*Please distribute to others who may be interested...* You are hereby invited to the next weekly seminar in our interdisciplinary series on Evolution, Complexity and Cognition<http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/108>(ECCO).
*Time*:* Tuesday, October 25th* 14:00-16:00 p.m Notice: *This is not the usual seminar day !* Next week we have two seminars: first on Tuesday (Oct 25th) and second on Friday (Oct 28th) *Place*: Room B 0.036 (building B, level 0, close to the human sciences computer rooms), on the VUB Campus Etterbeek (Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels), in collaboration with MOSI. Coffee available. Free entrance: everybody welcome! * * ------------------------------ *McLuhan, Media, Emergence and Complexity Theory* Robert K. Logan <http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/Members/logan> (University of Toronto) *Abstract* McLuhan’s recognition of the non-linear aspect of the relationship between media and society in a certain sense foreshadowed the notion of co-evolution and complexity or emergence theory. This is not to suggest he played any role in the development of emergence and complexity theory but rather in his non-mathematical approach to understanding media and their effects he independently developed ideas that paralleled work in physics, biology and economics. There is a hint of emergence or complexity theory in a 1955 paper of McLuhan (1955) in which he wrote, “It is therefore, a simple maxim of communication study that any change in the means of communication will produce a chain of revolutionary consequences at every level of culture and politics. And because of the complexity of the components in this process, predictions and controls are not possible.” We will look at how his use of figure ground, the field concept and media ecology parallel emergence and complexity theory. ------------------------------ *Upcoming Seminars* *October 28* An actor based approach to co-innovate Small Business and education in Knowledge Chains. Wim Gielingh <[email protected]> and Theo Lohman <[email protected]> *November 4 *The Future Internet as a Global Brain: an update of the theory Francis Heylighen <http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HEYL.html> (ECCO,VUB)* November 25 *Languaging as a process of second order or joint coordination Joachim De Beule (VUB) <http://arti.vub.ac.be/%7Ejoachim/> *December 2 (full day) Workshop:* Worldviews and religiosity: a non-theististic perspective on human experience, meaning and purpose (multiple speakers, see program <http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/151>) * December 9 *The origins of the origin: points and cycles as cognitive attractors for ultimate explanations. Clement Vidal <http://clement.vidal.philosophons.com/>(ECCO,VUB) * December 16* The Complexity of Architecture Philip Rutten <[email protected]> * **December 20 (Tuesday!)** *Transformation of uncertainty in the therapeutic process. Jon Echanove <http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonechanove> (AoEC<http://www.aoec.cn.com/>, China) (ECCO) * * More info about the ECCO seminar program: http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/108
