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Thursday, November 4, 2010 (all day)

From DNA to complex cognition: How we learn, discover, and create the world

Kevin Dunbar has been engaged in studying how people engage in complex reasoning, social interactions, and real-world problem solving for over 20 years. He will discuss the key set of processes that he has discovered which explain the nature of human insight and how humans create new knowledge. His findings provide an understanding of the mechanisms that make complex thinking possible, and suggest new ways that creative thought and discovery can be facilitated across a broad range of contexts.

Thursday, February 10, 2011 (all day)

How does technological innovation happen?

Speaker: W. Brian Arthur

View a recording of this lecture and discussion on the Perimeter Institute website.

In this lecture and discussion at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, W. Brian Arthur reviews the thesis of his book The Nature of Technology with Lee Smolin, Frances Westley, and Thomas Homer-Dixon. In his book, Arthur develops a sweeping theory of technological innovation and change.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011 (all day)

Early warning signs for critical transitions

Professor Marten Scheffer of Wageningen University discusses his research on how to discern generic early-warning signals in complex systems that indicate a critical threshold is approaching. Such research is important because tipping points can cause a sudden shift to a contrasting dynamical regime.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 (all day)

Steady state economics

Dr. Steve Purdey of the University of Toronto argues that the emphasis on growth, which has been the focus of the world economy for over 200 years, is no longer sustainable in a world of increasing scarcity. He introduces the concept of steady-state economics (SSE) and highlights some of the socio-economic and political challenges involved in transitioning to a no-growth economic system.

Thursday, March 31, 2011 (all day)

Complexity, scaling and cities

Speaker: Mike Batty

While in the past, systems were often understood as static, controllable, and well-defined, new research reveals that many systems are chaotically dynamic and unclassifiable. In this seminar, Mike Batty of the University College London Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis explains how these new ideas are increasingly being applied to cities and are changing the ways in which we design and invent urban futures.