How we view the world, and the reality we believe we live within are essential to helping us shape our views about the issues which affect us. Therefore, it is crucial that in developing ideas about education, or any other issue, I am clear about the important underlying assumptions I am making in developing my arguments. This is where processual complexity comes in. In short, this is a view of the world as being composed of processes which occur in complex 'tangles' and relationships, i.e. it is a bringing together of ideas from process philosophy and complexity theories.
Process Philosophy
Processual ways of explaining reality go back a long way in time, featuring in pre-Socratic Greek philosophy through the fragments of Heraclitus, and in eastern philosophy through aspects of Taoism and Buddhism. This alternative way of understanding reality has continued in opposition to the predominant western tradition of seeing the world as being primarily made of substance, Here, the core of the difference between process and other, more mainstream philosophies, is clear; process philosophy characterises reality as becoming and change, rather than as static being and substance. Process philosophy is complex and multifaceted, and aspects of it will be discussed over time in the blog elements of this website. Interesting introductions can be found at:
Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
Complexity Theories
There are a number of different theories which all come under the 'banner' of complexity theory. Here, I outline some of the main features of the concept of complex adaptive systems (CADs). This is underpinned by the idea that reality is composed of systems, i.e. inter-related components which together create a wider network. Cilliers (1998) characterises CADs as being characterised by:
1. a large number of elements with many interactions.
2. interactions which are non-linear, i.e. large-scale processes can lead to small changes, and vice versa.
3. interactions lead to feedback loops, both negative and positive.
4. 'open systems', meaning that they have interactions with the 'environment' beyond the system itself.
5. interactions with the environment making the boundaries of the CAD difficult to identify.
6. a system which is far from equilibrium and hence requires constant energy flow to operate.
7. the importance of history, past processes playing a role in the creation of the present, often unpredictably.
8. each element only reacting to local information rather than information from the whole system.
These characteristics lead to interesting behaviours such as self-organisation and emergence.
A short introductory video about CADs can be watched here.
Processual Complexity
Processual complexity is a view of the world which brings these ideas together, arguing that reality is the result of the interplay of systems of processes which are complex and adaptive in nature. The closest view to this which already exists is the work of Tor Hernes (2008) where he develops the idea of tangles of processes. In taking the example of the constant changes inherent in terrorist organisations, he states that,
'If we are to understand the fluent and emergent nature of a movement such as al-Qaeda, we probably need to look beyond the snapshot view of the world and assume that it is an elusive phenomenon that has no substance other than certain actors and links at a given point in time. And what if we assume that whatever it is that is called al-Qaeda (if it can indeed be said to exist at all), is part of a fluid, complex set of processes that form, nest and reform?'
Hence, the core of processual complexity is to understand and characterise reality as the ongoing flux of complex 'tangles' of processes which emerge, and create transient forms and organisations. But there is never an endpoint, a finality. There is merely processual change which occurs at a multitude of spatial levels, and over different temporal periods and rhythms.
Process Philosophy
Processual ways of explaining reality go back a long way in time, featuring in pre-Socratic Greek philosophy through the fragments of Heraclitus, and in eastern philosophy through aspects of Taoism and Buddhism. This alternative way of understanding reality has continued in opposition to the predominant western tradition of seeing the world as being primarily made of substance, Here, the core of the difference between process and other, more mainstream philosophies, is clear; process philosophy characterises reality as becoming and change, rather than as static being and substance. Process philosophy is complex and multifaceted, and aspects of it will be discussed over time in the blog elements of this website. Interesting introductions can be found at:
Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
Complexity Theories
There are a number of different theories which all come under the 'banner' of complexity theory. Here, I outline some of the main features of the concept of complex adaptive systems (CADs). This is underpinned by the idea that reality is composed of systems, i.e. inter-related components which together create a wider network. Cilliers (1998) characterises CADs as being characterised by:
1. a large number of elements with many interactions.
2. interactions which are non-linear, i.e. large-scale processes can lead to small changes, and vice versa.
3. interactions lead to feedback loops, both negative and positive.
4. 'open systems', meaning that they have interactions with the 'environment' beyond the system itself.
5. interactions with the environment making the boundaries of the CAD difficult to identify.
6. a system which is far from equilibrium and hence requires constant energy flow to operate.
7. the importance of history, past processes playing a role in the creation of the present, often unpredictably.
8. each element only reacting to local information rather than information from the whole system.
These characteristics lead to interesting behaviours such as self-organisation and emergence.
A short introductory video about CADs can be watched here.
Processual Complexity
Processual complexity is a view of the world which brings these ideas together, arguing that reality is the result of the interplay of systems of processes which are complex and adaptive in nature. The closest view to this which already exists is the work of Tor Hernes (2008) where he develops the idea of tangles of processes. In taking the example of the constant changes inherent in terrorist organisations, he states that,
'If we are to understand the fluent and emergent nature of a movement such as al-Qaeda, we probably need to look beyond the snapshot view of the world and assume that it is an elusive phenomenon that has no substance other than certain actors and links at a given point in time. And what if we assume that whatever it is that is called al-Qaeda (if it can indeed be said to exist at all), is part of a fluid, complex set of processes that form, nest and reform?'
Hence, the core of processual complexity is to understand and characterise reality as the ongoing flux of complex 'tangles' of processes which emerge, and create transient forms and organisations. But there is never an endpoint, a finality. There is merely processual change which occurs at a multitude of spatial levels, and over different temporal periods and rhythms.