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1、Emergence3-117/3/015:41pmPage5EMERGENCE,3(1),5–22Copyright©2001,LawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc.SpecialEditors’Note:WhatIsComplexityScience?AViewfromDifferentDirectionshe“field”ofcomplexityscienceisapopularstreamofthoughtthatbringstogetheradiverserangeofapparentlydisparate
2、disciplineswithincontemporaryscience.Itiscur-Trentlyalltherageinmanagementscience.Althoughanum-berofconferenceshavebeenheldtoexplorethepotentialofcomplexitysciencewithintherealmsofmanagementandorganizationscience,therestillappearstobelittleagreementonwhatcomplexityscienc
3、eactuallyis.Astudyofthe“complexity”literatureconfirmsthatanumberofschoolsofthoughtaredeveloping,andthattheydiffersubstantially.Itistheaimofthisspecialissuetoinvestigatethisstateofaffairs.Sincethisproblemisacomplexoneinitself,itisprobablynotpossibletocomeupwithafinalsolut
4、ion—andherewemayalreadybeatoddswithsomecomplex-ityscientists!Wehopeatleasttostimulatethedebatearoundtheuseful-nessandlimitsofthestudyofcomplexity.REDUCTIONISTICCOMPLEXITYSCIENCEThereareatleastthreethemes,orcommunities,thatcharacterizetheresearcheffortdirectedtotheinvesti
5、gationofcomplexsystems:ahardone,asoftone,andsomethinginbetween.Thefirstisstronglyalliedtothequestforatheoryofeverything(TOE)inphysics,i.e.,anacontextualexplanationfortheexistenceofeverything.Thiscommunityseekstouncoverthegeneralprinciplesofcomplexsystems,likenedtothefund
6、a-mentalfieldequationsofphysics.AnysuchTOE,however,maywellbeoflimitedvalue;itcertainlywillnotprovidetheanswerstoallour5Emergence3-117/3/015:41pmPage6EMERGENCEquestions.If,indeed,suchfundamentalprinciplesdoexist,theywilllikelybesoabstractastorenderthempracticallyuselessin
7、theworldoforgani-zationalmanagement—adecisionmakermightneedaPhDinphysicsinordertomakethesimplestofdecisions.Wemightrefertothisversionasreductionisticcomplexityscience,asitmimicstheaimofthephysicalsciencesintryingtoreducethewiderichnessofrealitytoahandfulofpowerful,all-em
8、bracingalgebraicexpressions.Thetheoryofbureaucracywasonceregardedatthetheoryofmanagement.Moderntimeshav
