COMPLEXITY SCIENCE
&
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
A new science has emerged in recent years in an attempt to explain the
inner "workings" of complex systems.The science of complexity
has been applied to various fields of science, economics,
and politics to name a few, and is concerned with the fundamental logical
properties of the behaviour of non linear and network feedback systems.
The problems behind the 'central evolutionary and transformational processes'
through which organizations renew themselves have traditionally been addressed
by two well established perspectives: (1) strategic choice- a transformational
process in which organizations adapt to environmental changes by restructuring
themselves in an intentional, rational manner and (2) ecology- an evolutionary
process of competitive selection in which whole populations of organisms
adapt to environmental change, given that individual organizational adaptation
is blocked by institutional inertia and resource specificity.
Signifigant differences in terms of predicted outcome notwithstanding, both
clearly make the same assumptions about system dynamics: successful systems
(i.e. whole biological populations)
are driven by negative feedback processes toward predictable states of adaptation
to the environment. Thus, one could assume that success "dynamics "
have a tendency to acheive equilibrium and therefore stability, regularity,
and predictability.
These two assumptions , having originated in Newtonian physics and Darwinian
evolution are now being challenged at the fundamental level by recent developments
in physics, biology and mathematics. These developments in the 'science
of complexity' are concerned with the dynamical properties of non linear
and network feedback systems.
Traditionally, systems have been grouped into one of three categories based
on their behaviour.
These system categories are: ordered, chaotic and complex. Recent research
in evolutionary processes has shown evidence for a system that lies at the
edge between chaos and order.
This edge of chaos is the focus point for complexity science
Charles Darwin
Darwin's theory of evolution, by means of natural selection, has dominated
the way biologists
have thought of biological evolution, for the past century. Only in the
past decade or two have
scientists began to question natural selection as the only factor involved
in evolution. Evidence from the science of complexity has shown that evolutionary
processes may be a product of complex syematics.
Complexity introduction continued
Complexity index