions, a proposed evolutionary informatics model roots ethnic and racial cleavages in zero-sum contests over rivalrous resources within geophysical sites. As the geophysical boundaries and signal-processing complexity of social systems coevolved, zero-sum contests centered on metropoles extracting resources from hinterlands. In this colonial extraction process, racialization arose from non-market spatial segregation of populations tagged with hinterland lineage. Subsequent post-industrial erosion—and greater permeability—of racial and ethnic boundaries has been enabled by the progressive uncoupling of more highly evolved complex adaptive systems from geophysical location (non-territorial adaptation). Signal and physical topologies are becoming more distinct. This uncoupling from physical location is driven by cybernetic parallelism in complex adaptive systems: diverse and independent agents learning from their mutual exchange of signals. Cybernetic parallelism has generated epistemic and geopolitical challenges to formal apartheid and racializing immigration policies, but not without friction or reversals.

The complexity continuum, Part 1: hard and soft theories

Kybernetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1330-1354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice Yolles
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Viable Systems ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Complexity Theories

PurposeComplex systems adapt to survive, but little comparative literature exists on various approaches. Adaptive complex systems are generic, this referring to propositions concerning their bounded instability, adaptability and viability. Two classes of adaptive complex system theories exist: hard and soft. Hard complexity theories include Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) and Viability Theory, and softer theories, which we refer to as Viable Systems Theories (VSTs), that include Management Cybernetics at one extreme and Humanism at the other. This paper has a dual purpose distributed across two parts. In Part 1, the purpose of this paper is to identify the conditions for the complementarity of the two classes of theory. In Part 2, the purpose is to explore (in part using Agency Theory) the two classes of theory and their proposed complexity continuum.Design/methodology/approachA detailed analysis of the literature permits a distinction between hard and softer approaches towards modelling complex social systems. Hard theories are human-incommensurable, while soft ones are human-commensurable, therefore more closely related to the human condition. The characteristics that differentiate between hard and soft approaches are identified.FindingsHard theories are more restrictive than the softer theories. The latter can embrace degrees of “softness” and it is explained how hard and soft approaches can be mixed, sometimes creating Harmony.Originality/valueThere are very few explorations of the relationship between hard and soft approaches to complexity theory, and even fewer that draw in the notion of harmony.

scholarly journals Complexity, diversity and the role of the public sphere on the Internet

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 961-984
Author(s):  
Nathan Eckstrand
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Public ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

This article explores the relationship between deliberative democracy, the Internet, and systems theory’s thoughts on diversity. After introducing Habermas’s theory of deliberative democracy and how diversity fits into it, the article discusses various ideas about whether and how it could work on the Internet. Next, the article looks at research into diversity done in the field of complex adaptive systems, showing that diversity has both good and bad effects, but is clearly preferred for the purpose of survival. The article concludes with an analysis of how the results of systems theory’s study of diversity can assist society in bringing democracy to the Web.

Complex Processes and Social Systems

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Large ◽  
Petia Sice ◽  
Robert Geyer ◽  
Geoff O'Brien ◽  
Safwat Mansi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Stop Time ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Complex Responsive Processes

In this paper the authors consider two contrasting viewpoints; Complex responsive processes which deal with interactions in the present, and complex adaptive systems which focus on learning through the production of what are called mental models. The paper shows that rather than being contradictory, these viewpoints are – at least in some respects - complementary. From the resulting perspective we are able to identify qualitative synergies between the two approaches. Complex responsive processes involve reflections on interactions that take place in time. But you cannot stop time so these present reflections always refer back to a present now gone. Complex adaptive systems are analytic tools. They are not explicitly in the present or in time at all, but they shape our thoughts and actions which are in the present. They shape how people behave, respond and think in a context. In this way people can combine, or reorganise, the approach to complex responsive processes and complex adaptive systems to show how humans address the complex notions of our world.

Method of Systems Potential as "Top-Bottom" Technique of the Complex Adaptive Systems Modelling

2008 ◽  
pp. 26-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gr gor S. Pushnoi ◽  
Gordon L. Bonser
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Based Modelling ◽  
Structure And Dynamics ◽  
Interacting Agents ◽  
Fractal Properties ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Systems Modelling

Emergent properties of complex adaptive systems (CAS) are explored by means of “agent-based modelling” (ABM), which are compared with results from modelling on the basis of the method of systems potential (MSP). MSP describes CAS as a holistic system whereas ABM-methodology considers CAS as set of interacting “agents.” It is argued that MSP is a “top-bottom” approach, which supplements ABM “bottom-up” modeling of CAS. Adaptive principles incorporated into CAS at the level of a holistic system exploit Lamarck’s ideas about evolution, while the adaptive rules incorporated in the inner structure of CAS reflect Darwin’s ideas. Both ABM and MSP exhibit the same macroscopic properties: (1) “punctuated equilibrium”; (2) sudden jumps in macro-indices; (3) cyclical dynamics; (4) superposition of deterministic and stochastic patterns in dynamics; (5) fractal properties of structure and dynamics; (6) SOC-phenomenon. ABM demonstrates these properties via simulations of the different models whereas MSP derives these phenomena analytically.

scholarly journals The right incentives enable ocean sustainability successes and provide hope for the future

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (51) ◽  
pp. 14507-14514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Lubchenco ◽  
Elizabeth B. Cerny-Chipman ◽  
Jessica N. Reimer ◽  
Simon A. Levin
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Virtuous Cycle ◽  
The Right

Healthy ocean ecosystems are needed to sustain people and livelihoods and to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Using the ocean sustainably requires overcoming many formidable challenges: overfishing, climate change, ocean acidification, and pollution. Despite gloomy forecasts, there is reason for hope. New tools, practices, and partnerships are beginning to transform local fisheries, biodiversity conservation, and marine spatial planning. The challenge is to bring them to a global scale. We dissect recent successes using a complex adaptive-systems (CAS) framework, which acknowledges the interconnectedness of social and ecological systems. Understanding how policies and practices change the feedbacks in CASs by altering the behavior of different system components is critical for building robust, sustainable states with favorable emergent properties. Our review reveals that altering incentives—either economic or social norms, or both—can achieve positive outcomes. For example, introduction of well-designed rights-based or secure-access fisheries and ecosystem service accounting shifts economic incentives to align conservation and economic benefits. Modifying social norms can create conditions that incentivize a company, country, or individual to fish sustainably, curb illegal fishing, or create large marine reserves as steps to enhance reputation or self-image. In each example, the feedbacks between individual actors and emergent system properties were altered, triggering a transition from a vicious to a virtuous cycle. We suggest that evaluating conservation tools by their ability to align incentives of actors with broader goals of sustainability is an underused approach that can provide a pathway toward scaling sustainability successes. In short, getting incentives right matters.

Distributed Agency

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenio Dante Suarez ◽  
Manuel Castañón-Puga
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
One Dimension ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Human Choice ◽  
Backwards Induction ◽  
The Social ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
The Common

Distributed Agency is the name of a conceptual framework for describing complex adaptive systems that this paper develops. To understand the complexity of the world in a holistic fashion, the field of Modeling and Simulation is currently lacking a common terminology in which different bodies of knowledge can communicate with each other in a general language. In this work, agency is proposed as the common link between the different dimensions of reality, expressing the influence of one dimension on another. This conceptualization is based on a process of backwards induction where nested actors such as an evolved organism or a human choice can be represented as the resulting force of intertwined aims and constraints. The theoretical framework can serve as a point of reference for the social and computational researcher by communicating structural and emergent properties that are essential for the understanding of social and evolutionary phenomena such as companies, economies, governments, and ecosystems.

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