This essay presents a reflection on the main implications of Complexity Theory for science in general, redefining and dispelling myths of traditional science, and Sociology in particular, suggesting a redefinition of ...This essay presents a reflection on the main implications of Complexity Theory for science in general, redefining and dispelling myths of traditional science, and Sociology in particular, suggesting a redefinition of Parsons’ classic concept of Social System, articulated around the property of self-maintenance of order rather than on its possible discontinuity and instability. It argues that Complexity Theory has established the limits of Classic Science, leading to a more realistic awareness of working and evolution mechanisms of Natural and Social Systems and showing the limits of our capacity to predict and control events. Dissipative structures have shown the creative role of time. Instability, emergence, surprise, unpredictability are the rule rather than the exception when systems move away from equilibrium (entropy), even if these processes are generated from a system’s deterministic working mechanisms. Therefore, we have come to realize how constructive the contribution of Complexity is, in regards to the long lasting problem of the relationship between order and disorder. Today, the terms of this relationship have been re-specified in its new configuration of inter-relationship link, according to a unicum which finds its synthesis in self-organization and deterministic chaos concepts. From this perspective, as Prigogine suggested, studies on Complex Systems are heading toward a historical, biological conception of Physics, and a new alliance between natural systems and living, social systems. Non-linearity, far from equilibrium self-organization, emergence and surprise meet at all levels, as this paper attempts to highlight. In Sociology, insights of Complexity Theory have contributed to a new way of thinking about social systems, by re-addressing some fundamental issues starting to social system, emergence and change concepts. The current social system conception as complex dynamical systems is supported by a profitable use of non-liner models (in particular, the Logistic map) in the study of social processes.展开更多
Voter model is an important basic model in statistical physics.In recent years,it has been more and more used to describe the process of opinion formation in sociophysics.In real complex systems,the interactive networ...Voter model is an important basic model in statistical physics.In recent years,it has been more and more used to describe the process of opinion formation in sociophysics.In real complex systems,the interactive network of individuals is dynamically adjusted,and the evolving network topology and individual behaviors affect each other.Therefore,we propose a linking dynamics to describe the coevolution of network topology and individual behaviors in this paper,and study the voter model on the adaptive network.We theoretically analyze the properties of the voter model,including consensus probability and time.The evolution of opinions on dynamic networks is further analyzed from the perspective of evolutionary game.Finally,a case study of real data is shown to verify the effectiveness of the theory.展开更多
文摘This essay presents a reflection on the main implications of Complexity Theory for science in general, redefining and dispelling myths of traditional science, and Sociology in particular, suggesting a redefinition of Parsons’ classic concept of Social System, articulated around the property of self-maintenance of order rather than on its possible discontinuity and instability. It argues that Complexity Theory has established the limits of Classic Science, leading to a more realistic awareness of working and evolution mechanisms of Natural and Social Systems and showing the limits of our capacity to predict and control events. Dissipative structures have shown the creative role of time. Instability, emergence, surprise, unpredictability are the rule rather than the exception when systems move away from equilibrium (entropy), even if these processes are generated from a system’s deterministic working mechanisms. Therefore, we have come to realize how constructive the contribution of Complexity is, in regards to the long lasting problem of the relationship between order and disorder. Today, the terms of this relationship have been re-specified in its new configuration of inter-relationship link, according to a unicum which finds its synthesis in self-organization and deterministic chaos concepts. From this perspective, as Prigogine suggested, studies on Complex Systems are heading toward a historical, biological conception of Physics, and a new alliance between natural systems and living, social systems. Non-linearity, far from equilibrium self-organization, emergence and surprise meet at all levels, as this paper attempts to highlight. In Sociology, insights of Complexity Theory have contributed to a new way of thinking about social systems, by re-addressing some fundamental issues starting to social system, emergence and change concepts. The current social system conception as complex dynamical systems is supported by a profitable use of non-liner models (in particular, the Logistic map) in the study of social processes.
基金Project supported by the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.71790614)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.61703082,71520107004,and 71621061)+2 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,China(Grant No.N2004004)the General Program of the Educational Department of Liaoning Province,China(Grant No.LJKZ0013)the 111 Project(Grant No.B16009)。
文摘Voter model is an important basic model in statistical physics.In recent years,it has been more and more used to describe the process of opinion formation in sociophysics.In real complex systems,the interactive network of individuals is dynamically adjusted,and the evolving network topology and individual behaviors affect each other.Therefore,we propose a linking dynamics to describe the coevolution of network topology and individual behaviors in this paper,and study the voter model on the adaptive network.We theoretically analyze the properties of the voter model,including consensus probability and time.The evolution of opinions on dynamic networks is further analyzed from the perspective of evolutionary game.Finally,a case study of real data is shown to verify the effectiveness of the theory.
