Mikhail Gorelkin wrote: > reflexivity is also a part of cybernetics (of second order), and > cybernetists think that complexity theory is a part of cybernetics too... > For the social scientist, the approach raises two problems:
1) Too much reflection means too much attention to models of the world. To ask the right questions means having unbiased data on how people in some context of interest actually behave. 2) It's typically not possible to sufficiently influence or observe people to understand cause and effect across individuals or groups. The insights gained from reflexive participation will just be the kind of models we get living life (but with fancied-up language to sound more important than they are). Seems to me this kind of modeling is more the domain of the intelligence agencies than universities. ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
