Synopses & Reviews
This study applies the findings of the new nonlinear sciences to understanding the processes of growing complexity and intensifying chaos in the modern world. It also identifies and reviews approaches for living and coping with these trends. Uri Merry seeks to clarify the role of chaos in the transformation of the social sciences to new orders by re-examining and re-evaluating some of the basic tenets of modern social and behavioral science in light of theories of chaos, self-organization, and complexity. Divided into three sections, the work provides an overview of the major findings of the new science of chaos; analyzes why chaos is on the upsurge and why human society is experiencing such anxiety about it; and surveys some of the major approaches for dealing with chaos in society, organizations, and our personal lives.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [201]-204) and index.
About the Author
URI MERRY holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he has taught in the Graduate School of Education.
Table of Contents
Preface
The New Sciences
What Is Chaos?
Order and Science
How Chaos Develops
The Science of Self-Organization
The Science of Complexity
The Growth of Uncertainty
The Complexity Spiral
The Control Trap
The Shifting Eras
The Adaptation Crisis
Coping with Uncertainty
Living with Uncertainty
Transforming Ourselves
The Coming Era
The Self-Organizing Universe
Human Agency in Evolution
Bibliography
Index