The concept of a structured space of patterns, which informs (in-forms) events in our physical world (constraining physics, and enabling biology), but exists independently of it, is ancient. Recent work in a number of disciplines have made exploration of this topic timely, and I have decided to hold the first (to my knowledge) interdisciplinary symposium on this topic. The intent is not to hew close to the original conceptions of Plato and Pythagoras, but to use some of the deep ideas associated with these classical thinkers as a springboard for novel approaches to casual patterns across disciplines. We also hope to go beyond “emergence” as an empirically fruitful framework for understanding where novel patterns come from, and how that space of possibilities can be explored.
Topics we hope to address include:
- the nature of explanation in various fields, especially in math, and what happens to “explaining” a phenomenon when it crosses multiple fields
- causation in various fields, especially in math
- the philosophy of causation by non-physical causes
- examples of how the properties of mathematical objects determine outcomes in physics and biology
- where do patterns of form and behavior come from in biology, physics, etc.
- can we do better than “emergence” for prediction and control of novel phenomena?
- how to use these ideas to move empirical work forward in computer science, biology, etc. – toward a research program
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Sounds interesting. Also seems related to something we did some years ago in connection with a Lumiere project (which is the subject of my Alpaca talk): Artichoke Cosmoscope Research Colloquium