>That is what complex adaptive systems do....continually
>self-reference and feedback onto themselves in terms of new situations, to
>which they have contributed.
After investing much intellectual effort in chaos and complexity theory, I
realised the metaphorical strengths of the paradigm. However, I must add
that they are just that: picturesque, and sometimes obfuscating, metaphors.
Often, an asocial, agentless (even though its often agent based, as in
"Sociology from the Bottom Up": SFI: 1997) complex system is cited which
removes human responsibility. Thus, complexity is appealed to in much the
same way as a God. I'm not saying that this is what _you_ are doing, Molly,
to the contrary (and I gladly risk raising the ire of persons with a
similar intellectual investments to both yourself and myself), but 'take,
for instance, Bella=92s (1997) assertion that complex systems theory largely
divests the tobacco industry of culpability in deceiving the public about
the dangers of tobacco:
"Leaked documents and public testimony point to widespread distortion of
information within the tobacco industry. The model describes such behaviors
as emergent outcomes not reducible to or sufficiently explained by
individual fraud and deliberate deceit. Critics of the tobacco industry
often fail to appreciate the role of self-organization in complex systems.
They presume rational design. Consequently, they imply more intentional
deceit, deliberate planning, and conspiracy needed to explain the
distortions that actually occurred. The tobacco industry expresses general
phenomena found in many large-scale human systems =85 They are
self-organizing." (Bella 1997, pp. 977-978).
Bella=92s sophistry is, unfortunately, somewhat typical of sociological
complex systems theorising, especially in the areas of management and
organisational communication. Bella=92s agenda is ultimately transparent an=
d
exemplifies Sokal=92s criticism of current applications of Complexity theory
in sociology. Bella also indicates the direction in which a pre-biological
view of human behaviour might take sociological theory' (taken from a
forthcoming paper for Social Semiotics: Graham P & McKenna B).
Phil
Phil Graham
p.graham who-is-at qut.edu.au
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/8314/index.html