Please read through ALL instructions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Instructions
This assignment will require you to pull ideas from previous material, quizzes, and assignments together to answer a sequence of questions. Use the template provided below and follow these guidelines:
1) You must use an 11 point font.
2) You must cite your references in the text as follows: (author, year), e.g. (Jones, 2001) or (Smith et al., 2014)
3) You must provide references to support the arguments you make in your answers, least 5 references in total (not 5 for each question) . These can be websites, books, or academic articles. Sources should be drawn predominantly from course materials. If you use outside sources, they should supplement course materials and you should make a clear case as to why the outside source is needed to make your point – i.e. it adds something interesting not already covered by course materials.
4) Be concise. Stick to the suggested word counts.
The reference format is:
Author, year, title, source. I am not too picky about minor details such as punctuation. For example, you might just follow this format (you can just use google scholar – find the citation, click on the quotation marks, and cut and paste):
Smith, J. and Jones, K. 2014. The Global Conundrum. Ecosphere 4(3):26-32.
where 4(3):26-32 is volume 4, number 3, pages 26-32. If it is a website it would be
Smith, J. and Jones, K. 2014. The Global Conundrum. URL: http://www.ideas.orgLinks to an external site..
Point Breakdown
Content 12 points, references 3 points. Pay special attention to the instructions in bold font.
Here are the questions (they aren’t as long as they look – I give lots of hints….):
(100-150 words): What is complex systems science and why might we care about it?
In you answer, Throughout the course the basic elements of complexity science have been articulated in lectures, readings and videos. Your answer should summarize these elements that someone who has never heard of complexity science can understand and be excited about. Imagine you are at a gathering with family and/or friends and one asks you about this course. Do not just make a list and state definitions and quote from the course materials. This answer should draw mainly on modules 1 and 2. What your write here will set you up to use complex systems science concepts in the remainder of your document. Do not simply give a definition. Rather: 1) use an example, 2) identify the key agents, 3) describe the information they process and the decisions they make, 4) describe the emergent, system level behavior that emerges from these decisions. (2 points)
(100-200 words): Given what we know about complex systems, can scientific knowledge help address large scale challenges facing human societies?
In your answer, describe the relationship between scientific knowledge/understanding, information and decision making from a complex systems perspective (based on what you wrote in paragraph 1). Do not simply say, in some form or another, that decision making is complex. Do not say that because systems are complex, decision making is difficult. Here are some hints:
Think about knowledge/understanding and information that an individual has to make decisions versus knowledge and information available at the level of the whole system. Do you as an individual have to have full knowledge/understanding of how the entire global economic system works to make good decisions in your daily life? Do you believe that you have enough (or too much?) information to make decisions? Will scientific knowledge made available to you, help you make better decisions? Also reflect on what a good decision is at both the individual and system levels. Is what is good for the individual good for the system?
Think about your exploration of the logistic map. Even if you have perfect “scientific knowledge”, i.e. you know the equation that generates the sequence and the initial condition (to the extent that it can be measured to some precision – i.e. the problem of incomplete information), it can be difficult to predict. Think about a situation in which you are asked to make an important decision that will affect many, many people based on the value of the logistic map at t=100. What would you do? This is like making a decision about when to curb carbon dioxide emissions – i.e. at 420 ppm or 460 ppm. What does complexity science tell you about how useful scientific knowledge will be in such a situation? Or, perhaps put another way, what does complexity science tell you about how scientific knowledge should or should not be used in this situation? This answer should draw mainly on the materials in modules 3 and 4. (3 points).
(100-200 words): What are the key differences between human social systems and other very successful ‘social organisms’ wherein thousands or even millions of individuals achieve effective organization such as ants, bees, and termites?
Given your answer to question 2, compare the way humans and other insects make individual decisions, group decisions, and coordinate their actions. What are the benefits and costs of these differences both at the individual and group levels? This answer should draw mainly on the materials in modules 4 and 5. (2 points).
(200-300 words): Can earth’s global society (7.5 billion individual agents, interacting locally that, together, create a complex social, political, and economic system) govern/manage the planetary system (trillions of individual agents from tiny bacteria to giant redwood trees, interacting locally that, together, create a complex, non-linear dynamic biophysical system)?
Your discussion should draw on (but NOT reproduce) what you wrote in assignment 4 about large versus small government and what you learned about the dynamics and uncertainty (as fundamental properties of complex systems) of the planetary system. This answer should draw mainly on the materials in modules 5 and 6. (2 points).
(100-150 words): Based on complex systems science, what recommendations would you make to address the challenges we, as a globalized society, face in managing the biosphere? You answer should be concise, content rich, and supported with references.
Consider: 1) system complexity, non-linearity and scale, 2) Should we do anything at all – i.e. can science, knowledge, and technology help or will they make things worse?, 3) If we should intervene, where should we try to intervene and where should we not, i.e. at the level of individuals, firms, states, nations, the globe? This answer should draw mainly on the materials in all modules. (3 points).
Submission template:
Please use the the following template. Cut and paste it into a word document or into the submission text box on Canvas:
What is complex systems science and why might we care about it?
YOUR ANSWER
Can scientific knowledge help address large scale challenges facing human societies?
YOUR ANSWER
What are the key differences between human social systems and other very successful ‘social organisms?
YOUR ANSWER
Can earth’s global society govern/manage the planetary system?
YOUR ANSWER
Based on complex systems science, what recommendations would you make to address the challenges of managing the biosphere/planetary system?
YOUR ANSWER
Reference List
Grading
This assignment, as with Assignments 3 and 4, is intended to be thought provoking. Now that you have been working with complexity science ideas now for 6 weeks, I expect your answers to be sharp and analytical as well. Thus, we will be basing our assessment on the following points
You use clear evidence for your arguments – clear examples from the course materials or other references and concise ideas. You provide proper in-text citations and references for your argument as instructed above.
You avoid allowing your arguments to deviate into opinions. Avoid statements such as “I feel..”, “I believe…”, etc. Rather, use statements like “evidence suggests…”, “based on ideas from complexity science, ……”, “the case of such and such suggests that……”, etc.
You avoid simply summarizing course materials in your answers. This is important! Use ideas from the course to build and support YOUR argument in each of your answers.
****************References To Use******************
Complexity : A Guided Tour (Ch.1-
by Melanie Mitchell
PUBLISHER
Oxford University Press, Incorporated
DATE
2009-04-01
Weaver, W. Science and Complexity.
Holland2006_Article_StudyingComplexAdaptiveSystems.pdf
Tim Lenton. Tipping points in the Earth’s climate system
Tainter, J. A. (2006). Social complexity and sustainability Ecological Complexity, 3(2), 91-103.
