COMPLEX SYSTEM THEORY 2012

Here is the syllabus for the course I'll provide this fall and winter.

COMPLEX SYSTEM THEORY

Creative Courses (Skill) - Knowledge Skill
2012 Fall Tuesday 4th Period
Faculty-in-charge: Takashi Iba
Faculty of Policy Management & Faculty of Environment and Information Studies
Keio University

[ Course Summary ]

In order to understand the complex, dynamic world around us, such as life and society, we must not limit ourselves in a single intelectual field. When we are able to connect different intellectual fields, we reveal insights and ideas that have never been explored before. In this course, you will study how the different fields: (1) nonlinear science, (2) creative systems, (3) pattern languages, and (4) network science is actually related, and hold the key to understand the reality of the world around us. In the classes, there will be many activities to help deeply understand the subjects and topics of the complex, dynamic world. (This course will be offered in English.)

[ Class Schedule ]

#1 - Introduction
The overview and requirements for this course will be provided.

#2 - Nonlinear Science: Chaos
Subject: Chaos, which is amazing phenomenon where irregular behavior is generated from a simple regular rule.
Activity: Simulate chaos with spreadsheet software, such as Excel or Numbers, in you computer.

#3 - Nonlinear Science: Fractal
Subject: Fractal, which has an interesting feature of self-similarity at different scales.
Activity: Watch the video concerning fractal geometry, think of examples in the world around us, and discuss the implication.

#4 - Nonlinear Science: Chaotic walk workshop
Subject: Patterns hidden in chaos
Activity: Explore the patterns hidden in chaos with using "ChaoticWalker," which is software for generating patterns on a two-dimensional plane with a chaotic map function.

#5 - Creative Systems: Autopoieis Theory 
Subject: Creative process as an autopoietic system, which is the latest systems theory.
Activity: Discuss and write a series of discoveries in a creative process based on the Creative Systems Theory.

#6 - Creative Systems: Brainstorming method
Subject: Divergent thinking in a part of creative process.
Activity: Practice divergent thinking in a brainstorming session.

#7 - Creative Systems: KJ method
Subject: Convergent thinking in a part of creative process.
Activity: Practice convergent thinking in a session with the KJ method.

#8 - Presentation Patterns workshop
Subject: Fundamental idea and applied cases of pattern language, which is a documented wisdom about the rules, methods, tips, and customs of a certain area of expertise.
Activity: Watch the video, and discuss how to make great presentations with using the Presentation Patterns.

#9 - Pattern Language: Pattern writing
Subject: The format of patterns in pattern languages.
Activity: Write a pattern that describes the rules, methods, tips, and customs of a certain area of expertise.

#10 - Pattern Language: Writer's workshop
Subject: The making process of a pattern language.
Activity: Conduct a writer's workshop to improve the patterns you have write.

#11 - Pattern Language: The Nature of Order
Subject: The latest theory by Christopher Alexander, who proposed the idea of pattern languages.
Activity: Discuss the meaning and implication of the concepts proposed in the book, The Nature of Order.

#12 - Network Science: Small-World & Scale-Free Networks
Subject: Network analysis of how the things connect one another in natural, social, and technological worlds.
Activity: Watch the video concerning the network science, and run network simulations in your computer.

#13 - Final Project Presentation
Give a presentation about your final project.

#14 - Final Project Presentation
Give a presentation about your final project.

[ Materials and Reading List ]

All materials that are required for the class will be handed out in the class. The followings are recommended reference.

Nonlinear Science

• M. Mitchell Waldrop, Complexity: The Emerging Science At The Edge Of Order And Chaos, Simon & Schuster, 1993
• James Gleick, Chaos: Making a New Science, Penguin Books; Revised edition, 2008
• Benoit B. Mandelbrot, The Fractal Geometry of Nature, W. H. Freeman and Company, 1982
• Stuart Kauffman, At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity, Oxford University Press, 1996
• Takashi Iba & Kazeto Shimonishi, "The Origin of Diversity: Thinking with Chaotic Walk", Unifying Themes in Complex Systems Volume VIII: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Complex Systems, Sayama, H., Minai, A. A., Braha, D. and Bar-Yam, Y. eds., NECSI Knowledge Press, Jun., 2011, pp.447-461.

Creative Systems

• N. Luhmann, Social Systems, Stanford University Press, 1996
• Takashi Iba, "An Autopoietic Systems Theory for Creativity", Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol.2, Issue 4, 2010, pp.6610-6625
• Keith Sawyer, Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration, Basic Books, 2008
• Alex Osborn, Your Creative Power, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948
• Thomas Kelley, Jonathan Littman, The Art of Innovation: Success Through Innovation the IDEO Way, Profile Business, 2002

Pattern Languages

• Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building, Oxford University Press, 1979
• Christopher Alexander, The Production of Houses, Oxford University Press, 1985
• Christopher Alexander, The Nature of Order, Book One, Center for Environmental Structure, 2002
• Stephen Grabow, Christopher Alexander: The Search for a New Paradigm in Architecture, Routledge Kegan & Paul, 1983
• Takashi Iba, "Pattern Language 3.0 Methodological Advances in Sharing Design Knowledge," International Conference on Collaborative Innovation Networks 2011 (COINs2011), Sep., 2011

Network Science

• Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, Linked: How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life, Plume, 2003
• Duncan J. Watts, Six Degrees: The Science of Connected Age, W. W. Norton & Company, 2004
• Takashi Iba, Ko Matsuzuka, Daiki Muramatsu, "Editorial Collaboration Networks of Wikipedia Articles in Various Languages," International Conference on Collaborative Innovation Networks 2011 (COINs2011), Sep., 2011
• Takashi Iba, "Hidden Order in Chaos: The Network-Analysis Approach To Dynamical Systems", Unifying Themes in Complex Systems Volume VIII: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Complex Systems, Sayama, H., Minai, A. A., Braha, D. and Bar-Yam, Y. eds., NECSI Knowledge Press, Jun., 2011, pp.769-783

[ Assignments, Examination and Grade Evaluation ]

Grading will be based on class participation, homework, and final project (presentation and report).

[ Special equipment or software to prepare ]

a laptop computer (Mac, Windows, or Linux)

[ Student Selection ]

Only the selected students can take this course.
Number of students in the class (scheduled): About 60
Method and timing of the selection : writing an essay concerning the topics of this course in the first class.

[ Contact ]

Staff: cs2012 [at] sfc.keio.ac.jp

Re-Thinking Education and Learning with C. Alexander's Latest Theory

I submitted a new paper to the EducationalPatterns workshop, which will be held in Austria this November.Here is an abstract of the paper.

"Making Learning Lively: An Analogical Consideration Inspired by Christopher Alexander’s Theory of Wholeness and Centers" (Takashi Iba, EducationalPatterns Workshop, 2012)

In this paper, I would like to consider how to make learning lively by developing an analogy between architecture and education, inspired by Christopher Alexander’s theory of wholeness and centers, which is proposed in his book, The Nature of Order. The analogy developed in this paper is that a whole that is composed of learning is viewed as a whole in the Alexander’s definition; and that learning that is lively is viewed as a center. In this paper, the following properties that make learning lively is discussed based on the following fifteen fundamental properties proposed by C. Alexander in his book, The Nature of Order: Levels of Scale, Strong Centers, Boundaries, Alternating Repetition, Positive Space, Good Shape, Local Symmetries, Deep Interlock and Ambiguity, Contrast, Gradients, Roughness, Echoes, The Void, Simplicity and Inner Calm, and Not-Separateness. Furthermore, I show the relation between these properties and the patterns of the Learning Patterns, which is a pattern language for creative learning.

This is one of the figure in the paper.  My illustration summarizing the fifteen fundamental properties proposed by Christopher Alexander in his book, The Nature of Order, Book One.

The following is another figure in my paper. It shows my view of learning with the concepts, whole and centers, proposed by C. Alexander.

Reference (in the paper)

• Alexander, C. (1985) The Production of Houses, Oxford University Press.
• Alexander, C. (2002a) The Nature of Order, BOOK ONE: The Phenomenon of Life, The Center for Environmental Structure.
• Alexander, C. (2002b) The Nature of Order, BOOK TWO: The Process of Creating Life, The Center for Environmental Structure.
• Learning Patterns Project (2009) Learning Patterns: A Pattern Language for Creative Learning, in Japanese, Faculty of Policy Management & Faculty of Environment and Information Science, Keio University.
• Iba, T., Miyake, T., Naruse, M., and Yotsumoto, N. (2009), “Learning Patterns: A Pattern Language for Active Learners,” in 16th International Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (PLoP2009).
• Iba, T. and Miyake, T. (2010) “Learning Patterns: A Pattern Language for Creative Learning II,” in 1st Asian Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (AsianPLoP2010).
• Iba, T., “Learning Patterns III: A Pattern Language for Creative Learning,” in 18th international Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (PLoP2011), 2011.
• Learning Patterns Project (2011) Learning Patterns: A Pattern Language for Creative Learning, in The Third International Conference on Collaborative Innovation Networks (COINs2011), 2011