An Exploration of Complexity Science and Classical Chinese Thought: The Potential for Ancient Ideas to Enrich the Modern Study of Complex Systems

Abstract

Complexity Science is a relatively new field in the sciences (about 30 years old). Much progress has been made, and scientists have been able to develop many sophisticated concepts and methods for understanding complex systems and their emergent phenomena. Yet, despite these advances, there are still many aspects of complex systems that remain a mystery. Though Complexity Science is able to capture certain phenomena using concepts such as “self- organisation”, “emergence”, “co-evolution”, and “path-dependence”, these concepts only scratch the surface of the phenomena, and they fail to explain the dynamics of how these phenomena come to be. This is where we turn to classical Chinese thought, with the hope that ancient wisdom may add content to, and broaden our concepts of complex systems. In this paper, we will explore some ideas from classical Chinese philosophy so as to illustrate the convergence of ideas between the classical thinkers and concepts that have been and are being developed in Complexity Science.