Re: Organizational thinking LO3987

Michael McMaster (Michael@kbddean.demon.co.uk)
Fri, 1 Dec 1995 22:28:46 +0000

Replying to LO3957 --

Carol shares the wonderful story from Kevin Kelly regarding a group
activity without any central organisation. But is this learning or
merely coordinated action in a self organising way?

In either case, is it possible to get beyond that "it's still only
individuals"? Why not reduce it further and say, "It isn't
individuals learning at all. It's the neurons or brain cells or
something similar?" Why stop even there except that we aren't
familiar with the names of smaller parts?

About 100 years ago, there developed a body of thinking called
"emergent evolution". Its main thesis was that there is a kind of
event or phenomenon which cannot be reduced to its parts and where
something new occurs (comes into being) that is not an extension of
the elements which participate in its creation. SFI is developing
models today doing what can only be done by advanced computers. But
the language and thinking was done very thoroughly 100 years ago.
(And less thoroughly many times before going all the way back to the
Greek philosophers.)

The problem is that we inherited only the materialist, reductionist
causation of one part of the Greek thinking and these emergent
approaches has never survived in that environment. And the former
doesn't allow for the existence of the latter - while the other way
around allows for both.

--
Michael McMaster
Michael@kbddean.demon.co.uk