[FRIAM] SFI to Trump: The dangers of simplicity in a complex world

Mon Feb 6 17:48:49 EST 2017

this is all a really long way of saying Volte Morte is a giant ass.

On Mon, Feb 6, 2017 at 2:23 PM, Merle Lefkoff <merlelefkoff at gmail.com>
wrote:

> When I received an unexpected and overly-generous research grant to see
> how Complex Adaptive Systems science might have something to contribute to
> the search for coexistence in a world of endless war, I felt like
> Goldilocks and the Three Bears as a I searched for a home for this
> windfall.  I am not a "scientist" (I'm a social scientist), and I don't
> write code, so SFI rapidly scooted me out the door;  the Advanced Concepts
> Group at Sandia invited me in, but after attending a few sessions with them
> I decided they were just blah, blah, and I wanted the REAL complexity
> science!  So I took my grant to CNLS at Los Alamos, where I was greeted
> with open arms (I was deemed a "domain expert" in terrorism because I had
> mediated in N. Ireland and the Middle East) and given an office, a
> computer, post-docs from all over the world, and a title as Guest Scientist
> and Affiliate--enabling me to present my team's research at conferences in
> the credential-crazed world of academia.
>
> After four years, I left to reinvigorate our small social-profit
> organization (we don't like the term "non-profit") and find new partners
> with whom we could apply the principles and concepts of CAS to
> peacebuilding. It's been an amazing journey ever since, and FRIAM has been
> an important part of that journey.  Count me among the grateful--even
> though I leave for awhile when Complexity science is put on the back
> burner, supplanted by esoteric dialogue that I'm too unschooled to
> understand.
>
> I just finished teaching a graduate course in Complexity Thinking for
> Integrative Peacebuilding, and my students were adult learners who work for
> Trudeau in the Canadian government--many deployed around the world in
> conflict zones.  I've never looked back after getting the boot from SFI.
> Fuck 'em!  And thank you, FRIAM.
>
> On Mon, Feb 6, 2017 at 1:39 PM, Nick Thompson <nickthompson at earthlink.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>>
>>
>> Steve Smith wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> I feel we *don't* discuss as many Complexity topics as I would like,
>>
>>
>>
>> I will talk about tornado formation, a n y   t I m e, Steve.
>>
>>
>>
>> Seriously, I wonder if the fact that we have stopped talking about
>> complexity might have something to do with the state of play of that
>> field.  I reached a point where I began to feel that complexity-talk went
>> on in some alternative universe that, without the initiation and the golden
>> key, I was never going to enter. You will remember, Steve, that  I worked
>> for a couple of years, trying to make a translation between that universe
>> and mine, and was never able to manage it.  When the working vocabulary of
>> a science is inaccessible to a diligent, moderately intelligent,
>> practitioner of neighboring sciences, does that not limit the development
>> of that science?
>>
>>
>>
>> By the way, when I first came out here I tried to make contact with SFI.
>> At the time, I wrote up the result in a *satirical* account, which, to
>> be honest, reeks of sour grapes.  Still, in the present context you might
>> find it funny.  See attached.
>>
>>
>>
>> Omitted from this account was one life-changing exchange with Dr. X.  At
>> some point, during Phase II of The Ritual Reception and Rejection, I asked
>> him, “Given that The Institute is such a charismatic place, and given that
>> you have no room, where do all the people go when you reject them?  There
>> must be a lot of them around Santa Fe.”
>>
>>
>>
>> I am everlastingly grateful for his response.  He thought a very long
>> minute and then scribbled on a Posty and handed it to me.  It said, “Call
>> Steve Guerin.  FRIAM.”
>>
>>
>>
>> The rest is history.
>>
>>
>>
>> Nick
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Nicholas S. Thompson
>>
>> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
>>
>> Clark University
>>
>> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven A
>> Smith
>> *Sent:* Monday, February 06, 2017 12:00 PM
>> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <
>> friam at redfish.com>
>> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] SFI to Trump: The dangers of simplicity in a
>> complex world
>>
>>
>>
>> I appreciate FriAM, even though I don't attend Friday Congregation very
>> often, or even WedTech Congregation either!   The *active* voices here are
>> familiar and even though I may have a lot of different perspectives and
>> opinions, I truly value what I hear here, and more than anything I look
>> forward to one of our *many* lurkers chiming in.
>>
>> I feel we *don't* discuss as many Complexity topics as I would like, but
>> I like knowing that there are many with strong Complexity backgrounds
>> engaged in the more sociopolitical discussions that seem to dominate.
>>
>> Since I feel a bit like Glen in his statement "Since I don't belong
>> anywhere, I obviously didn't belong there"...  I'm enough used to being an
>> outsider or an interloper that I generally can slip into alien situations
>> and keep a low enough profile to not raise alarm or cause disruption.
>>
>> This forum, being asynchronous and as Gary points out, "easy to delete"
>> feels like a safe place FOR me to speak up above a hushed whisper... so I
>> value it as well.
>>
>> SFx was intended to be a more open and welcoming environment to share the
>> wealth from... I think we did a moderately good job much of the time, but
>> still missed the mark in at least developing a sustainable funding model.
>>
>> - Steve
>>
>>
>>
>> On 2/6/17 11:49 AM, Gary Schiltz wrote:
>>
>> It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway - FRIAM, both the list and
>> the actual gathering at the "mothership" of Santa Fe - has always felt
>> welcoming. It's the only list I've stayed with since its inception. I don't
>> know if there are any SFI lurkers here, but there do seem to be a lot of
>> people who "used to" have some association with it rather than those who
>> are actively involved with it. I've no idea how much is due to a bit of
>> snobbery vs. just simply the fact that the list is open to such a wide
>> range of stuff that isn't interesting to folks interested purely in
>> complexity. I find it easy enough just to delete messages when I get too
>> overwhelmed, confident that they are archived so I can eventually look them
>> over.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 6, 2017 at 1:34 PM, glen ☣ <gepropella at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> FWIW, I felt fairly unwelcome soon after I left to work in our Agua Fria
>> office (1997 maybe), perhaps since I was merely a research technician
>> rather than any sort of academic.  Then it got even worse when they
>> expanded down the hill by staffing a receptionist.  I always managed to
>> sneak past without being grilled to badly ... but the concept was clear: do
>> you belong here?  Since I don't belong anywhere, I obviously didn't belong
>> there. 8^)
>>
>>
>> On 02/05/2017 03:40 PM, Frank Wimberly wrote:
>> > That makes sense but I just sat there quietly and listened.  No
>> > self-aggrandizing questions. And then I left.
>>
>> --
>> ☣ glen
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>
>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>>
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>>
>>
>> ============================================================
>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.
> President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy
> Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
> merlelefoff at gmail.com
> mobile:  (303) 859-5609
> skype:  merle.lelfkoff2
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>
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