Dealing With Randomness

Decisions based on randomness are often taken to be “irrational” or “arbitrary”. The conventional strategy is to fight randomness; a more recent one is to accept and even celebrate randomness. We focus on a third approach that employs randomness as a managerial and social decision-making mechanism in a purposeful way. We argue that Controlled Random Decisions provide considerable advantages. They allow outsiders as well as novel ideas to have an influence, and they work against corruption. When persons and projects are selected, there must be a careful pre-selection. Controlled Random Decisions should be discussed and employed more extensively.

Inca Imperial Colonization in Northern Chile

In this chapter, the authors argue that the rapid, extensive, and efficient expansion of the Inca into northern Chile was not the consequence of random decisions. On the contrary, the cases studies presented show strategic geopolitical decision-making aimed to reduce conflict for resources and land between local leaders and foreign polities. These indigenous leaders and foreign imperial representatives became active agents in the promotion and implementation of the state programs. The case studies explored comprise Zapahuira, Tarapacá Viejo, and Catarpe. By transforming the economic, political, and ideological systems, the authors also argue that the Inca integrated northern Chile into a broader socioeconomic network through the Capac Ñan.

Current Complexities of English Teaching in Costa Rica

Current complexities of English teaching in Costa Rica’s public secondary education are discussed. Using an autoethnographic research approach, critical incidents of an EFL teacher are examined in light of Complexity Theory. Findings suggest that classrooms are unpredictable sites of struggle where multiple rationalities coexist (and often conflict), which must be understood before random decisions are made. For applied linguistics, the study is relevant at three levels: it expands the bulk of literature on the subject, it calls for more attention to the complexities of EFL, and it opens an avenue for reflection and future research directions. ResumenSe analizan ciertos aspectos de las complejidades actuales sobre la enseñanza del inglés de secundaria en la educación pública de Costa Rica. Mediante la autoetnografía, se analizan incidentes críticos de un docente de inglés como lengua extranjera, a la luz de la teoría de la complejidad. Los hallazgos indican que el aula es un espacio de enfrentamientos entre las distintas racionalidades que coexisten, que deben comprenderse ante cualquier toma de decisiones. El estudio atiende tres aspectos: expande la bibliografía sobre el tema, resalta las complejidades de la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras y abre espacios de reflexión y rutas para investigaciones futuras.