499,191 research outputs found
Signs of reality - reality of signs. Explorations of a pending revolution in political economy.
This paper explores the interaction between the world of information processes in human society and the non-information dynamics, which the latter set out to understand. This broad topic is approached with a focus on evolutionary political economy: It turns out that progress in this scientific discipline seems to depend crucially on a methodological revolution reframing this above mentioned interplay. The paper consists of three parts. After a brief introduction, which sketches the position of the argument in the current epistemological discourse, part 1 sets out to describe the basic methodological ingredients used by evolutionary political economy to describe the ‘reality’ of socioeconomic dynamics. Part 2 jumps to the world of languages used and proposes a rather radical break with the received apparatus of analytical mathematics used so successfully in sciences studying non-living phenomena. The development of procedural simulation languages should substitute inadequate mathematical formalizations, some examples are provided. Part 3 then returns to ‘reality’ dynamics, but now incorporates the interaction with the information sphere in a small algorithmic model. This model – like the introduction - again makes visible the relationships to earlier research in the field. Instead of a conclusion – several, hopefully innovative ideas are provided in passing, throughout the paper - an epilogue is provided, which tries to indicate the implications of this methodological paper for political practice in face of the current global crisis.Scientific methods, evolutionary political economy, formal languages, ideology
Signs of reality - reality of signs. Explorations of a pending revolution in political economy.
This paper explores the interaction between the world of information processes in human society and the non-information dynamics, which the latter set out to understand. This broad topic is approached with a focus on evolutionary political economy: It turns out that progress in this scientific discipline seems to depend crucially on a methodological revolution reframing this above mentioned interplay. The paper consists of three parts. After a brief introduction, which sketches the position of the argument in the current epistemological discourse, part 1 sets out to describe the basic methodological ingredients used by evolutionary political economy to describe the ‘reality’ of socioeconomic dynamics. Part 2 jumps to the world of languages used and proposes a rather radical break with the received apparatus of analytical mathematics used so successfully in sciences studying non-living phenomena. The development of procedural simulation languages should substitute inadequate mathematical formalizations, some examples are provided. Part 3 then returns to ‘reality’ dynamics, but now incorporates the interaction with the information sphere in a small algorithmic model. This model – like the introduction - again makes visible the relationships to earlier research in the field. Instead of a conclusion – several, hopefully innovative ideas are provided in passing, throughout the paper - an epilogue is provided, which tries to indicate the implications of this methodological paper for political practice in face of the current global crisis
Signs of reality - reality of signs. Explorations of a pending revolution in political economy.
This paper explores the interaction between the world of information processes in human society and the non-information dynamics, which the latter set out to understand. This broad topic is approached with a focus on evolutionary political economy: It turns out that progress in this scientific discipline seems to depend crucially on a methodological revolution reframing this above mentioned interplay. The paper consists of three parts. After a brief introduction, which sketches the position of the argument in the current epistemological discourse, part 1 sets out to describe the basic methodological ingredients used by evolutionary political economy to describe the ‘reality’ of socioeconomic dynamics. Part 2 jumps to the world of languages used and proposes a rather radical break with the received apparatus of analytical mathematics used so successfully in sciences studying non-living phenomena. The development of procedural simulation languages should substitute inadequate mathematical formalizations, some examples are provided. Part 3 then returns to ‘reality’ dynamics, but now incorporates the interaction with the information sphere in a small algorithmic model. This model – like the introduction - again makes visible the relationships to earlier research in the field. Instead of a conclusion – several, hopefully innovative ideas are provided in passing, throughout the paper - an epilogue is provided, which tries to indicate the implications of this methodological paper for political practice in face of the current global crisis
Complex networks analysis in socioeconomic models
This chapter aims at reviewing complex networks models and methods that were
either developed for or applied to socioeconomic issues, and pertinent to the
theme of New Economic Geography. After an introduction to the foundations of
the field of complex networks, the present summary adds insights on the
statistical mechanical approach, and on the most relevant computational aspects
for the treatment of these systems. As the most frequently used model for
interacting agent-based systems, a brief description of the statistical
mechanics of the classical Ising model on regular lattices, together with
recent extensions of the same model on small-world Watts-Strogatz and
scale-free Albert-Barabasi complex networks is included. Other sections of the
chapter are devoted to applications of complex networks to economics, finance,
spreading of innovations, and regional trade and developments. The chapter also
reviews results involving applications of complex networks to other relevant
socioeconomic issues, including results for opinion and citation networks.
Finally, some avenues for future research are introduced before summarizing the
main conclusions of the chapter.Comment: 39 pages, 185 references, (not final version of) a chapter prepared
for Complexity and Geographical Economics - Topics and Tools, P.
Commendatore, S.S. Kayam and I. Kubin Eds. (Springer, to be published
The brain: What is critical about it?
We review the recent proposal that the most fascinating brain properties are
related to the fact that it always stays close to a second order phase
transition. In such conditions, the collective of neuronal groups can reliably
generate robust and flexible behavior, because it is known that at the critical
point there is the largest abundance of metastable states to choose from. Here
we review the motivation, arguments and recent results, as well as further
implications of this view of the functioning brain.Comment: Proceedings of BIOCOMP2007 - Collective Dynamics: Topics on
Competition and Cooperation in the Biosciences. Vietri sul Mare, Italy (2007
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