Information, Adaptation, and Complexity

Complex social and biological systems are at the heart of many global challenges we face today. We will explore how concepts from information theory can provide insight into these systems’ dynamics and potentially their adaptability. First, we'll discuss new techniques for mapping the multi-scale nature of armed conflict, identifying patterns of conflict instigation and propagation across various spatiotemporal scales, and touch on their relation to climate. Next, we'll explore large-scale patterns in ecosystem competition, revealing how sessile organisms generate distinct spatial distributions through resource competition and metabolic constraints. Finally, we'll introduce a unifying framework for innovation and obsolescence, applicable across fields from genetic evolution to market economics and scientific progress. In each of these cases, we are developing a foundation for models that will be essential for understanding social and biological systems in new, unimagined scenarios. 

Moderation: Andrew Ringsmuth