A Case for Complexity: Essay Review of A Mind for Structure: Exploring the Roots of Intelligent Systems by K. Richardson

摘要

In his latest book, A Mind for Structure, Ken Richardson sets himself the ambitious task of explaining the origin and nature of complex cognition, and considering 'all that goes with it from basic cell biology to brain and social behavior' (p. 11). One has to give him credit simply for trying, but if some key questions remain unanswered, they are indeed more usefully posed in light of Richardson's erudite and wide-ranging analysis of the problem. This may be a book that promises more than it delivers, but what it does deliver is still of value. Richardson works from the perspective of dynamic systems theory and a constellation of consilient ideas such as autopoiesis, embodiment, chaos theory, circular causality, and developmental systems.