Hi,
It’s very
interesting though extremely philosophical…
IDK
From:
News and discussion about computer simulation in the social sciences
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Loet
Leydesdorff
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 12:48
PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Computing Anticipatory
Systems (CASYS05),
Hyper-incursion
and the Globalization of the
Knowledge-Based
Economy
In the case of
biological systems, the model which makes the system anticipatory, can be
considered as naturally given <social can be defined as natural regardless the level>
. Human languages enable psychological systems
to construct and exchange mental models of the system and its environments
reflexively
<there is different opinions: languages “create” thinking or
thinking “create” language: both angles are valid cause there is a
close interaction between them…>, that
is, without the necessity of a materialization <for every “meaning” we transmit, one can find
an electro-chemical reaction in our mind? There are numerous adepts…> .
The social system of interhuman communication contains the distribution of
agents as an additional degree of freedom <agree… but why “additional”
degree of freedom?>. When this communication
system is functionally differentiated <alias has changed its social geometry>, for example, in terms of an economy and a subsystem of scientific
communications, the subsystems can be expected to entertain different models
and to update with different frequencies<updating is communicating>. Using this
additional degree of freedom the social system can become strongly anticipatory<Why? Anticipation of what? >.
Over time each
subsystem can provide the events with its respective meaning or value from the
perspective of hindsight <Yes, none can foresee, anyway>. For example, the market operates according to its own
rules. Because the economic relations are codified (e.g., using currency), the
network can retain value from the exchanges. By using prices the capitalist
system contains an economic model of itself (Marx, 1869). Analogously, the
science system has increasingly developed its own codifications since the
Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. The sciences develop and
differentiate rewriting their history along trajectories over time, while
market clearing occurs at each moment in time. These two
anticipatory mechanisms can be expected to develop along nearly orthogonal axes <Difficult conclusion: each
try of explaining something is an attempt of “rationalization” more
or less succeded…>.
The
interaction of two anticipatory mechanisms <equilibrium oriented…> allows for coevolution and stabilization, but additionally for
meta-stabilization and globalization using a hyper-incursive routine. The
hyper-incursion can develop into a third axis of codification if decision-rules
coevolve among the subsystems which are organized by them at the level of the
social system<there
are rules but rules do not necessarily lead to equilibrium… I would say
that they are meta-rules: rules for changing “rules” aiming
maintaining dynamics>. A triple helix can
thus endogenously be generated<Why “DNA”-like?>. Historically, the interfacing of economic and scientific
communications since the late 19th century has first stabilized a
techno-economic coevolution during the 20th century. The interface
had to be supported by a ‘technostructure’ because economic
expectations and research perspectives tend to stand orthogonal. The organized
interfacing of these two types of expectations provides room for
hyper-incursion and the consequent development of decision rules at the systems
level. However, decision rules induce a local trajectory in a global space of
other possibilities. Three subdynamics thus interact: (1) economic wealth
generation, (2) systematic novelty production, and (3) structuration of the
decision-making at the interfaces. The knowledge-based subdyanamics which
emerges, reconstructs previous states and co-constructs future ones from a
global perspective. The knowledge-based options are traded-off against the
historical retention of wealth in the economy by making decisions in an
increasingly anticipatory mode.
________________________________
Loet Leydesdorff
Université de Lausanne, School of Economics (HEC);
Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR)