Summarized highlights from Intent and other constraints (Video) | Alicia Juarrero

Rethinking Causality in Complex Systems

“I don’t want to get rid of causes and effects – efficient causes and effects – I’m just saying look there all these other issues”
“it’s not just a question of simplicity; it’s a different kind of influence”
“sometimes they are trying to … use causal frameworks that are no longer applicable”

Constraints as a Different Form of Causality

“you just changed the word and started using influence which is exactly why I started using constraint because the instinct is to use cause only for Push Pull kind of influence because that’s what our mind has been trained to do since 1650 in Newton and Descartes”
“it’s these background conditions; how does a culture influence you”
“I would almost say different kinds of phenomena where there might be discontinuities between the the kinds – you cannot change energy in a culture – such that you can then finally understand how a culture influences its members it’s not that kind of influence”

Recursion and Emergence in Complex Systems

“that’s the problem with complexity and trying to keep the lines clean … it loops back on itself and all of a sudden what do you have a parado,x you have a weird different in kind it’s not just more complicated it’s not just bigger it’s different in kind”
The notes highlight the “importance of recursion in complex adaptive systems – recursive background conditions”
References to “Godel, Escher and Back; Escher quote and emergence of paradox” illustrate how recursion creates new kinds of phenomena
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