A Biologist at Home in the Global Economy

Stuart Kauffman's book, "At Home in the Universe", starts with the idea that Darwin's theory of Natural Selection is too simple to account for the way in which life has evolved on Earth. As the subtitle describes, Kauffman's work as a theoretical evolutionary biologist has lead him to "The search for laws of self-organization and complexity". Without such laws, Kauffman agrees that Darwin's explanation for evolution is just too simple.

Kauffman also dislikes the scientific theory that has been developed in this century in an attempt to account for the spontaneous formation of life from non-living chemicals. Random chemical processes are just too simple to account for the existence of life. Given only random chemistry, life would be so improbable as to be miraculous. Again, Kauffman's solution lies in laws of self-organization that pertain to complex systems. Given such laws, life is a natural phenomenon in the universe and man is the natural, expected result: a capitalistic primate very much at home in the universe.

But even re-writing two of biology's most fundamental theories does not satisfy Kauffman in his study of life's complexities. Kauffman also argues that just as Darwin's hundred-year-old theory of evolution is too simple and out-of-date, current economic and governmental systems are too simple to work well in the growing Global Village.
Kauffman describes how his study of complex biological systems has brought him into collaborations with economists who deal with the complexity of the global economy. The mathematical models that Kauffman has developed show promise for modeling real-world aspects of the economy.

A biologist trying to sell economic models to the likes of Alan Greenspan? What's going on here? Or, more accurately, what's going on in Santa Fe? The Santa Fe Institute has become a center for the study of complex systems by collecting people like Kauffman, a MacArthur "genius" award winner.

One of Kauffman's main ideas is that successful complex systems (be they biological organisms, businesses, or governments) exist "at the edge of chaos". Chaotic behavior implies unpredictability, and at first glance would seem to be what economists would want to avoid. The opposite of economic chaos is a rigid, planned economy: again, shown to be a poor strategy by every nation that tried it in this century. Kauffman's solution: economies must be flexible enough to tune themselves to an optimum middle ground just at the edge of chaos.

Individuals and individual businesses competing in the global economy need to be just rigid enough to keep hold of any old knowledge that still works, but flexible enough to adapt to constant changes and competition. Kauffman's mathematical models focus attention on issues like communication between decision makers in corporations. Kauffman argues that the current enthusiasm for stripping away multiple management levels and letting workers make more decisions makes evolutionary sense by making corporations more flexible and responsive to competition and change.
Increased reliance on subcontracting by companies like Boeing is also a flexible, winning strategy. Firing older workers and hiring newer or part-time workers at reduced wages and benefits can also be viewed as just another successful strategy.

So, is Kauffman just a voice justifying the theoretical inevitability of Social Darwinism, 1990's style? A good question to ask as Americans increasingly elect representatives with an agenda for stripping the government of all those anti-business ecological, health, safety, labor, and social welfare rules and regulations.
For individuals or business managers trying to find a successful path into the global economy of the 21st century, Kauffman's book is worth taking along.

Go to John's Book Page.

Go to John's Home Page.