[FRIAM] SFI to Trump: The dangers of simplicity in a complex world
Steven A Smith
sasmyth at swcp.com
Mon Feb 6 18:15:07 EST 2017
Merle -
I seem to remember that Norm Johnson was one of your collaborators at CNLS?
Do you have some specific publications that might "summarize" your
work/thinking in the application of CAS to social science and the
peace-building process in particular?
I think this is the area I am most interested in the application of
CAS... there is plenty of work in the harder sciences and economics I
think, but it feels as if the biggest leverage or payoff might be in the
understanding of sociopolitical systems.
- Steve
On 2/6/17 2:23 PM, Merle Lefkoff 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 <mailto: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/
> <http://home.earthlink.net/%7Enickthompson/naturaldesigns/>
>
> *From:*Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com
> <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 <mailto: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
> <mailto: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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> --
> Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D. President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy Santa
> Fe, New Mexico, USA merlelefoff at gmail.com
> <mailto:merlelefoff at gmail.com> mobile: (303) 859-5609 skype:
> merle.lelfkoff2
>
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