Conference: Emerging Patterns
Venue: Nanyang Executive Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Address: 60 Nanyang View, Singapore 639673
Synopsis
It is about the one property that is distinct to all1: Emergence, roughly described by the common phrase: “The action of the whole is more than the sum of the actions of the parts”.
Emerging patterns is also about one of the unifying goals of the 21st century science: “Understanding emergent behavior in its many different guises”2.
As David Pines, one of the founders of the Santa Fe Institute wrote on occasion of its 30th anniversary: “Understanding such behavior requires a focus on the emergent properties that characterize the system as a whole and a search for their origin. It means identifying emergent collective patterns and regularities through experiment or observation, and then devising models that embody candidate collective organizing concepts and principles that might explain them”.
Examples of emergent behavior are everywhere around us, from birds flocking, fireflies synchronizing, ants colonizing, people urbanizing, individuals self-organizing into neighborhoods, cultures evolving – all with no leaders or social control-, to the Big Bang, the formation of galaxies and stars and planets, the unfolding of history and future, the evolution of life on earth from its origins until now, the folding of proteins, the assembly of cells, the superconductivity of electrons in some metals, the evolution of technologies and their impact on society, the changing global climate or the development of consciousness in an infant.
The twelve speakers of the conference will address such examples. All speakers are leaders in their field and will give meaning to complexity and its emerging patterns from the perspective of their interests and background. They are uniquely qualified to address these issues, and to hear them share their insights in complexity and partake in their discussions will be a great experience for all participants to the conference. The setting of the conference is informal. After each talk there will be ample time for the audience and the speakers to discuss and meet.
This is the fourth conference in what by now has become an annual NTU event, that is widely recognized as unique in South East Asia, in which some of the best scientists and thinkers in the area of complexity will share their views with you. It is also the first conference organized under the auspices of Para Limes, the successor of the complexity program. Para Limes alludes to a world beyond boundaries and that is where Para Limes will position its explorations. Emerging Patterns is the first of such explorations.
We warmly invite you to actively take part in it.
2Davis Pines (2014), Emergence, a unifying theme for 21st century science, SF@30 Foundations and Frontiers
Videos & Presentation Slides
Jan Wouter Vasbinder – Welcome Remarks and Opening Address
Member, Para Limes Governing Board
Bertil Andersson – Welcome Remarks and Opening Address
President, Nanyang Technological University
Jan Wouter Vasbinder (Chair)
Member, Para Limes Governing Board
Atsushi Iriki
Senior Team Leader at RIKEN Brain Science Institute; Visiting Professor at Nanyang Technological University
Cheryl Abundo (Chair)
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University
Balázs Gulyás
Professor at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University & Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Cheong Siew Ann (Chair)
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University
Luciano Pietronero
Full Professor of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Associated to the Institute of Complex Systems, CNR, Rome
Andrea Nanetti (Chair)
School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University
Roland Fletcher
Professor of Theoretical and World Archaeology, University of Sydney, Australia
Kevin Xiao (Chair)
School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University
David Christian
Director of Big History Institute and Distinguished Professor in History, Department of Modern History, Macquarie University, Sydney
J. Stephen Lansing (Chair)
Complexity Institute, Nanyang Technological University
Sander van der Leeuw
Foundation Professor, School of Human Evolution & Social Change & School of Sustainability, Co-Chair, Complex Adaptive Systems at Arizona State University
Kevin Xiao (Chair)
School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University
Tim Hunt
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2001, Cancer Research UK
Michael Walsh (Chair)
School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University
Tor Nørretranders
Writer, Visiting Scientist at Nanyang Technological University
Jonathan Sim (Chair)
College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University
W. Brian Arthur
External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute
Luo Shenshen (Chair)
School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University
Ben Shedd
Professor, Digital Filmmaking, School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University; Academy Award Winning Science Filmmaker
Chew Lock Yue (Chair)
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University
Stefan Thurner
Professor at Medical University of Vienna, Section for Science of Complex Systems
Su Haibin (Chair)
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University
Ada Yonath
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2009, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel
Jan Wouter Vasbinder – Closing Remarks
Member, Para Limes Governing Board
Date: 2 – 4 March 2015
Venue: Nanyang Executive Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Address: 60 Nanyang View, Singapore 639673