Namhee Lee, Lisa Mikesell, Anna Dina L. Joaquin, Andrea W. Mates, and John H. Schumann
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195384246
- eISBN:
- 9780199869916
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195384246.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This book explores a theory of language evolution as a complex adaptive system that exists as a cultural artifact without any requirement for innate abstract grammatical representations. Language ...
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This book explores a theory of language evolution as a complex adaptive system that exists as a cultural artifact without any requirement for innate abstract grammatical representations. Language acquisition is seen as an emotionally driven process relying on innately specified “interactional instinct.” This genetically-based tendency provides neural structures that entrain children acquiring their native language to the faces, voices, and body movements of conspecific caregivers. It is essentially an innate attentional and motivational system, which drives children to pay attention to the language interaction in their environment and to acquire that language by general learning mechanisms that subserve declarative and procedural knowledge. This mechanism guarantees the ubiquity of language acquisition for all biologically normal children. Second-language acquisition by older adolescents and adults no longer has recourse to this mechanism, and therefore, success in second-language learning is extremely variable. However, in some individuals with sufficient aptitude and motivation, successful second-language acquisition can be achieved.Less
This book explores a theory of language evolution as a complex adaptive system that exists as a cultural artifact without any requirement for innate abstract grammatical representations. Language acquisition is seen as an emotionally driven process relying on innately specified “interactional instinct.” This genetically-based tendency provides neural structures that entrain children acquiring their native language to the faces, voices, and body movements of conspecific caregivers. It is essentially an innate attentional and motivational system, which drives children to pay attention to the language interaction in their environment and to acquire that language by general learning mechanisms that subserve declarative and procedural knowledge. This mechanism guarantees the ubiquity of language acquisition for all biologically normal children. Second-language acquisition by older adolescents and adults no longer has recourse to this mechanism, and therefore, success in second-language learning is extremely variable. However, in some individuals with sufficient aptitude and motivation, successful second-language acquisition can be achieved.
Richard Sole and Santiago F. Elena
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691158846
- eISBN:
- 9780691185118
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691158846.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Viruses are everywhere, infecting all sorts of living organisms, from the tiniest bacteria to the largest mammals. Many are harmful parasites, but viruses also play a major role as drivers of our ...
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Viruses are everywhere, infecting all sorts of living organisms, from the tiniest bacteria to the largest mammals. Many are harmful parasites, but viruses also play a major role as drivers of our evolution as a species and are essential regulators of the composition and complexity of ecosystems on a global scale. This book draws on complex systems theory to provide a fresh look at viral origins, populations, and evolution, and the coevolutionary dynamics of viruses and their hosts. New viruses continue to emerge that threaten people, crops, and farm animals. Viruses constantly evade our immune systems, and antiviral therapies and vaccination campaigns can be powerless against them. These unique characteristics of virus biology are a consequence of their tremendous evolutionary potential, which enables viruses to quickly adapt to any environmental challenge. This book presents a unified framework for understanding viruses as complex adaptive systems. It shows how the application of complex systems theory to viral dynamics has provided new insights into the development of AIDS in patients infected with HIV-1, the emergence of new antigenic variants of the influenza A virus, and other cutting-edge advances. The book also extends the analogy of viruses to the evolution of other replicators such as computer viruses, cancer, and languages.Less
Viruses are everywhere, infecting all sorts of living organisms, from the tiniest bacteria to the largest mammals. Many are harmful parasites, but viruses also play a major role as drivers of our evolution as a species and are essential regulators of the composition and complexity of ecosystems on a global scale. This book draws on complex systems theory to provide a fresh look at viral origins, populations, and evolution, and the coevolutionary dynamics of viruses and their hosts. New viruses continue to emerge that threaten people, crops, and farm animals. Viruses constantly evade our immune systems, and antiviral therapies and vaccination campaigns can be powerless against them. These unique characteristics of virus biology are a consequence of their tremendous evolutionary potential, which enables viruses to quickly adapt to any environmental challenge. This book presents a unified framework for understanding viruses as complex adaptive systems. It shows how the application of complex systems theory to viral dynamics has provided new insights into the development of AIDS in patients infected with HIV-1, the emergence of new antigenic variants of the influenza A virus, and other cutting-edge advances. The book also extends the analogy of viruses to the evolution of other replicators such as computer viruses, cancer, and languages.
Namhee Lee, Lisa Mikesell, Anna Dina L. Joaquin, Andrea W. Mates, and John H. Schumann
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195384246
- eISBN:
- 9780199869916
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195384246.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter presents the theory of complex adaptive systems (CASs) as a basis for the evolution of grammar. From this perspective, grammatical structure and language in general exist as an invisible ...
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This chapter presents the theory of complex adaptive systems (CASs) as a basis for the evolution of grammar. From this perspective, grammatical structure and language in general exist as an invisible nonmaterial cultural artifact or technology. Language structure emerges from the interaction of speakers using sounds and words to communicate meanings. This emergent structure obviates the need to postulate an innate universal grammar to establish structure or to guarantee the ubiquity of language acquisition by children.Less
This chapter presents the theory of complex adaptive systems (CASs) as a basis for the evolution of grammar. From this perspective, grammatical structure and language in general exist as an invisible nonmaterial cultural artifact or technology. Language structure emerges from the interaction of speakers using sounds and words to communicate meanings. This emergent structure obviates the need to postulate an innate universal grammar to establish structure or to guarantee the ubiquity of language acquisition by children.
Kieran Sweeney and Mike D Williams
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199558612
- eISBN:
- 9780191595011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558612.003.0051
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
This chapter proposes that when viewing the activities of a hospital, it is helpful to see the organization as a complex adaptive system (CAS). Complex organizations are made up of inter-relating ...
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This chapter proposes that when viewing the activities of a hospital, it is helpful to see the organization as a complex adaptive system (CAS). Complex organizations are made up of inter-relating subunits, and those subunits, in turn, consist of micro-communities of individuals. The reciprocal interaction of these micro-communities co-creates the culture of these subunits and, by scaling up, the culture of the organization itself. Healthcare organizations can be viewed as complex adaptive systems, requiring the application of systems thinking, and safety is seen as an emergent property of the interrelationship of subunits and the individuals within them.Less
This chapter proposes that when viewing the activities of a hospital, it is helpful to see the organization as a complex adaptive system (CAS). Complex organizations are made up of inter-relating subunits, and those subunits, in turn, consist of micro-communities of individuals. The reciprocal interaction of these micro-communities co-creates the culture of these subunits and, by scaling up, the culture of the organization itself. Healthcare organizations can be viewed as complex adaptive systems, requiring the application of systems thinking, and safety is seen as an emergent property of the interrelationship of subunits and the individuals within them.
David Turnbull and Wade Chambers
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780262027168
- eISBN:
- 9780262322492
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262027168.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology
This paper explores a variety of approaches to the assemblage of knowledges from differing traditions without subsuming them into the overarching suppositions and prerequisite standards of any given ...
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This paper explores a variety of approaches to the assemblage of knowledges from differing traditions without subsuming them into the overarching suppositions and prerequisite standards of any given tradition. The paper is in two parts; the first draws on recent thinking about complex adaptive systems, and about narrative and movement in the construction of knowledge, place and space. The second part describes the work of TASSIT (Trails and Storied Spaces in Time), a project working to design digital “third spaces” in which the narratological re-conception of knowledges allows for the creation of an interactive commons useful for teaching and research at universities as well as for exhibition and collections data-basing at museums. These spaces attempt to re-contextualize accounts that may have first appeared as scholarly and scientific papers, elders’ stories, social and cultural interactions, maps, khipu, hieroglyphic inscription, dance, structures, textiles, rock art, and numerous other forms in which knowledge may be fixed, implied or performed.Less
This paper explores a variety of approaches to the assemblage of knowledges from differing traditions without subsuming them into the overarching suppositions and prerequisite standards of any given tradition. The paper is in two parts; the first draws on recent thinking about complex adaptive systems, and about narrative and movement in the construction of knowledge, place and space. The second part describes the work of TASSIT (Trails and Storied Spaces in Time), a project working to design digital “third spaces” in which the narratological re-conception of knowledges allows for the creation of an interactive commons useful for teaching and research at universities as well as for exhibition and collections data-basing at museums. These spaces attempt to re-contextualize accounts that may have first appeared as scholarly and scientific papers, elders’ stories, social and cultural interactions, maps, khipu, hieroglyphic inscription, dance, structures, textiles, rock art, and numerous other forms in which knowledge may be fixed, implied or performed.
Kate Crowley, Jenny Stewart, Adrian Kay, and Brian W. Head
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447333111
- eISBN:
- 9781447333159
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447333111.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Systems thinking has been neglected in the policy sciences, to the detriment of both broad understandings of the role of policy, and of policy-making capacity. This chapter remedies this deficiency ...
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Systems thinking has been neglected in the policy sciences, to the detriment of both broad understandings of the role of policy, and of policy-making capacity. This chapter remedies this deficiency by tracing the trajectory of systems thinking in the policy sciences, introducing and explaining themes from complexity science in policy-relevant terms, and concluding with practical examples of applications of systems thinking to real-world policy problems. To illustrate: complex adaptive systems are discussed in the context of regulation and control. Two general claims are made for this approach: firstly, systems thinking is likely to be particularly productive where policy problems defy conventional solutions and unintended consequences are rife. In these situations, systems thinking has the ability to move beyond the specifics of each problem to identify and depict underlying complexity; secondly, in the governance era, sites of policy-relevant action are more likely than in the past to lie outside the formal boundaries of government, and to require complex interactions among stakeholders.Less
Systems thinking has been neglected in the policy sciences, to the detriment of both broad understandings of the role of policy, and of policy-making capacity. This chapter remedies this deficiency by tracing the trajectory of systems thinking in the policy sciences, introducing and explaining themes from complexity science in policy-relevant terms, and concluding with practical examples of applications of systems thinking to real-world policy problems. To illustrate: complex adaptive systems are discussed in the context of regulation and control. Two general claims are made for this approach: firstly, systems thinking is likely to be particularly productive where policy problems defy conventional solutions and unintended consequences are rife. In these situations, systems thinking has the ability to move beyond the specifics of each problem to identify and depict underlying complexity; secondly, in the governance era, sites of policy-relevant action are more likely than in the past to lie outside the formal boundaries of government, and to require complex interactions among stakeholders.
David S. Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035385
- eISBN:
- 9780262337717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035385.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, History of Economic Thought
In complex systems theory, two meanings of a complex adaptive system (CAS) need to be distinguished. The first, CAS1, refers to a complex system that is adaptive as a system; the second, CAS2, refers ...
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In complex systems theory, two meanings of a complex adaptive system (CAS) need to be distinguished. The first, CAS1, refers to a complex system that is adaptive as a system; the second, CAS2, refers to a complex system of agents which follow adaptive strategies. Examples of CAS1 include the brain, the immune system, and social insect colonies. Examples of CAS2 include multispecies ecosystems and the biosphere. This chapter uses multilevel selection theory to clarify the relationships between CAS1 and CAS2. The general rule is that for a complex system to qualify as CAS1, selection must occur at the level of the complex system (e.g., individual-level selection for brains and the immune system, colony-level selection for social insect colonies). Selection below the level of the system tends to undermine system-level functional organization. This general rule applies to human social systems as well as biological systems and has profound consequences for economics and public policy.Less
In complex systems theory, two meanings of a complex adaptive system (CAS) need to be distinguished. The first, CAS1, refers to a complex system that is adaptive as a system; the second, CAS2, refers to a complex system of agents which follow adaptive strategies. Examples of CAS1 include the brain, the immune system, and social insect colonies. Examples of CAS2 include multispecies ecosystems and the biosphere. This chapter uses multilevel selection theory to clarify the relationships between CAS1 and CAS2. The general rule is that for a complex system to qualify as CAS1, selection must occur at the level of the complex system (e.g., individual-level selection for brains and the immune system, colony-level selection for social insect colonies). Selection below the level of the system tends to undermine system-level functional organization. This general rule applies to human social systems as well as biological systems and has profound consequences for economics and public policy.
Benyamin Lichtenstein
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199933594
- eISBN:
- 9780199388370
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199933594.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
The origins of complexity science lie in 50+ years of research into nonlinear dynamics in the fields of mathematics, physics, biology, information science, and system dynamics. Following numerous ...
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The origins of complexity science lie in 50+ years of research into nonlinear dynamics in the fields of mathematics, physics, biology, information science, and system dynamics. Following numerous researchers who have argued for an inclusive definition of complexity, this chapter presents the entire scope of complexity science in terms of 15 fields. Each of these fields has its own theoretical frame, analytic methodology, and a set of applications in organization science and other social science disciplines. All of them offer a unique and nonlinear perspective for understanding complex dynamical systems. In Chapter 3, each field is summarized; they are deterministic chaos theory, catastrophe theory, fractals, positive feedback, power laws, system dynamics, complex adaptive systems, cellular automata, genetic algorithms, NK landscapes, agent-based modeling, autocatalysis, dissipative structures theory, ecosystem resilience, and evolutionary complexity.Less
The origins of complexity science lie in 50+ years of research into nonlinear dynamics in the fields of mathematics, physics, biology, information science, and system dynamics. Following numerous researchers who have argued for an inclusive definition of complexity, this chapter presents the entire scope of complexity science in terms of 15 fields. Each of these fields has its own theoretical frame, analytic methodology, and a set of applications in organization science and other social science disciplines. All of them offer a unique and nonlinear perspective for understanding complex dynamical systems. In Chapter 3, each field is summarized; they are deterministic chaos theory, catastrophe theory, fractals, positive feedback, power laws, system dynamics, complex adaptive systems, cellular automata, genetic algorithms, NK landscapes, agent-based modeling, autocatalysis, dissipative structures theory, ecosystem resilience, and evolutionary complexity.
Sandra L. Bloom and Brian Farragher
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195374803
- eISBN:
- 9780199865420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195374803.003.0002
- Subject:
- Social Work, Health and Mental Health
Mental models are the largely unconscious ideas and beliefs that structure what we think about–and what we do not consider. Mental models represent mental short-cuts and limitations. This chapter ...
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Mental models are the largely unconscious ideas and beliefs that structure what we think about–and what we do not consider. Mental models represent mental short-cuts and limitations. This chapter looks at the mental models that shape our organizations, especially healthcare and human service delivery environments. Looking through the lens of mental models enables us to see the ethical conflicts that lie at the heart of so many caring environments today. The chapter then focuses the lens on the mental health system and discusses the ways in which the chronic and disabling conditions that affect the mental health system represent a “system under siege”.Less
Mental models are the largely unconscious ideas and beliefs that structure what we think about–and what we do not consider. Mental models represent mental short-cuts and limitations. This chapter looks at the mental models that shape our organizations, especially healthcare and human service delivery environments. Looking through the lens of mental models enables us to see the ethical conflicts that lie at the heart of so many caring environments today. The chapter then focuses the lens on the mental health system and discusses the ways in which the chronic and disabling conditions that affect the mental health system represent a “system under siege”.
Michael Wolf-Branigin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781447311409
- eISBN:
- 9781447311430
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447311409.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
In Chapter Four, Wolf-Branigin makes the case for social work and criminal justice programmes as examples of complex adaptive systems evolving from the efforts of individuals working at the ...
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In Chapter Four, Wolf-Branigin makes the case for social work and criminal justice programmes as examples of complex adaptive systems evolving from the efforts of individuals working at the grassroots level. The chapter outlines several properties of these systems, which are to be found in positivist accounts of complexity, including being agent-based, being dynamic, being self-organising, having boundaries, using feedback and producing an emergent behaviour. It then explains these properties and presents a positivist framework for envisioning these programmes as complex systems and the various states in which they can exist. However, given the linkages between participants, treatment staff, funding sources and other key stakeholders, the chapter develops a post-positivist account of complexity based upon an understanding of the person in environment perspective and its relevance to social work and criminal justice.Less
In Chapter Four, Wolf-Branigin makes the case for social work and criminal justice programmes as examples of complex adaptive systems evolving from the efforts of individuals working at the grassroots level. The chapter outlines several properties of these systems, which are to be found in positivist accounts of complexity, including being agent-based, being dynamic, being self-organising, having boundaries, using feedback and producing an emergent behaviour. It then explains these properties and presents a positivist framework for envisioning these programmes as complex systems and the various states in which they can exist. However, given the linkages between participants, treatment staff, funding sources and other key stakeholders, the chapter develops a post-positivist account of complexity based upon an understanding of the person in environment perspective and its relevance to social work and criminal justice.
Scott E. Page and Jon Zelner
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- July 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190880743
- eISBN:
- 9780190880774
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190880743.003.0003
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter advocates a complex adaptive system of systems approach to understanding population-level processes in population health. A complex adaptive system consists of diverse, interacting ...
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This chapter advocates a complex adaptive system of systems approach to understanding population-level processes in population health. A complex adaptive system consists of diverse, interacting adaptive entities whose aggregated behaviors result in emergent, system-level patterns and functionalities. A complex adaptive system of systems consists of multiple, connected complex systems. The connections can be hierarchical, horizontal, or a mixture of the two. The authors provide basic definitions, describe common tools of analysis, and introduce illustrative cases. For example, increased obesity levels have no single cause, nor do they arise from a single system. Instead, they arise from the interactions of multiple systems that operate at various levels of scale. Genetics and epigenetics play roles, as do nutrition, general health, advertising, infrastructure, social norms, exercise levels, and, as recent evidence suggests, the ecology of colonies of gut bacteria. Each of these contributors can be modeled as a complex adaptive system and the whole as a system of systems. Similarly, population-level disease outbreaks can be decomposed into separate systems, each with unique dynamics.Less
This chapter advocates a complex adaptive system of systems approach to understanding population-level processes in population health. A complex adaptive system consists of diverse, interacting adaptive entities whose aggregated behaviors result in emergent, system-level patterns and functionalities. A complex adaptive system of systems consists of multiple, connected complex systems. The connections can be hierarchical, horizontal, or a mixture of the two. The authors provide basic definitions, describe common tools of analysis, and introduce illustrative cases. For example, increased obesity levels have no single cause, nor do they arise from a single system. Instead, they arise from the interactions of multiple systems that operate at various levels of scale. Genetics and epigenetics play roles, as do nutrition, general health, advertising, infrastructure, social norms, exercise levels, and, as recent evidence suggests, the ecology of colonies of gut bacteria. Each of these contributors can be modeled as a complex adaptive system and the whole as a system of systems. Similarly, population-level disease outbreaks can be decomposed into separate systems, each with unique dynamics.
Michael Wolf-Branigin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199829460
- eISBN:
- 9780199315895
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199829460.003.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Research and Evaluation
Complexity has achieved this paradigm status in both physical and social science disciplines, and forms a theoretical underpinning in fields including communications and linguistics. Complexity has ...
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Complexity has achieved this paradigm status in both physical and social science disciplines, and forms a theoretical underpinning in fields including communications and linguistics. Complexity has not yet reached a similar status in social work. The study of complexity arose because a group of scientists believed that complex systems across many natural, societal, and technological domains shared similarities. These similarities include being adaptive, self-correcting, or emergent. This introduction traces the beginning of this emerging field of inquiry and introduces related concepts often found in complex systems that are relevant to social work research and evaluation.Less
Complexity has achieved this paradigm status in both physical and social science disciplines, and forms a theoretical underpinning in fields including communications and linguistics. Complexity has not yet reached a similar status in social work. The study of complexity arose because a group of scientists believed that complex systems across many natural, societal, and technological domains shared similarities. These similarities include being adaptive, self-correcting, or emergent. This introduction traces the beginning of this emerging field of inquiry and introduces related concepts often found in complex systems that are relevant to social work research and evaluation.
Ann E. Mills, Mary V. Rorty, Lynn Isabella, and Donna T. Chen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262014724
- eISBN:
- 9780262289436
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262014724.003.0013
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter focuses on the goals and values of trading zones, and on the individuals that constitute them, and shows how these features fundamentally affect the trading zone’s evolution and thus its ...
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This chapter focuses on the goals and values of trading zones, and on the individuals that constitute them, and shows how these features fundamentally affect the trading zone’s evolution and thus its perceived or actual success or failure. It argues that viewing trading zones as complex adaptive systems highlights the need for consistent monitoring and explicit managing of a trading zone’s goals and values to help it evolve toward its overarching goals and produce appropriate outcomes, which is particularly important when fundamental normative dimensions are at stake. The chapter concludes by identifying some strategies to this end.Less
This chapter focuses on the goals and values of trading zones, and on the individuals that constitute them, and shows how these features fundamentally affect the trading zone’s evolution and thus its perceived or actual success or failure. It argues that viewing trading zones as complex adaptive systems highlights the need for consistent monitoring and explicit managing of a trading zone’s goals and values to help it evolve toward its overarching goals and produce appropriate outcomes, which is particularly important when fundamental normative dimensions are at stake. The chapter concludes by identifying some strategies to this end.
Martijn van der Steen, Mark van Twist, Menno Fenger, and Sara Le Cointre
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781447319467
- eISBN:
- 9781447319474
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447319467.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
When designing and implementing policies, policy makers usually assume linear, proportionate causation between interventions and consequences. Yet frequently unexpected consequences occur that seem ...
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When designing and implementing policies, policy makers usually assume linear, proportionate causation between interventions and consequences. Yet frequently unexpected consequences occur that seem unintended and disproportionate. This chapter argues that interventions are more appropriately understood as loops, not lines. System dynamics shows that causes and consequences interact in circular patterns, creating unexpected outcomes and self-reinforcing mechanisms. Some loops are vicious, causing deterioration of the situation, others are virtuous, propelling self-sustaining improvements that exceed original intentions. The chapter illustrates the circular approach to causality by applying it to interventions aimed at the improvement of the performance of primary schools in the Netherlands.Less
When designing and implementing policies, policy makers usually assume linear, proportionate causation between interventions and consequences. Yet frequently unexpected consequences occur that seem unintended and disproportionate. This chapter argues that interventions are more appropriately understood as loops, not lines. System dynamics shows that causes and consequences interact in circular patterns, creating unexpected outcomes and self-reinforcing mechanisms. Some loops are vicious, causing deterioration of the situation, others are virtuous, propelling self-sustaining improvements that exceed original intentions. The chapter illustrates the circular approach to causality by applying it to interventions aimed at the improvement of the performance of primary schools in the Netherlands.
Kenneth J. Arrow, Paul R. Ehrlich, and Simon A. Levin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199677856
- eISBN:
- 9780191757266
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199677856.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter explains that social and ecological systems are intertwined, complex adaptive systems. They are complex adaptive systems because, in each case, behavior by individuals affects the whole, ...
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This chapter explains that social and ecological systems are intertwined, complex adaptive systems. They are complex adaptive systems because, in each case, behavior by individuals affects the whole, and changes at the aggregate level in turn affect how individuals behave. They are intertwined because the human economy has profoundly affected the sustainability of critical ecological systems, while the changes wrought to these systems will affect the welfare attainable by human societies, both today and in the future. Consideration of this perspective emphasizes unpredictability, and the need for policies that support resilience and robustness.Less
This chapter explains that social and ecological systems are intertwined, complex adaptive systems. They are complex adaptive systems because, in each case, behavior by individuals affects the whole, and changes at the aggregate level in turn affect how individuals behave. They are intertwined because the human economy has profoundly affected the sustainability of critical ecological systems, while the changes wrought to these systems will affect the welfare attainable by human societies, both today and in the future. Consideration of this perspective emphasizes unpredictability, and the need for policies that support resilience and robustness.
Sandra L. Bloom and Brian Farragher
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195374803
- eISBN:
- 9780199865420
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195374803.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Health and Mental Health
This book describes what happens to human service delivery programs under the impact of unrelenting stress and multiple losses. Never perfect places of safety in the first place, many ...
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This book describes what happens to human service delivery programs under the impact of unrelenting stress and multiple losses. Never perfect places of safety in the first place, many social services of every size, shape, and variety are collapsing under over thirty years of system fragmentation even while public costs have escalated dramatically. The result is that important places of refuge–of sanctuary–for the children, adults, and families who have been exposed to the greatest amount of adversity and trauma, are struggling to provide even the most minimally adequate services. We believe that at this point, our social service network is functioning as a trauma-organized system still largely unaware of the multiple ways in which adaptation to chronic stress has created a state of dysfunction that in many cases virtually prohibits the recovery of the individual clients who are the source of the underlying and original organizational missions, while damaging many of the people who work within it. Just as the encroachment of trauma into the life of an individual client is an insidious process that turns the past into a nightmare, the present into a repetitive cycle of re-enactment, and the future into a terminal illness, the impact of chronic strain on an organization is insidious. As seemingly logical reactions to difficult situations pile upon each other, no one is able to truly perceive the fundamentally skewed and post-traumatic basic assumptions upon which that logic is built. As an earthquake can cause the foundations of a building to become unstable, even while the building still stands, apparently intact, so too does chronic repetitive stress or sudden traumatic stress destabilize the cognitive and affective foundations of shared meaning that is necessary for a group to function and stay whole. The goal of this book is a practical one: to provide the beginnings of a coherent framework for organizational staff and leaders to more effectively provide trauma-informed care for their clients by becoming trauma-sensitive themselves. This means becoming sensitive to the ways in which all human beings and human systems are impacted by individual and collective exposure to overwhelming stress.Less
This book describes what happens to human service delivery programs under the impact of unrelenting stress and multiple losses. Never perfect places of safety in the first place, many social services of every size, shape, and variety are collapsing under over thirty years of system fragmentation even while public costs have escalated dramatically. The result is that important places of refuge–of sanctuary–for the children, adults, and families who have been exposed to the greatest amount of adversity and trauma, are struggling to provide even the most minimally adequate services. We believe that at this point, our social service network is functioning as a trauma-organized system still largely unaware of the multiple ways in which adaptation to chronic stress has created a state of dysfunction that in many cases virtually prohibits the recovery of the individual clients who are the source of the underlying and original organizational missions, while damaging many of the people who work within it. Just as the encroachment of trauma into the life of an individual client is an insidious process that turns the past into a nightmare, the present into a repetitive cycle of re-enactment, and the future into a terminal illness, the impact of chronic strain on an organization is insidious. As seemingly logical reactions to difficult situations pile upon each other, no one is able to truly perceive the fundamentally skewed and post-traumatic basic assumptions upon which that logic is built. As an earthquake can cause the foundations of a building to become unstable, even while the building still stands, apparently intact, so too does chronic repetitive stress or sudden traumatic stress destabilize the cognitive and affective foundations of shared meaning that is necessary for a group to function and stay whole. The goal of this book is a practical one: to provide the beginnings of a coherent framework for organizational staff and leaders to more effectively provide trauma-informed care for their clients by becoming trauma-sensitive themselves. This means becoming sensitive to the ways in which all human beings and human systems are impacted by individual and collective exposure to overwhelming stress.
Peter Hassett and Irene Stevens
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781447311409
- eISBN:
- 9781447311430
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447311409.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
In Chapter Five, the area of child protection is considered by using an explicitly positivist approach to the existence of power laws within complex adaptive systems that explains repeated failures ...
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In Chapter Five, the area of child protection is considered by using an explicitly positivist approach to the existence of power laws within complex adaptive systems that explains repeated failures to protect children from serious harm and death. The authors argue that historically, reports and inquiries that have examined these failures have taken a linear approach in the analysis of the chronology of service failure, with the result that their recommendations have failed to take account of the dynamic nature of the complex adaptive systems within which these children are embedded. They further argue that an approach based upon complexity suggests that there will be unintended and unpredictable consequences as the tightening of procedures leads to defensive practice and a ‘tick-box’ approach to assessment of risk in the future. Building upon the previous chapters, this raises serious questions about how practitioners use their judgements in managing risk, and also what our understanding of complex adaptive systems says about the inevitability of child deaths in the future.Less
In Chapter Five, the area of child protection is considered by using an explicitly positivist approach to the existence of power laws within complex adaptive systems that explains repeated failures to protect children from serious harm and death. The authors argue that historically, reports and inquiries that have examined these failures have taken a linear approach in the analysis of the chronology of service failure, with the result that their recommendations have failed to take account of the dynamic nature of the complex adaptive systems within which these children are embedded. They further argue that an approach based upon complexity suggests that there will be unintended and unpredictable consequences as the tightening of procedures leads to defensive practice and a ‘tick-box’ approach to assessment of risk in the future. Building upon the previous chapters, this raises serious questions about how practitioners use their judgements in managing risk, and also what our understanding of complex adaptive systems says about the inevitability of child deaths in the future.
Louise K. Comfort
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691165370
- eISBN:
- 9780691186023
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691165370.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Earthquakes are a huge global threat. In thirty-six countries, severe seismic risks threaten populations and their increasingly interdependent systems of transportation, communication, energy, and ...
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Earthquakes are a huge global threat. In thirty-six countries, severe seismic risks threaten populations and their increasingly interdependent systems of transportation, communication, energy, and finance. This book provides an examination of how twelve communities in nine countries responded to destructive earthquakes between 1999 and 2015. And many of the book's lessons can also be applied to other large-scale risks. The book sets the global problem of seismic risk in the framework of complex adaptive systems to explore how the consequences of such events ripple across jurisdictions, communities, and organizations in complex societies, triggering unexpected alliances but also exposing social, economic, and legal gaps. It assesses how the networks of organizations involved in response and recovery adapted and acted collectively after the twelve earthquakes it examines. It describes how advances in information technology enabled some communities to anticipate seismic risk better and to manage response and recovery operations more effectively, decreasing losses. Finally, the book shows why investing substantively in global information infrastructure would create shared awareness of seismic risk and make post-disaster relief more effective and less expensive. The result is a landmark study of how to improve the way we prepare for and respond to earthquakes and other disasters in our ever-more-complex world.Less
Earthquakes are a huge global threat. In thirty-six countries, severe seismic risks threaten populations and their increasingly interdependent systems of transportation, communication, energy, and finance. This book provides an examination of how twelve communities in nine countries responded to destructive earthquakes between 1999 and 2015. And many of the book's lessons can also be applied to other large-scale risks. The book sets the global problem of seismic risk in the framework of complex adaptive systems to explore how the consequences of such events ripple across jurisdictions, communities, and organizations in complex societies, triggering unexpected alliances but also exposing social, economic, and legal gaps. It assesses how the networks of organizations involved in response and recovery adapted and acted collectively after the twelve earthquakes it examines. It describes how advances in information technology enabled some communities to anticipate seismic risk better and to manage response and recovery operations more effectively, decreasing losses. Finally, the book shows why investing substantively in global information infrastructure would create shared awareness of seismic risk and make post-disaster relief more effective and less expensive. The result is a landmark study of how to improve the way we prepare for and respond to earthquakes and other disasters in our ever-more-complex world.
Jenna Bednar
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035385
- eISBN:
- 9780262337717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035385.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, History of Economic Thought
Institutions are designed to alter human behavior. To remain effective over time, institutions need to adapt to changes in the environment or the society the institution is meant to regulate. Douglas ...
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Institutions are designed to alter human behavior. To remain effective over time, institutions need to adapt to changes in the environment or the society the institution is meant to regulate. Douglas North referred to this property as adaptive efficiency and suggested the need for a model of how institutions change to remain effective. This essay contributes to a theory of adaptive efficiency by relating it to the burgeoning literature in robust system design. It reviews five models of institutional change, paying particular attention to each model’s ability to explain institutional adaptation. It isolates three common structural features of a robust, adaptive institutional system: diversity, modularity, and redundancy. It illustrates the theory with a brief application to federal systems, and closes by describing some open research questions relating to institutional adaptive efficiency.Less
Institutions are designed to alter human behavior. To remain effective over time, institutions need to adapt to changes in the environment or the society the institution is meant to regulate. Douglas North referred to this property as adaptive efficiency and suggested the need for a model of how institutions change to remain effective. This essay contributes to a theory of adaptive efficiency by relating it to the burgeoning literature in robust system design. It reviews five models of institutional change, paying particular attention to each model’s ability to explain institutional adaptation. It isolates three common structural features of a robust, adaptive institutional system: diversity, modularity, and redundancy. It illustrates the theory with a brief application to federal systems, and closes by describing some open research questions relating to institutional adaptive efficiency.
Brenda Heaton, Abdulrahman El-Sayed, and Sandro Galea
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190843496
- eISBN:
- 9780190843533
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190843496.003.0005
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
Agent-based modeling is a newer approach to the study of neighborhoods and health. In brief, an agent-based model is one of a class of computational models for simulating the actions and interactions ...
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Agent-based modeling is a newer approach to the study of neighborhoods and health. In brief, an agent-based model is one of a class of computational models for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents (both individual or collective entities, such as organizations or groups) with a view to assessing their effects on the system as a whole. Neighborhood characteristics and resources evolve and adapt as the individuals living within them change and vice versa. In this way, neighborhoods reflect a complex adaptive system. In this chapter, we introduce agent-based models as a tool for modeling these interactive and adaptive processes that occur within a system, such as a neighborhood. The chapter provides a basic introduction to this method, drawing on examples from the neighborhoods and health literature.Less
Agent-based modeling is a newer approach to the study of neighborhoods and health. In brief, an agent-based model is one of a class of computational models for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents (both individual or collective entities, such as organizations or groups) with a view to assessing their effects on the system as a whole. Neighborhood characteristics and resources evolve and adapt as the individuals living within them change and vice versa. In this way, neighborhoods reflect a complex adaptive system. In this chapter, we introduce agent-based models as a tool for modeling these interactive and adaptive processes that occur within a system, such as a neighborhood. The chapter provides a basic introduction to this method, drawing on examples from the neighborhoods and health literature.
