[The Centralised Mindset and Complexity Science]
Date: Jan 2013
Humans tend to explain decentralised phenomena as being caused by a single entity. This way of thinking is often referred to as 'the centralised mindset'. Several authors propose that using programming environments where creation of decentralised agent-based systems is easy can help people
to start appreciating dynamics of bottom-up models.
However, complexity scientists need to move beyond simple grid worlds with little realism if they are to be taken seriously by others who prefer analytical methods that can predict global behaviours of emergent systems. While responsible complexity science can help us understand and perhaps copy the nature, it is questionable whether we can also use decentralisation as a model of our social, economical or political organisation. Our currently poor understanding of design and evaluation of emergent systems, as well as our egoistic way of living are among things that stand in the way of our species to become more efficient through decentralisation.
However, complexity scientists need to move beyond simple grid worlds with little realism if they are to be taken seriously by others who prefer analytical methods that can predict global behaviours of emergent systems. While responsible complexity science can help us understand and perhaps copy the nature, it is questionable whether we can also use decentralisation as a model of our social, economical or political organisation. Our currently poor understanding of design and evaluation of emergent systems, as well as our egoistic way of living are among things that stand in the way of our species to become more efficient through decentralisation.
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