Speaker: George Francis
Title: World and Other Systems: A Challenge to WICI
Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Category: Talk
For WICI to realize its potential, argues Professor George Francis of Environment and Resource Studies at the University of Waterloo, it should draw upon a cadre of people familiar with different approaches to […]
Continue Reading →Speaker: Lee Smolin
Title: Symmetries in Economic Models and their Consequences
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Category: Talk
Professor Lee Smolin of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics examines the fundamental Arrow-Debreu model of market equilibrium in neoclassical economics. He asks the basic question always raised by physicists when confronting a new […]
Continue Reading →Speaker: Frances Westley
Title: Complexity Approach to Change and Transformation
Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Category: Talk
Social innovation alters the basic routines and beliefs of a society, but the durability and scale necessary to generate this momentum requires enough interactive opportunity and action. Professor Frances Westley, Director of Social Innovation Generation […]
Continue Reading →Speaker: Keith Hipel
Title: Trade versus the Environment: Strategic Settlement from a Systems Engineering Perspective
Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Category: Talk
Professor Keith Hipel of System Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo discusses applications of graph theory to conflict analysis and resolution. His research focuses on local, national, and global […]
Continue Reading →Speaker: Thomas Homer-Dixon
Title: Ingenuity Theory: Adaptation Failure and Societal Crisis
Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Category: Talk
Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon of the Balsillie School of International Affairs draws from his research on how societies adapt to complex stress to explore the factors making the world’s problems harder to solve and the […]
Continue Reading →Speaker: Brenda Zimmerman
Title: Applications of Complexity Science to Healthcare
Date: Thursday, December 11, 2008
Category: Talk
Professor Brenda Zimmerman of the Schulich School of Business examines how complexity science has changed behaviors, decision making, and design in healthcare practice and public policy in the UK, USA, and Canada.
Speaker: Paul Thagard
Title: Changing Minds about Climate Change
Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Category: Talk
Paul Thagard, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Waterloo, addresses how neurocomputational models of explanatory and emotional coherence can explain belief change and resistance. He discusses how feedback loops can influence minds and societies at […]
Continue Reading →Speaker: Stuart A. Kauffman
Title: The Evolution of Economic Wealth and Innovation
Date: Monday, October 27, 2008
Category: Talk
Stuart Kauffman, one of the founders of the field of complex systems, explains the principles that he proposes underlie innovation and economic growth. He illustrates these principles with real world examples from his […]
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