Complexity, Science and Literature
I been writing a review of complexity for my PhD thesis recently and some interesting ideas have come up with respect to the role literature may play in observations of human behaviour. Although the quote below comes from a study of complexity in organisations, the role of literature could take an equal role in any brach of science.
“Artists through the ages have attempted to find new ways of portraying and understanding the complexities of our world. Under certain conditions, a good novel may teach us more about human nature than mathematical models of the brain, or the theories of cognitive psychology. And engagement with the arts should not be a luxury in which we indulge after “work”. it should be intertwined with our work. Faced with the complexities of life, we all have to be artists in some sense o the word. It is to be hoped that this will not only help us to a better understanding of our organisations, it will also make us better human beings.”
Cilliers, P. (1998). Complexity and postmodernism: Understanding complex systems. Routledge Publishers.
Great quote Michael. David Porush is also very good on this. And of course in From Being to Becoming Prigogine himself observes that the theory of complexity is the moment when science and literature come back together again, so to speak.
Good succinct quote, Michael. Below you can find some of what Sarah so kindly alluded to:
“Literature as Dissipative Structure: Prigogine’s Theory and Postmodernism’s Roadshow,” in Chaos and Order: Complex Dynamics in Literature and Science, ed. N. Katherine Hayles (Chicago, 1991)
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo3684518.html
You can get most of it here in raw form: http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/55/porush55art.htm
Thanks for the link David – great to see you on the site! Sarah.