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 How Interval and Fuzzy Techniques Can Improve Teaching by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Marxism and 20th-Century English-Canadian Novels by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Calcium Regulating Hormones, Vitamin D Metabolites, and Cyclic AMP Assays and Their Clinical Application by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Sports Injuries in Children and Adolescents by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Polymer Composites – Polyolefin Fractionation – Polymeric Peptidomimetics – Collagens by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Business Relationship Management and Marketing by Philip Ball
Cover of the book The Neurobiology of Childhood by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Anthropogenic Platinum-Group Element Emissions by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Kidney and Urinary Tract Diseases in the Newborn by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Logistic Core Operations with SAP by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Histological Typing of Lung and Pleural Tumours by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Modelling Operational Risk Using Bayesian Inference by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Computers and Creativity by Philip Ball
Cover of the book Strategies for Immunointerventions in Dermatology by Philip Ball
Cover of the book International Politics 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