In his physics laboratory, Ajay Sood watches hundreds of tiny brass pins spontaneously align themselves into flower-shaped patterns in experiments where he’s coaxed non-living matter to behave like flocks of birds flying in synchrony.
The millimetre-sized tapered pins, initially scattered in a disordered manner on a smooth metal surface, jump into action when the surface vibrates and align themselves within seconds into a highly-ordered pattern, as if each pin knows exactly where to go.
The experiments by Sood and his colleagues at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad, are among the first to display spontaneous alignment of speed and orientation by non-living and non-robotic objects.
The scientists have used their results to construct a new theoretical model of flocking which challenges current ideas that some species of birds, fish and insects display flocking behaviour through the so-called nearest-neighbour effect: individuals merely mimic the movement of nearest neighbours, but the group shows collective behaviour. The findings of the IISc-TIFR team appeared today in the journalNature Communications.
“We’re studying the physics of non-living objects to understand better a phenomenon widely observed in the biological world,” Sood said.
Networks Will Fund the Future by Selena Coles - recognizing the critical role of networks to address the challenges of the polycrisis including financial challenges.
“Relationship is the fundamental truth of this world of appearance,” – Tagore Over the past several years of supporting networks for social change, we at IISC have been constantly evolving our understanding of what is new and different when we call something a network, as opposed to a coalition, collaborative or alliance. On the surface, much can look the same,... Read More
Where do we come from? Where are we going? New research from the Santa Fe Institute explores key questions related to humanity, society, and the existence of life in our world.
Part 1: The Principles of Complexity: Understanding the Hidden Sources of Order by Dr. Stefani Crabtree
Part 2: Autocatalytic Sets: Complexity at the Interface of Chemistry and Biology by Dr. Wim Hordijk
Part 3: Beyond Pairwise: Higher-Order Interactions in Complex Systems
This Satellite Meeting takes the form of a workshop aiming to stimulate the discussion and the collaborative co-construction of new ideas about the nature and state of development of the modes of thinking in and for Complexity Studies.
It aims at identifying key challenges and questions that call to be addressed, including those regarding the development of more complex modes of thinking. It will focus the discussion on the identification of key theoretical, empirical, methodological, technical and practical challenges and/or ways of addressing them.
The workshop will aim to identify and explore how these key questions and challenges relate to the development or adaptation of tools and strategies to support the practice of particular modes of thinking in research and practice and to guide real-world interventions and educational activities (formal and informal).
Through a transdisciplinary approach, this meeting aims at constructing and stimulating productive and generative dialogues for the development of more complex modes of thinking (in) Complexity.
It has been called the third great revolution of 20th-century physics, after relativity and quantum theory. But how can something called chaos theory help you understand an orderly world? What practical things might it be good for? What, in fact, is chaos theory? "Chaos theory," according to Dr. Steven Strogatz, Director of the Center for Applied Mathematics at Cornell University, "is the science of how things change." It describes the behavior of any system whose state evolves over time and whose behavior is sensitive to small changes in its initial conditions.
At some point, systems flip from being complicated, which is a challenge to manage, to being complex. Complexity is more than a challenge because it opens the door to all kinds of unexpected crashes and events.
Their behavior cannot be reduced to their component parts. It’s as if they take on a life of their own.
Stories have the power to shape our identities and worldviews. They can be factual or fictional, text-based or visual and can take many forms—from novels and non-fiction to conspiracy theories, rumors and disinformation. This Collection includes primary research papers that propose innovative, data-driven approaches to understanding stories and their impact, on such topics as the nature of narrative and narrative thinking, methods to extract stories from datasets and datasets from stories, the role of narrative in science communication, and the transformative power of stories.
How can measurement go beyond extractive reporting to actively nourish people and the planet? Bridging the gap between theory and fieldwork, the Regenerative Evaluation Living Paper introduces a new paradigm for assessing impact. Discover the principles and practices of this community-driven labor of love, and join us for the official virtual launch event on March 24th.
What does it take to spark real change in our communities? How can creative solutions from classrooms to policies to grassroots movements and beyond shape a better future, and what kind of leadership will carry us forward?
Generations Ahead is a podcast exploring the most imaginative approaches shaping the future of Canada and the world. Hosted by Sara Wolfe, External Director of the Wilson College of Leadership and Civic Engagement at McMaster University, the series draws on her career spanning healthcare practices informed by her Indigenous roots to teaching future leaders. Each episode features changemakers not just from academia but from the front lines of real-world work, tackling complex problems and sharing what their solutions could mean for generations to come.
This is not a typical leadership podcast. It is about imagination, connection, and the sparks of possibility that emerge when we face the mess of today with critical hope.
We talk to Dr Thomas Verny about the embodied mind. His most recent book, The Embodied Mind: Understanding the Mysteries of Cellular Memory, Consciousness, and Our Bodies, explores very early memory and the mind and sets out to redefine our concept of the mind and consciousness - compiling for the first time, research that points to the mind’s ties to every part of the body and the intelligence of cells. The mind, Verny holds, is fluid and adaptable, embodied but not enskulled.
Ichiro Tsuda, Hiroshi Watanabe, Hiromichi Tsukada, and Yutaka Yamaguti
Entropy 2022, 24(2), 240
The focus of this article is the self-organization of neural systems under constraints. In 2016, we proposed a theory for self-organization with constraints to clarify the neural mechanism of functional differentiation. As a typical application of the theory, we developed evolutionary reservoir computers that exhibit functional differentiation of neurons. Regarding the self-organized structure of neural systems, Warren McCulloch described the neural networks of the brain as being “heterarchical”, rather than hierarchical, in structure. Unlike the fixed boundary conditions in conventional self-organization theory, where stationary phenomena are the target for study, the neural networks of the brain change their functional structure via synaptic learning and neural differentiation to exhibit specific functions, thereby adapting to nonstationary environmental changes. Thus, the neural network structure is altered dynamically among possible network structures. We refer to such changes as a dynamic heterarchy. Through the dynamic changes of the network structure under constraints, such as physical, chemical, and informational factors, which act on the whole system, neural systems realize functional differentiation or functional parcellation. Based on the computation results of our model for functional differentiation, we propose hypotheses on the neuronal mechanism of functional differentiation. Finally, using the Kolmogorov–Arnold–Sprecher superposition theorem, which can be realized by a layered deep neural network, we propose a possible scenario of functional (including cell) differentiation.
Elena Renken's has written an excellent article for Quanta Magazine on cell self generated gradients that guide cell migration. There are several implications for modeling and simulating cellular mechanisms and especially cancer cell migration. Very much worthwhile reading and following up on the related research.
A clear, concise introduction to the quickly growing field of complexity science that explains its conceptual and mathematical foundations
What is a complex system? Although “complexity science” is used to understand phenomena as diverse as the behavior of honeybees, the economic markets, the human brain, and the climate, there is no agreement about its foundations. In this introduction for students, academics, and general readers, philosopher of science James Ladyman and physicist Karoline Wiesner develop an account of complexity that brings the different concepts and mathematical measures applied to complex systems into a single framework. They introduce the different features of complex systems, discuss different conceptions of complexity, and develop their own account. They explain why complexity science is so important in today’s world.
A recent paper entitled 'A Complex Systems Approach to the Study of Ideology'* presents a theory much like the one I have begun to develop in a series of posts on this blog and other work. The authors write, If we construe ideologies as complex systems, we have (at least) two levels of systems embedded in each other. At the individual level, the elements are ideas, beliefs, and values, whose interactions give rise to a person’s understanding of society, which in turn guides individual political behavior. At the group level, the elements are individual minds whose interactions give rise to
The ongoing crisis holds profound lessons that can help us address climate change post-coronavirus--if we make greater economic and environmental plans for the recovery ahead.
Fetzer, Thiemo, Marc Witte, Lukas Hensel, Jon Jachimowicz, Johannes Haushofer, Andriy Ivchenko, Stefano Caria, et al. 2020. “Global Behaviors and Perceptions in the COVID-19 Pandemic.” PsyArXiv. April 16. doi:10.31234/osf.io/3kfmh
We conducted a large-scale survey covering 58 countries and over 100,000 respondents between late March and early April 2020 to study beliefs and attitudes towards citizens’ and governments’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most respondents reacted strongly to the crisis: they report engaging in social distancing and hygiene behaviors, and believe that strong policy measures, such as shop closures and curfews, are necessary. They also believe that their government and their country’s citizens are not doing enough and underestimate the degree to which others in their country support strong behavioral and policy responses to the pandemic. The perception of a weak government and public response is associated with higher levels of worries and depression. Using both cross-country panel data and an event-study, we additionally show that strong government reactions correct misperceptions, and reduce worries and depression. Our findings highlight that policy-makers not only need to consider how their decisions affect the spread of COVID-19, but also how such choices influence the mental health of their population.
It has been called the third great revolution of 20th-century physics, after relativity and quantum theory. But how can something called chaos theory help you understand an orderly world? What practical things might it be good for? What, in fact, is chaos theory? "Chaos theory," according to Dr. Steven Strogatz, Director of the Center for Applied Mathematics at Cornell University, "is the science of how things change." It describes the behavior of any system whose state evolves over time and whose behavior is sensitive to small changes in its initial conditions.
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