Hi Ray,
Time is still short for me at present, but on the matter of our difference
of opinion (excerpted below) on whether complexity can be simmered down to
simple principles (in the arts, sciences, human behaviour, what have you),
I'd thoroughly recommend Robert Axelrod's "The Complexity of Cooperation"
(Princeton University Press, 1997). Situations of great complexity are
discussed, but all derive from the simple principle of the Prisoner's
Dilemma and Tit-for-Tat Theory as Alexrod first described in his classic
work, "The Evolution of Co-operation" in 1984.
Keith H
At 03:26 16/04/01 -0400, you wrote:
(KH)
> Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that I like to discover the
> simple "formulae" from which spring the chaos and complexity of human
> behaviour and, indeed, those of the universe as a whole. I don't claim
that
> my approach is more valid than yours but as my brain becomes more senile
as
> I grow older and unable to perform some of the limited gymnastics of my
> youth, I now prefer to look deeper rather than wider.
(REH)
There is no simple formula. That's why chaos theory was invented. But
complexity exists in the mind of the individual, the world is just the
world. In my work, focus must always be balanced with the whole.
___________________________________________________________________
Keith Hudson, General Editor, Calus <http://www.calus.org>
6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
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