Subject: Michael Crichton on Complexity Theory and Systems Dynamics

Posted by Tim Joy on 12/20/2009
In Reply To:Michael Crichton on Complexity Theory and Systems Dynamics Posted by Lascelles Anderson on 12/20/2009

Message:

How should we teach high school students to respond to Michael Crichton's presentation on complex systems? How do we make his thinking visible so that we can critique it?

It would certainly be easy to start by differentiating stocks from flows. It would also be useful to look carefully at what he describes as a birth and date rates? Was he really talking about death and birth fractions that were lowering? Looking carefully at a simple population model would guide even freshmen students through that muddle. They'd likely see that he is both right and wrong.

The Yellowstone story is a classic, oft studied in various ways in SD. High school students are absolutely enthralled with its analog as we study the Kaibab Plateau. The same principles apply.

And we could simply work our way through his ideas: natural systems, fear-mongering, financial systems, et al.

Our task as teachers is to train young people to think critically, to use system dynamics as an analytical tool. Barry Richmond said that he was himself often fooled by his own thinking; it was not until he modeled something did he catch himself. What a gift that is. How, then, might we take Michael Crichton's presentation into the classroom and use SD to consider it? There's a lot there, a real opportunity to teach. Will someone take it up?

Tim Joy

Follow Ups:

Michael Crichton on Complexity Theory and Systems Dynamics - Richard Turnock 12/20/2009