Richard M. Goodwin
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198283355
- eISBN:
- 9780191596315
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198283350.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
This collection of short essays provides an application of chaotic dynamics to economic systems. Each chapter presents several economic models incorporating differential (or difference) equations ...
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This collection of short essays provides an application of chaotic dynamics to economic systems. Each chapter presents several economic models incorporating differential (or difference) equations such as the Rössler equations, which exhibit a chaotic attractor. Combining the insights of Schumpeter, Marx, and Keynes, the models endogenously generate irregular, wavelike growth. Goodwin therefore argues that the apparent unpredictability of economic systems is due to deterministic chaos as much as to exogeneous shocks. The book is aimed primarily at economists interested in theories of economic growth. However, readers with a general interest in the application of chaos theory to social sciences will also find it useful. Some mathematical knowledge of systems of differential equations is assumed.Less
This collection of short essays provides an application of chaotic dynamics to economic systems. Each chapter presents several economic models incorporating differential (or difference) equations such as the Rössler equations, which exhibit a chaotic attractor. Combining the insights of Schumpeter, Marx, and Keynes, the models endogenously generate irregular, wavelike growth. Goodwin therefore argues that the apparent unpredictability of economic systems is due to deterministic chaos as much as to exogeneous shocks. The book is aimed primarily at economists interested in theories of economic growth. However, readers with a general interest in the application of chaos theory to social sciences will also find it useful. Some mathematical knowledge of systems of differential equations is assumed.
Keith Grint
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198775003
- eISBN:
- 9780191695346
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198775003.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, HRM / IR
This book is designed for those who find current management orthodoxies inadequate, who are interested in alternative ideas and how they might be applied to management practice, but are not ...
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This book is designed for those who find current management orthodoxies inadequate, who are interested in alternative ideas and how they might be applied to management practice, but are not enthralled by the esoteric world of theoretical books about theory. This book offers a bridge between the ‘esoteric’ world of theory and the practical world of management by exploring and illustrating some current theories (Fuzzy Logic, Actor-Network Theory, Chaos Theory, Constructivism etc.) through discussion of some everyday management issues (strategic decision making, appraisals, negotiation, leadership, culture, and motivation).Less
This book is designed for those who find current management orthodoxies inadequate, who are interested in alternative ideas and how they might be applied to management practice, but are not enthralled by the esoteric world of theoretical books about theory. This book offers a bridge between the ‘esoteric’ world of theory and the practical world of management by exploring and illustrating some current theories (Fuzzy Logic, Actor-Network Theory, Chaos Theory, Constructivism etc.) through discussion of some everyday management issues (strategic decision making, appraisals, negotiation, leadership, culture, and motivation).
Keith Grint
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198775003
- eISBN:
- 9780191695346
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198775003.003.0017
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, HRM / IR
Although organizational change proves to be an unavoidable element of contemporary management, managers have certain techniques for strategically responding to fashions and fads. This chapter ...
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Although organizational change proves to be an unavoidable element of contemporary management, managers have certain techniques for strategically responding to fashions and fads. This chapter attempts to look into evolutionary theory as well as chaos theory. In conventional theory, we perceive the world to be something stable and predictable as we can utilize what we know about what works and what does not. Machiavelli however implied that something brings about intervention when it disrupts the conventional order of things. In chaos theory, it is recognized that anything can happen in the short-term but long-term patterns remain predictable. In evolutionary theory, change entails certain limits and an organization cannot undergo ‘starting over’.Less
Although organizational change proves to be an unavoidable element of contemporary management, managers have certain techniques for strategically responding to fashions and fads. This chapter attempts to look into evolutionary theory as well as chaos theory. In conventional theory, we perceive the world to be something stable and predictable as we can utilize what we know about what works and what does not. Machiavelli however implied that something brings about intervention when it disrupts the conventional order of things. In chaos theory, it is recognized that anything can happen in the short-term but long-term patterns remain predictable. In evolutionary theory, change entails certain limits and an organization cannot undergo ‘starting over’.
David Wallace
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199546961
- eISBN:
- 9780191741418
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546961.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter reviews a collection of other philosophical and conceptual consequences of the Everett interpretation: the popular-science idea that chaos theory makes the future sensitively dependent ...
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This chapter reviews a collection of other philosophical and conceptual consequences of the Everett interpretation: the popular-science idea that chaos theory makes the future sensitively dependent upon our present actions; some exotic situations involving quantum probability, such as the infamous ‘quantum suicide’ thought experiment; the proposal by Deutsch that other worlds are directly observed in quantum-mechanical interference processes; the ontologica status of mixed states; and the nature of time travel in an Everettian universe.Less
This chapter reviews a collection of other philosophical and conceptual consequences of the Everett interpretation: the popular-science idea that chaos theory makes the future sensitively dependent upon our present actions; some exotic situations involving quantum probability, such as the infamous ‘quantum suicide’ thought experiment; the proposal by Deutsch that other worlds are directly observed in quantum-mechanical interference processes; the ontologica status of mixed states; and the nature of time travel in an Everettian universe.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226429786
- eISBN:
- 9780226429809
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226429809.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter surveys some of the supposed connections between postmodernism and chaos theory in literature, literary theory, and the law. It begins by looking at some examples of analogies and ...
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This chapter surveys some of the supposed connections between postmodernism and chaos theory in literature, literary theory, and the law. It begins by looking at some examples of analogies and mismatches between chaos and postmodern literature. It then considers claims of resonances and conflicts between chaos theory and the movement within postmodern literary theory known as deconstruction. Next, it examines the role of chaos theory in postmodern legal thought, especially the work known as critical legal studies. The scrutiny of borrowed knowledge invites a reassessment of the relationships between the various knowledge-making disciplines. The chapter concludes by arguing once more for disciplinary pluralism. A pluralistic openness to a variety of approaches is helpful for more than the specific task of understanding borrowings from chaos theory; it can reshape our conception of knowledge making in general.Less
This chapter surveys some of the supposed connections between postmodernism and chaos theory in literature, literary theory, and the law. It begins by looking at some examples of analogies and mismatches between chaos and postmodern literature. It then considers claims of resonances and conflicts between chaos theory and the movement within postmodern literary theory known as deconstruction. Next, it examines the role of chaos theory in postmodern legal thought, especially the work known as critical legal studies. The scrutiny of borrowed knowledge invites a reassessment of the relationships between the various knowledge-making disciplines. The chapter concludes by arguing once more for disciplinary pluralism. A pluralistic openness to a variety of approaches is helpful for more than the specific task of understanding borrowings from chaos theory; it can reshape our conception of knowledge making in general.
David Wallace
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199546961
- eISBN:
- 9780191741418
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546961.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter is concerned with the technical details of how emergent branching occurs in the Everett interpretation. Accordingly, its focus is on decoherence theory, the branch of quantum physics ...
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This chapter is concerned with the technical details of how emergent branching occurs in the Everett interpretation. Accordingly, its focus is on decoherence theory, the branch of quantum physics which studies the effects on macroscopic degrees of freedom of their environment (whether that environment is internal or external). The chapter reviews decoherence theory in a self-contained manner, beginning with the ‘environment-induced decoherence’ approach developed by Joos, Zeh and zurek, and moving on to the more abstract approach of Gell-Mann, Hartle, and Halliwell. The chapter shows that decoherence, in the context of the Everett interpretation, does indeed cause the quantum world to develop an emergent branching structure, though this branching structure is continuous and resists any attempt to quantify the precise number of branches.Less
This chapter is concerned with the technical details of how emergent branching occurs in the Everett interpretation. Accordingly, its focus is on decoherence theory, the branch of quantum physics which studies the effects on macroscopic degrees of freedom of their environment (whether that environment is internal or external). The chapter reviews decoherence theory in a self-contained manner, beginning with the ‘environment-induced decoherence’ approach developed by Joos, Zeh and zurek, and moving on to the more abstract approach of Gell-Mann, Hartle, and Halliwell. The chapter shows that decoherence, in the context of the Everett interpretation, does indeed cause the quantum world to develop an emergent branching structure, though this branching structure is continuous and resists any attempt to quantify the precise number of branches.
John Hatcher and Mark Bailey
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199244119
- eISBN:
- 9780191697333
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199244119.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History, Economic History
This chapter summarises the theme of the book and introduces new models such as the Chaos theory, Pewter theory, and path dependency. The central theme of this book has been an exploration of the ...
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This chapter summarises the theme of the book and introduces new models such as the Chaos theory, Pewter theory, and path dependency. The central theme of this book has been an exploration of the intellectual strength, clarity, and historical accuracy of the three traditional supermodels of economic development in the Middle Ages and beyond. Its purpose is to provide a clear and accessible introduction to the conceptual frameworks, and to assess the extent to which these frameworks retain relevance and credibility. The development of extremely powerful computers has facilitated the rise of Chaos Theory, which analyses the manner in which many and varied forces interact in complex ways to produce organised networks and structured systems. However, this chapter concludes that writing of history is on the whole a progressive craft, and advances will continue to be made.Less
This chapter summarises the theme of the book and introduces new models such as the Chaos theory, Pewter theory, and path dependency. The central theme of this book has been an exploration of the intellectual strength, clarity, and historical accuracy of the three traditional supermodels of economic development in the Middle Ages and beyond. Its purpose is to provide a clear and accessible introduction to the conceptual frameworks, and to assess the extent to which these frameworks retain relevance and credibility. The development of extremely powerful computers has facilitated the rise of Chaos Theory, which analyses the manner in which many and varied forces interact in complex ways to produce organised networks and structured systems. However, this chapter concludes that writing of history is on the whole a progressive craft, and advances will continue to be made.
Stephen H. Kellert
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226429786
- eISBN:
- 9780226429809
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226429809.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
What happens to scientific knowledge when researchers outside the natural sciences bring elements of the latest trend across disciplinary boundaries for their own purposes? Researchers in fields from ...
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What happens to scientific knowledge when researchers outside the natural sciences bring elements of the latest trend across disciplinary boundaries for their own purposes? Researchers in fields from anthropology to family therapy and traffic planning employ the concepts, methods, and results of chaos theory to harness the disciplinary prestige of the natural sciences, to motivate methodological change or conceptual reorganization within their home discipline, and to justify public policies and aesthetic judgments. Using the recent explosion in the use (and abuse) of chaos theory, this book examines the relationship between science and other disciplines as well as the place of scientific knowledge within our broader culture. The book's detailed investigation of the myriad uses of chaos theory reveals serious problems that can arise in the interchange between science and other knowledge-making pursuits, as well as opportunities for constructive interchange. By engaging with recent debates about interdisciplinary research, the book contributes a theoretical vocabulary and a set of critical frameworks for the rigorous examination of borrowing.Less
What happens to scientific knowledge when researchers outside the natural sciences bring elements of the latest trend across disciplinary boundaries for their own purposes? Researchers in fields from anthropology to family therapy and traffic planning employ the concepts, methods, and results of chaos theory to harness the disciplinary prestige of the natural sciences, to motivate methodological change or conceptual reorganization within their home discipline, and to justify public policies and aesthetic judgments. Using the recent explosion in the use (and abuse) of chaos theory, this book examines the relationship between science and other disciplines as well as the place of scientific knowledge within our broader culture. The book's detailed investigation of the myriad uses of chaos theory reveals serious problems that can arise in the interchange between science and other knowledge-making pursuits, as well as opportunities for constructive interchange. By engaging with recent debates about interdisciplinary research, the book contributes a theoretical vocabulary and a set of critical frameworks for the rigorous examination of borrowing.
John Johnston
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262101264
- eISBN:
- 9780262276351
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262101264.003.0004
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
This chapter extends the cybernetic perspective to machinic philosophy, evident in Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of the assemblage and its intersections with nonlinear dynamical systems (i.e., ...
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This chapter extends the cybernetic perspective to machinic philosophy, evident in Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of the assemblage and its intersections with nonlinear dynamical systems (i.e., “chaos”) theory. It develops more fully the concept of the computational assemblage, specifically in relation to Robert Shaw’s “dripping faucet as a model chaotic system” and Jim Crutchfield’s ∈-machine (re)construction.Less
This chapter extends the cybernetic perspective to machinic philosophy, evident in Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of the assemblage and its intersections with nonlinear dynamical systems (i.e., “chaos”) theory. It develops more fully the concept of the computational assemblage, specifically in relation to Robert Shaw’s “dripping faucet as a model chaotic system” and Jim Crutchfield’s ∈-machine (re)construction.
Richard M. Goodwin
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198283355
- eISBN:
- 9780191596315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198283350.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
As in meteorology, prediction in economics is hampered by highly irregular, chaotic dynamics. A two‐sector model is employed to examine the complementary growth theories of Schumpeter and Keynes ...
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As in meteorology, prediction in economics is hampered by highly irregular, chaotic dynamics. A two‐sector model is employed to examine the complementary growth theories of Schumpeter and Keynes showing that innovation can lead to a decline in output. A brief history of the chaos theory follows noting that linear systems subject to shocks can appear chaotic. Finally, a further model demonstrates that innovation may stimulate a boom and subsequent collapse in output.Less
As in meteorology, prediction in economics is hampered by highly irregular, chaotic dynamics. A two‐sector model is employed to examine the complementary growth theories of Schumpeter and Keynes showing that innovation can lead to a decline in output. A brief history of the chaos theory follows noting that linear systems subject to shocks can appear chaotic. Finally, a further model demonstrates that innovation may stimulate a boom and subsequent collapse in output.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226429786
- eISBN:
- 9780226429809
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226429809.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter examines some detailed cases of the use of chaos theory to motivate change, especially in economics but also in legal and literary studies. It argues that in several instances this use ...
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This chapter examines some detailed cases of the use of chaos theory to motivate change, especially in economics but also in legal and literary studies. It argues that in several instances this use is perfectly appropriate, and begins by sketching the terrain in the study of chaotic economic behavior.Less
This chapter examines some detailed cases of the use of chaos theory to motivate change, especially in economics but also in legal and literary studies. It argues that in several instances this use is perfectly appropriate, and begins by sketching the terrain in the study of chaotic economic behavior.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226429786
- eISBN:
- 9780226429809
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226429809.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter argues that scientific knowledge can contribute to answering important questions of value in that it is neither irrelevant to value inquiry nor a replacement for it. In exploring the ...
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This chapter argues that scientific knowledge can contribute to answering important questions of value in that it is neither irrelevant to value inquiry nor a replacement for it. In exploring the relationship between scientific knowledge and evaluative questions, it first looks at those who characterize this relationship in terms of isolation, with a strict dichotomy between fact and value, and with science squarely on the side of facts. It spells out how we bridge the supposed logical gulf between “is” and “ought,” and argues that facts and values are not so separate after all. The second section proposes an alternative to both isolation and collapse in a pragmatic, limited form of naturalism. This position helps to articulate the contribution that scientific inquiry can make in addressing questions of value. The final section considers a number of ways that knowledge borrowed from chaos theory has been used to address evaluative issues about the role of governmental intervention in the economy. It critically examines a number of arguments about whether and how governments ought to intervene in economic and social affairs.Less
This chapter argues that scientific knowledge can contribute to answering important questions of value in that it is neither irrelevant to value inquiry nor a replacement for it. In exploring the relationship between scientific knowledge and evaluative questions, it first looks at those who characterize this relationship in terms of isolation, with a strict dichotomy between fact and value, and with science squarely on the side of facts. It spells out how we bridge the supposed logical gulf between “is” and “ought,” and argues that facts and values are not so separate after all. The second section proposes an alternative to both isolation and collapse in a pragmatic, limited form of naturalism. This position helps to articulate the contribution that scientific inquiry can make in addressing questions of value. The final section considers a number of ways that knowledge borrowed from chaos theory has been used to address evaluative issues about the role of governmental intervention in the economy. It critically examines a number of arguments about whether and how governments ought to intervene in economic and social affairs.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226429786
- eISBN:
- 9780226429809
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226429809.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter focuses on evaluating metaphorical borrowings in order to argue that there are better and worse ways to use scientific knowledge in other fields. It begins by discussing the importance ...
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This chapter focuses on evaluating metaphorical borrowings in order to argue that there are better and worse ways to use scientific knowledge in other fields. It begins by discussing the importance of paying critical attention to metaphorical uses, and then develops a set of four criteria for this evaluative task. These criteria include how well the metaphorical use fits the source field, how useful it is for accomplishing its cognitive function, how much it fulfills a genuine need, and how much critical self-awareness the author of the metaphor displays. By providing concrete examples of how to use these criteria to evaluate a number of metaphorical borrowings from chaos theory, the chapter demonstrates that such evaluation is both possible and worthwhile.Less
This chapter focuses on evaluating metaphorical borrowings in order to argue that there are better and worse ways to use scientific knowledge in other fields. It begins by discussing the importance of paying critical attention to metaphorical uses, and then develops a set of four criteria for this evaluative task. These criteria include how well the metaphorical use fits the source field, how useful it is for accomplishing its cognitive function, how much it fulfills a genuine need, and how much critical self-awareness the author of the metaphor displays. By providing concrete examples of how to use these criteria to evaluate a number of metaphorical borrowings from chaos theory, the chapter demonstrates that such evaluation is both possible and worthwhile.
J. D. Connor
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804790772
- eISBN:
- 9780804794749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804790772.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
The Hollywood mantra is “Nobody Knows Anything.” Faced with a bottomless pit of risk, studios are always looking for insurance policies—hot writers, stars, genres; complex financing deals; accounting ...
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The Hollywood mantra is “Nobody Knows Anything.” Faced with a bottomless pit of risk, studios are always looking for insurance policies—hot writers, stars, genres; complex financing deals; accounting scams. In the nineties, one of the most comforting visions of risk management was “chaos theory,” and the key idea was the “butterfly effect,” the belief that the slightest change could make all the difference. Nothing was more reassuring to assemblers of talent than the notion that their smallest decisions were world shaping. This chapter discusses Groundhog Day, Jurassic Park, and Pocahontas.Less
The Hollywood mantra is “Nobody Knows Anything.” Faced with a bottomless pit of risk, studios are always looking for insurance policies—hot writers, stars, genres; complex financing deals; accounting scams. In the nineties, one of the most comforting visions of risk management was “chaos theory,” and the key idea was the “butterfly effect,” the belief that the slightest change could make all the difference. Nothing was more reassuring to assemblers of talent than the notion that their smallest decisions were world shaping. This chapter discusses Groundhog Day, Jurassic Park, and Pocahontas.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226429786
- eISBN:
- 9780226429809
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226429809.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter examines two of the most fully developed attempts to use chaos theory in aesthetic arguments about literature: the works of Alexander Argyros and Harriet Hawkins. First, it examines ...
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This chapter examines two of the most fully developed attempts to use chaos theory in aesthetic arguments about literature: the works of Alexander Argyros and Harriet Hawkins. First, it examines Argyros's attempts to use science to ground universal norms in both aesthetics and politics. Then it turns to Hawkins's articulation of fractal structure as the basis for aesthetic evaluation. It shows that the deployment by Argyros and Hawkins of such concepts as informational complexity and fractal structure touches not only on issues of beauty, but also on questions of goodness and truth.Less
This chapter examines two of the most fully developed attempts to use chaos theory in aesthetic arguments about literature: the works of Alexander Argyros and Harriet Hawkins. First, it examines Argyros's attempts to use science to ground universal norms in both aesthetics and politics. Then it turns to Hawkins's articulation of fractal structure as the basis for aesthetic evaluation. It shows that the deployment by Argyros and Hawkins of such concepts as informational complexity and fractal structure touches not only on issues of beauty, but also on questions of goodness and truth.
Frédéric Neyrat
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823282586
- eISBN:
- 9780823284931
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823282586.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
Chapter 5 leads Neyrat to explore the concept of resilience the ideas of chaos theory, the concept of turbulence, and how all of these theories found their way into discussions of ecology in the ...
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Chapter 5 leads Neyrat to explore the concept of resilience the ideas of chaos theory, the concept of turbulence, and how all of these theories found their way into discussions of ecology in the 1970s as part of the realization of a paradigm shift: The world is ontologically and irremediably unstable. With this realization came a new attention to the conception of an ecology of resilience. Neyrat describes the paradoxical point that shows that resilience can be viewed as the ability to adapt to change and, at the same time in order to do this, resilience can also be viewed as how a system remains in a state of perpetually instability. Whereas we would normally think of systems being in stable states, a closer look at thinkers studying theories of resilience in relation to chaos theory demonstrates that a new ecology would be one where there are a myriad of non-linear relations among entities undergoing perpetual change. This mindset is part of what Neyrat calls the ecology of turbulence. Resilience is at once the ability to adapt to change and also to buffer disturbances or turbulence to the system and persist.Less
Chapter 5 leads Neyrat to explore the concept of resilience the ideas of chaos theory, the concept of turbulence, and how all of these theories found their way into discussions of ecology in the 1970s as part of the realization of a paradigm shift: The world is ontologically and irremediably unstable. With this realization came a new attention to the conception of an ecology of resilience. Neyrat describes the paradoxical point that shows that resilience can be viewed as the ability to adapt to change and, at the same time in order to do this, resilience can also be viewed as how a system remains in a state of perpetually instability. Whereas we would normally think of systems being in stable states, a closer look at thinkers studying theories of resilience in relation to chaos theory demonstrates that a new ecology would be one where there are a myriad of non-linear relations among entities undergoing perpetual change. This mindset is part of what Neyrat calls the ecology of turbulence. Resilience is at once the ability to adapt to change and also to buffer disturbances or turbulence to the system and persist.
Manfred Eigen
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198570219
- eISBN:
- 9780191748974
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198570219.003.0005
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
So far, our discussion has mainly been concerned with inanimate matter. Only in Chapter 3 did we notice what is missing in “information” if “meaning” is excluded. A phenomenological theory of the ...
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So far, our discussion has mainly been concerned with inanimate matter. Only in Chapter 3 did we notice what is missing in “information” if “meaning” is excluded. A phenomenological theory of the generation of “meaningful information” is given in Chapter 4 and this chapter. If we are dealing with genetic sequences, making use of four classes of symbols (referring to the four nucleotides used in nucleic acids), a sequence including n positions has 4n different possibilities. The sequence space is then a point space including 4n points, one for each possible sequence. The distances between any two sequences of this length corresponds to the number of positions occupied by different symbols. A value parameter is introduced which finally determines the population structure. The mutant spectrum appears in the form of a rather dissipated “cloud” that has one or several value maxima, a fact that is due mainly to the presence of “neutral sequences” (i.e. sequences of equal fitness value). The theory confirms formally Darwin’s result. However, the interpretation is completely different from the one generally encountered. Under normal conditions there is no fittest single individual. Rather, fitness is a property of a population, expressed by an eigenvalue of a matrix to which contribution is made by all the individuals present. Since we are dealing with coupled differential equations, the linear case can be expressed by the matrix of rate coefficients. However, according to a mathematical theorem by Perron and Frobenius, only the largest eigenvalue of the matrix is stable. To this we can assign the term “fittest”. The theory uncovers many surprising details. It also unifies the mechanisms of origin and evolutionary adaptation, both referring to different regions in the solutions of the same system of coupled differential equations. Some mathematical details can be found in the Appendices, including contributions from Peter Richter and Peter Schuster.Less
So far, our discussion has mainly been concerned with inanimate matter. Only in Chapter 3 did we notice what is missing in “information” if “meaning” is excluded. A phenomenological theory of the generation of “meaningful information” is given in Chapter 4 and this chapter. If we are dealing with genetic sequences, making use of four classes of symbols (referring to the four nucleotides used in nucleic acids), a sequence including n positions has 4n different possibilities. The sequence space is then a point space including 4n points, one for each possible sequence. The distances between any two sequences of this length corresponds to the number of positions occupied by different symbols. A value parameter is introduced which finally determines the population structure. The mutant spectrum appears in the form of a rather dissipated “cloud” that has one or several value maxima, a fact that is due mainly to the presence of “neutral sequences” (i.e. sequences of equal fitness value). The theory confirms formally Darwin’s result. However, the interpretation is completely different from the one generally encountered. Under normal conditions there is no fittest single individual. Rather, fitness is a property of a population, expressed by an eigenvalue of a matrix to which contribution is made by all the individuals present. Since we are dealing with coupled differential equations, the linear case can be expressed by the matrix of rate coefficients. However, according to a mathematical theorem by Perron and Frobenius, only the largest eigenvalue of the matrix is stable. To this we can assign the term “fittest”. The theory uncovers many surprising details. It also unifies the mechanisms of origin and evolutionary adaptation, both referring to different regions in the solutions of the same system of coupled differential equations. Some mathematical details can be found in the Appendices, including contributions from Peter Richter and Peter Schuster.
Nevill Drury
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199750993
- eISBN:
- 9780199894871
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199750993.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Twentieth-century Western magic has been shaped by many diverse influences, including Gnosticism and the Hermetica, the medieval Kabbalah, Tarot, and Alchemy, and more recently, Rosicrucianism and ...
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Twentieth-century Western magic has been shaped by many diverse influences, including Gnosticism and the Hermetica, the medieval Kabbalah, Tarot, and Alchemy, and more recently, Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. It also draws on Classical Graeco-Roman mythology, Celtic cosmology, Kundalini yoga, Tantra, shamanism, Chaos theory, and the various spiritual traditions associated in many different cultures with the Universal Goddess. This book traces the rise of various forms of magical belief and practice from the influential late nineteenth-century Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn through to the emergence in more recent times of Wicca and Goddess worship as expressions of contemporary feminine spirituality. It also explores Chaos Magick and the occult practices of the so-called Left-Hand Path, as well as tenty-first-century magical forays into cyberspace. Key figures profiled here include Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Austin Osman Spare, Rosaleen Norton, Gerald Gardner, Starhawk, Z. Budapest, Anton LaVey, Michael Aquino, Michael Bertiaux, H.R. Giger, Carlos Castaneda, Michael Harner, Peter J. Carroll, and Terence McKenna; all have contributed in different ways to the increasing fascination with mythic consciousness and archaic spirituality.Less
Twentieth-century Western magic has been shaped by many diverse influences, including Gnosticism and the Hermetica, the medieval Kabbalah, Tarot, and Alchemy, and more recently, Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. It also draws on Classical Graeco-Roman mythology, Celtic cosmology, Kundalini yoga, Tantra, shamanism, Chaos theory, and the various spiritual traditions associated in many different cultures with the Universal Goddess. This book traces the rise of various forms of magical belief and practice from the influential late nineteenth-century Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn through to the emergence in more recent times of Wicca and Goddess worship as expressions of contemporary feminine spirituality. It also explores Chaos Magick and the occult practices of the so-called Left-Hand Path, as well as tenty-first-century magical forays into cyberspace. Key figures profiled here include Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Austin Osman Spare, Rosaleen Norton, Gerald Gardner, Starhawk, Z. Budapest, Anton LaVey, Michael Aquino, Michael Bertiaux, H.R. Giger, Carlos Castaneda, Michael Harner, Peter J. Carroll, and Terence McKenna; all have contributed in different ways to the increasing fascination with mythic consciousness and archaic spirituality.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226429786
- eISBN:
- 9780226429809
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226429809.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter first sketches a rhetorical perspective, especially as it relates to scientific inquiry, and treats one major source of conflict between rhetoric and philosophy: the question of ...
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This chapter first sketches a rhetorical perspective, especially as it relates to scientific inquiry, and treats one major source of conflict between rhetoric and philosophy: the question of normative evaluation. Next, it clarifies how the rhetorical functions of borrowing from chaos theory trade on the newness of this field and the disciplinary prestige of the natural sciences. It concludes with some reflections on the problems that can arise when researchers borrow from disciplines as prestigious as the natural sciences. Throughout, the concern is with the persuasive functions served by borrowed knowledge.Less
This chapter first sketches a rhetorical perspective, especially as it relates to scientific inquiry, and treats one major source of conflict between rhetoric and philosophy: the question of normative evaluation. Next, it clarifies how the rhetorical functions of borrowing from chaos theory trade on the newness of this field and the disciplinary prestige of the natural sciences. It concludes with some reflections on the problems that can arise when researchers borrow from disciplines as prestigious as the natural sciences. Throughout, the concern is with the persuasive functions served by borrowed knowledge.
John L. Culliney and David Jones
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780824866617
- eISBN:
- 9780824875763
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824866617.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The Introduction first reviews basic principles of Chaos Theory and the Science of Complexity that have provided new ways of understanding self-organization and evolutionary change in the universe. ...
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The Introduction first reviews basic principles of Chaos Theory and the Science of Complexity that have provided new ways of understanding self-organization and evolutionary change in the universe. Some of the terms and concepts, such as the butterfly effect, are popular metaphors; others—edge-of-chaos, sensitive-dependence, emergence—may be more obscure to general readers. All of those concepts are described in language accessible to high school students with inquiring minds. Thus the introduction begins as a primer to provide a working familiarity with ideas that are critical to our later narrative and arguments. Here we also begin to discern similarities in prevailing patterns of cosmic-to-microcosmic change in the universe that science has progressively resolved. Out of contemporary science and surprisingly congruent conjectures of ancient wisdom, particularly in the Daoist and Buddhist traditions, comes an understanding of why we observe structure and order in the universe and why there has arisen a long-term trend toward intricate pattern instead of universal randomness. And we find the most progressive patterns and processes address emergent roles of life and human nature as they continue to evolve in interdependence within nature at large.Less
The Introduction first reviews basic principles of Chaos Theory and the Science of Complexity that have provided new ways of understanding self-organization and evolutionary change in the universe. Some of the terms and concepts, such as the butterfly effect, are popular metaphors; others—edge-of-chaos, sensitive-dependence, emergence—may be more obscure to general readers. All of those concepts are described in language accessible to high school students with inquiring minds. Thus the introduction begins as a primer to provide a working familiarity with ideas that are critical to our later narrative and arguments. Here we also begin to discern similarities in prevailing patterns of cosmic-to-microcosmic change in the universe that science has progressively resolved. Out of contemporary science and surprisingly congruent conjectures of ancient wisdom, particularly in the Daoist and Buddhist traditions, comes an understanding of why we observe structure and order in the universe and why there has arisen a long-term trend toward intricate pattern instead of universal randomness. And we find the most progressive patterns and processes address emergent roles of life and human nature as they continue to evolve in interdependence within nature at large.
