complex adaptive systems

Description

Bugs, Bits and Engineering Bioforms: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Aired on C-Span May 24, 2010) http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Robotsa New America Foundation http://www.newamerica.net/events/2010/warring_futures_a_future_tense_event Monstanto Board Member & Chief Scientist for the Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative, Arizona St. University, Dr. George Poste gave the keynote address at a forum on military technology and robotics. Afterward, panelists talked about emerging technologies developed for and used by the military and the potential impact of robotics on civilian life. They also responded to questions from the audience. @1:02:45 in the full presentation, During Q&A, Poste says: "I am deeply saddened by what I am going to say. I believe catastrophe is the only way in which an overly complacent comfortable society begins to understand the need to change, and whether it be the rise of tyrants, whether it be atrocity on a more limited scale, such a 9-11, it doesn't matter what the disaster is." "I serve on the institute of medicine influenzia task force, and just to show you how banal it has all become, the retreat from complexity had a very well groomed member of the administration, who was the equivalent of Brownie from a previous administration, turn up and say, "oh, uh we do have to deal with a slight problem, there might not be enough vaccine for the nation at large, but we have the following program laid out except we'll have a 160M doses by the end of October..." Poste then articulates an example of a political administration incapable of dealing with a complex issue, and the public's ability to comprehend the issue anyway. This thinking regarding Democracy's fitness is in alignment with the primary thesis in the Club of Rome's First Global Revolution, stating.... "Democracy is not a panacea. It cannot organize everything and it is unaware of its own limits. These facts must be faced squarely. Sacrilegious though this may sound, democracy is no longer well suited for the tasks ahead. The complexity and the technical nature of many of today's problems do not always allow elected representatives to make competent decisions at the right time." +++ He also says... "...That the curse of contemporary governments is failing Mencken's 1st principle. H.L Mencken said of course every complex problem has got an instant solution ...it is always wrong. [actual quote: "there is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong."]. And that is the issue now that every member of Congress is trapped in. They may be pre-disposed to it, but most importantly they cannot operate outside of it. There is minimal long term capacity to now to think about issues which are best, because they are also highly complex, and complexity has been stripped from the narrative." +++ And goes on to say... "Do we have enough agility in our political structure, or it is so broken that we will not be able to have sufficient agility in our global governance mechanisms and global commerce to be able to mitigate those?" +++ Also See Excerpt from the following Report: Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Converging_Technologies_for_Improving_Human_Performance "Understanding of the mind and brain will enable the creation of a new species of intelligent machine systems that can generate economic wealth on a scale hitherto unimaginable. Within a half-century, intelligent machines might create the wealth needed to provide food, clothing, shelter, education, medical care, a clean environment, and physical and financial security for the entire world population. Intelligent machines may eventually generate the production capacity to support universal prosperity and financial security for all human beings. Thus, the engineering of the mind is much more than the pursuit of scientific curiosity. It is more even than a monumental technological challenge. It is...