Future Directions in SFI Science: Potential Ideas - 2012 Annual Science Board Symposium

Explore future directions in complex systems science through this Santa Fe Institute lecture. Delve into potential research areas spanning quantum biology, non-equilibrium physics, and regime shifts in complex phenomena. Examine the emergence and dynamics of living systems, investigating patterns of biological and cultural diversity across scales. Consider the evolution of complexity and sophisticated reasoning mechanisms in biological and social environments. Analyze processes generating diversity in nature and culture, and how they've changed over time. Investigate fundamental laws underlying societal innovation and growth, seeking regularities between biological and social phenomena to define a theory of possibility in nature and culture.

Intro
PHYSICS AND COMPUTATION OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS Quantum computation Quantum biology: what is the role of quantum coherence in biological systems? Non-equilibrial statistical physics • Software robustness and evolvability Hidden laws of complex phenomena Regime shifts: can we identify early warning signs of regime shifts?
EMERGENCE, HIERARCHY AND DYNAMICS OF LIVING SYSTEMS How and why does diversity occur? Do all forms of biological and cultural diversity show similar patterns? If so, at what analytical, spatial, or temporal scales does this break down? And what does this tell us about the diversification process?
EMERGENCE, HIERARCHY AND DYNAMICS OF LIVING SYSTEMS • Under what circumstances can we expect an increase in complexity through evolutionary time, and how does this relate to the appearance of more and more sophisticated mechanisms of reasoning about the biological and social environment. (JTF Proposal) What processes (developmental, ecological, evolutionary) generate biological and cultural diversity? How have these processes changed over time, and are different processes important in biological and cultural realms?
DYNAMICS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND INSTITUTIONS What are the fundamental laws underpinning innovations and growth of society? There are regularities and relationships among biological and social phenomena, and these laws help define a theory of possibility, of what can exist in nature and culture. (JTF Proposal)