How Complexity Science Can Help Us Make Sense of the World

Complexity science is a relatively new field gaining momentum since the early 1980s, driven by pioneering work from the Santa Fe Institute. It was born out of the need to understand systems that are too intricate to be explained by traditional science alone. These systems, whether found in nature, society, or our bodies, are made up of many interconnected parts that interact in unpredictable ways. Complexity science helps us make sense of how these parts work together, or sometimes against each other, leading to both stability and change.

Adaptivity: Evolution and the Science of Change

In a previous blog post, we introduced evolution as the science of change. This framework helps us understand how living organisms, including humans, continuously adapt to their environments over time. This evolutionary perspective is central to understanding how our bodies respond to various stimuli, both in beneficial and potentially harmful ways.

Adaptivity is at the heart of this process. Adaptive responses are those that enable us to adjust to new situations in ways that promote survival and well-being. For example, pulling your hand away from a hot surface is an adaptive response that prevents further injury. This clearly illustrates how our bodies have inherited responses that equip us to respond to immediate threats, helping maintain health—a reflection of the evolutionary processes that favor traits enhancing survival.

However, not all responses remain adaptive over time. This is where the concept of maladaptive responses comes into play. A response that was once helpful can become maladaptive if it persists beyond its usefulness. Take limping, for instance: initially, it is an adaptive response after an ankle injury, as it helps protect the injured area. However, if you continue to limp long after the injury has healed, this behavior may cause new problems, such as increased stress on your hip or back. In extreme cases, research on pitchers has shown that injuries to the lower body can predict subsequent injuries to the upper body. Though initially beneficial, the response has become maladaptive in the new context.

Importantly, it’s crucial to understand that maladaptive responses aren’t inherently bad or wrong—they simply indicate that the body’s reaction is no longer optimal for the current situation. Our bodies constantly respond to various forms of stress or injury, and sometimes, these responses can become overly persistent or exaggerated. For example, when we talk about the body’s harm detection system, the nociceptive system, becoming maladaptive, we mean that the system might start reacting too strongly or too frequently, potentially leading to chronic pain or other health issues.

This distinction between adaptive and maladaptive responses is vital for understanding how complex systems like our bodies can shift between states of workable and unworkable health trends. By identifying and understanding these shifts, especially at critical tipping points, we can develop strategies to help our bodies return to a more adaptive, balanced state, in accordance with the principles of complexity science.

Tipping Points: Small Changes with Big Impacts

One of the key concepts in complexity science is the idea of tipping points. Imagine you’re balancing on the edge of a seesaw—just a tiny shift in weight can cause a big change, tipping you one way or the other. In complex systems, tipping points work in a similar way. They are critical thresholds where even a tiny change can lead to a major, often irreversible, shift in the system’s state. A simple weather example of a tipping point could be how a small temperature change can lead to a sudden storm. For instance, imagine a day when the atmosphere is on the verge of becoming unstable. The temperature rises just a few degrees, and this small change causes the warm air to rise rapidly, leading to the formation of clouds. This could tip the balance, triggering a thunderstorm. What started as a mild, sunny day quickly shifted to severe weather because the system reached a tipping point where even a minor change led to a significant outcome.

For a human example, consider how a healthy body might suddenly start developing chronic health issues. This shift might happen because of a tipping point, where small changes in the body’s systems over time—like a minor injury, stress levels, habits, or genetics—combine to shift the system from an adaptive or ‘Workable‘ state called a Complex Adaptive System (CAS) to a maladaptive or ‘Unworkable‘ state called a Complex Maladaptive System (CMS).

Emergence: The Whole Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts

Another fascinating concept in complexity science is emergence, which refers to how complex behaviors or properties arise from the interactions of simpler elements within a system. For example, water’s ability to exist in different phases—liquid, gas, and solid—depending on temperature, is a property that isn’t evident in the individual hydrogen and oxygen atoms that compose it. This phase-shifting ability only emerges from the interaction of these atoms under specific conditions. Similarly, emergence can be observed in a flock of birds that move together in perfect harmony, creating intricate patterns in the sky without any single leader directing them. These patterns are emergent behaviors, arising from the simple interactions between each bird rather than being dictated by a central command.

In the human body, emergence is seen everywhere—from the cellular level, through tissues, organs, and systems, to our complex experiences. For example, the smooth functioning of your heart isn’t just about the individual cells; it’s about how those cells work together to keep the heart beating steadily. When everything is in sync, you have a healthy, adaptive system (CAS). However, if something disrupts this harmony, the system can become maladaptive (CMS), leading to health problems.

Tipping Points and Recovery

Understanding tipping points is crucial, especially when finding ways to recover from a CMS. Just as small changes can push a system into an unworkable state, they might also help push it back toward health. By identifying these tipping points, scientists and healthcare providers can explore new strategies to attempt to reverse maladaptive behaviors and restore adaptivity in the body, shifting it back from a CMS to a more flexible, adaptive, and ‘workable’ state, otherwise known as a CAS.

In summary, complexity science offers a powerful lens through which we can better understand the intricate systems governing our bodies, groups of individuals, culture, environment, and the world. By recognizing the delicate balance between adaptive and maladaptive responses, and the significance of tipping points, we can develop more effective strategies for maintaining health, variability, and harmony within these systems. Whether through small changes that prevent larger disruptions or understanding the emergent behaviors that arise from simple interactions, embracing the principles of complexity science can help us navigate the complexities of life with greater insight, flexibility, and adaptability.