Is there a limit to what we're neurologically capable of in terms of dealing with complexity? Individually almost certainly. Collectively if we can figure out what an ideal social organization looks like for human beings which brings out the best and doesn't bombard them constantly with pressures from jobs or whatever. Yes I think I think a group not even a very large group of humans could organize to become collectively conscious and collectively able to work on these problems. They do it by sharing. And so somehow or another we've got to break down the communication barrier.
George Mobus is Professor Emeritus at University of Washington, Tacoma. His broad academic background saw him conduct research on artificial intelligence, cybernetics and systems science.
George joins me to discuss how systems science is failing to grasp the polycrisis—that the field has been split into silos, leaving most systems scientists without the tools to model the complexity of the emergency we face.
He also explains the neurological limits of individual human wisdom, suggesting the agricultural revolution affected our capacity for abstract thinking, before revealing how humans can work past those limits—collectively.
Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it.
© Rachel Donald
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