Hello Siddarth,
Lurking is relatively unrewarding, especially if you have a compulsion to do something. I imagine you have a difficult time, as I did, trying to engage anyone locally in a meaningful discussion.
I was advised to start playing with Net Logo, no doubt it will grow from that seed. It is remarkable that those with the most computer skills often have the poorest skills with observing large systems. It would not surprise me to discover that these new areas of research require broader range of backgrounds than traditional research.
I jumped from Biology to Engineering and survived, but will admit that the biggest challenge was language usage. Each specialty uses language in such a peculiar manner that simple words can mislead easily. Case in point “Tendon” in biology crosses an articulated joint applying a variable force. In Civil it is just a synonym for a cable, steady force no joints, it could have been called a ligament but not so. I had an argument with a Prof. once about the legitimacy of using a word to mean something entirely different simply because the Biology labs were a few hundred metres away from the Civil Eng. Labs.
Once people from different disciplines start collaborating we will see much anxiety over the usage of simple words. A little philosophy might help create a willingness to cooperate. Academic territorialism will raise its head at some point and different groups will align to attempt control of language. It would be very easy to see people begin arguments about wording as Wittgenstein called “Word Games”.
My intention is to learn the established language by working through the existing body of work with help, at some later time I hope to strike off in new directions. My father spoke ten languages and told me the only way to learn was to immerse oneself and cut off the connections with old languages until the new one was well established. I hope the members of the Group will forgive us when we use the wrong words or appear to jabber nonsense upon occasion. Reminds me of trying to buy cigarettes along the French German border and pausing to consider which language I was supposed to use. Lucky for me the clerk spoke 4 languages.
Good luck
Dr.Vladimyr Ivan Burachynsky
Ph.D.(Civil Eng.), M.Sc.(Mech.Eng.), M.Sc.(Biology)
120-1053 Beaverhill Blvd.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA R2J 3R2
(204) 2548321 Phone/Fax
-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf
Of siddharth
Sent: March 22, 2010 8:50 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied
Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: [FRIAM] (advice needed!)
Hi All,
Hope this finds you fine. Just a quick (semi-desperate!) note from a lurker,
who's perhaps reached the point of reaching out & communicating, finally!
A brief backgrounder - I was trained in Architecture/Urbanism and then
completed a Masters in Design (Visual Communication- think HCI, UI/UX, InfoViz
with additional/parallel explorations in Film, Graphics, New Media), moving on
to rural development projects at Media Lab Asia - all in India. A few other
places/projects since, I took up a teaching position at a Design school (again in
India); after which I got into some short term projects with Nokia- their new
Systems Research Center in Bangalore & more recently, their Emerging
Markets' Services (that addresses needs of rural systems, via real-time data,
viz weather, market prices etc). I'm now at the Spatial Information
Architecture Lab in Melbourne- on the verge of plunging myself into a PhD,
though am not sure if this is the right space, and I've really drawn a blank on
possible alternates.
To explain - I wish to take up something along the lines of my longstanding
personal interests in the overlap of Systems Sciences (comprehending,
visualizing systems), Evolution (of complexity, of consciousness), and Design
Research ('interventions' at the scales of the macro/planetary/ecological
through to the micro/personal/biological - yes, rather too ambitious for now!).
I haven't been able to make this transition yet, especially in the absence of
learning at spaces/labs that are truly open to these areas of work; and hence
most concepts/ideas have remained largely philosophical/theoretical or even
observational. My personal website www.emergentX.net contains some examples that outline my
thoughts into a comprehensive research intent/direction. I am currently on the
lookout for apt places to be for this and would appreciate any thoughts/advice
on the same, and if this would be of interest to any of the research spaces
you're in contact with. (To reiterate- I'm not from the traditional backgounds
that seem to operate in these domains- hence no engineering, computer science,
biology, social science background to fall back on!)...
Hope to hear from some of you, and looking forward to some feedback/advice!
Many thanks in advance,
Kind regards/
siddharth
www.emergentX.net
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