New Articles Published on Innovation, Complex Systems and Computation and Heterogeneity in Social Science Research

Studies in Emergent Order is pleased to publish “Innovation, Complex Systems and Computation: Technological Space and Speculations on the Future” by Troy Camplin and Euel Elliott and “The Meaning and the Implications of Heterogeneity for Social Science Research” by Peter Lewin.

Drs. Camplin and Elliot’s article puts forward a theoretical framework for understanding the critical role of technological innovation in modern economies. The authors also suggest certain mechanisms by which economic possibilities and, by extension, “life opportunities” can be expanded in ways not heretofore considered. Specifically, this essay shows how the theoretical framework of CAS (Complex Adaptive Systems) can be used to understand both how innovation occurs and how it can be accelerated.

Dr. Lewin’s article examines the fundamentals of the concept of heterogeneity – which he relates to the distinction between quantity and quality. This distinction is related also to the distinctions between simple and complex phenomena and to that between social and natural phenomena. He offers a conceptual framework for the demarcation of situations in which quantitative methods may be expected to work well, and, by implication, situations in which they do not. He imagines the insights yielded by this framework are not new, but suggest that there is some added value and novelty to this particular formulation which helps to draw out the implications of these insights.

Troy Camplin is a Lecturer of English at the University of North Texas at Dallas, while Euel Elliott is a Professor of Public Policy and Political Economy and the Senior Associate Dean in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. Peter Lewin is a Clinical Professor of Managerial Economics at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Studies in Emergent Order (SIEO) is an open-access journal dedicated to fostering research, discussion and publication concerning the roles played by and implications of emergent order phenomena, particularly in society but not excluding other areas.