Why Society is a Complex Matter

Meeting Twenty-first Century Challenges with a New Kind of Science

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Other Sciences, System Theory, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Methodology
Cover of the book Why Society is a Complex Matter by Philip Ball, Springer Berlin Heidelberg
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Philip Ball ISBN: 9783642290008
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg Publication: June 9, 2012
Imprint: Springer Language: English
Author: Philip Ball
ISBN: 9783642290008
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication: June 9, 2012
Imprint: Springer
Language: English

Society is complicated. But this book argues that this does not place it beyond the reach of a science that can help to explain and perhaps even to predict social behaviour. As a system made up of many interacting agents – people, groups, institutions and governments, as well as physical and technological structures such as roads and computer networks – society can be regarded as a complex system. In recent years, scientists have made great progress in understanding how such complex systems operate, ranging from animal populations to earthquakes and weather. These systems show behaviours that cannot be predicted or intuited by focusing on the individual components, but which emerge spontaneously as a consequence of their interactions: they are said to be ‘self-organized’. Attempts to direct or manage such emergent properties generally reveal that ‘top-down’ approaches, which try to dictate a particular outcome, are ineffectual, and that what is needed instead is a ‘bottom-up’ approach that aims to guide self-organization towards desirable states.

This book shows how some of these ideas from the science of complexity can be applied to the study and management of social phenomena, including traffic flow, economic markets, opinion formation and the growth and structure of cities. Building on these successes, the book argues that the complex-systems view of the social sciences has now matured sufficiently for it to be possible, desirable and perhaps essential to attempt a grander objective: to integrate these efforts into a unified scheme for studying, understanding and ultimately predicting what happens in the world we have made. Such a scheme would require the mobilization and collaboration of many different research communities, and would allow society and its interactions with the physical environment to be explored through realistic models and large-scale data collection and analysis. It should enable us to find new and effective solutions to major global problems such as conflict, disease, financial instability, environmental despoliation and poverty, while avoiding unintended policy consequences. It could give us the foresight to anticipate and ameliorate crises, and to begin tackling some of the most intractable problems of the twenty-first century.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Society is complicated. But this book argues that this does not place it beyond the reach of a science that can help to explain and perhaps even to predict social behaviour. As a system made up of many interacting agents – people, groups, institutions and governments, as well as physical and technological structures such as roads and computer networks – society can be regarded as a complex system. In recent years, scientists have made great progress in understanding how such complex systems operate, ranging from animal populations to earthquakes and weather. These systems show behaviours that cannot be predicted or intuited by focusing on the individual components, but which emerge spontaneously as a consequence of their interactions: they are said to be ‘self-organized’. Attempts to direct or manage such emergent properties generally reveal that ‘top-down’ approaches, which try to dictate a particular outcome, are ineffectual, and that what is needed instead is a ‘bottom-up’ approach that aims to guide self-organization towards desirable states.

This book shows how some of these ideas from the science of complexity can be applied to the study and management of social phenomena, including traffic flow, economic markets, opinion formation and the growth and structure of cities. Building on these successes, the book argues that the complex-systems view of the social sciences has now matured sufficiently for it to be possible, desirable and perhaps essential to attempt a grander objective: to integrate these efforts into a unified scheme for studying, understanding and ultimately predicting what happens in the world we have made. Such a scheme would require the mobilization and collaboration of many different research communities, and would allow society and its interactions with the physical environment to be explored through realistic models and large-scale data collection and analysis. It should enable us to find new and effective solutions to major global problems such as conflict, disease, financial instability, environmental despoliation and poverty, while avoiding unintended policy consequences. It could give us the foresight to anticipate and ameliorate crises, and to begin tackling some of the most intractable problems of the twenty-first century.

More books from Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Cover of the book MicroRNA Detection and Pathological Functions by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Fibrin Sealing in Surgical and Nonsurgical Fields by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Computation and Asymptotics by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Preinvasive Carcinoma of the Cervix by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Decompression — Decompression Sickness by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Tectonofractography by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Bone Mineral Metabolism in Cancer by Philip Ball
Cover of the book JIMD Reports, Volume 15 by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Aspects of Language and Learning by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Design of Special Planar Linkages by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Growth Mechanisms and Novel Properties of Silicon Nanostructures from Quantum-Mechanical Calculations by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Paleontology of Vertebrates by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Leading from Under the Sword of Damocles by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Experimental and Computational Solutions of Hydraulic Problems by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Einführung in die Quanteninformatik by Philip Ball
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy