- #1
Ratzinger
- 291
- 0
I'm looking for some good definitions/ explanations of the two words reductionism and complexity.
As I once read reductionist say emergent properties and complex behaviour are epistemological issues, necessary conceptualisations to make the world understandable. Any additional non-physical substances and rules that can't be derived from physics are denied. I think all scientists agree more or less on that kind of reducionism/ physicalism.
But I heard there are varying degrees of reductionist thinking. Which are they??
Also, even accepting the reductionism agenda, looking at a biological cell, a sophisticated man-made machine or human societies, you can't shake the feeling there is more to it. It seems there is sort of an own, new reality when certain (complex?) many-body systems form.
That may sound naive, which is mostly due to that I have not seen any satisfying definitions of the terms emergence and complexity yet. Does anyone of you have some good ones?
thanks
As I once read reductionist say emergent properties and complex behaviour are epistemological issues, necessary conceptualisations to make the world understandable. Any additional non-physical substances and rules that can't be derived from physics are denied. I think all scientists agree more or less on that kind of reducionism/ physicalism.
But I heard there are varying degrees of reductionist thinking. Which are they??
Also, even accepting the reductionism agenda, looking at a biological cell, a sophisticated man-made machine or human societies, you can't shake the feeling there is more to it. It seems there is sort of an own, new reality when certain (complex?) many-body systems form.
That may sound naive, which is mostly due to that I have not seen any satisfying definitions of the terms emergence and complexity yet. Does anyone of you have some good ones?
thanks
Last edited: