Andrei Popa : Research interests

Complex systems share a unique and fascinating property: they exhibit emergence, a process that, over time, gives rise to novel structures (e.g. behaviors, features) that are produced by but irreducible to the low-level mechanisms that govern the system (Holland, 1988, 2000). The complexity paradigm proposes that understanding emergent properties requires a shift in focus, from the unique characteristics that emerge, to the mechanisms that produce them. A successful complexity theory is the theory of evolution, which explains the diversity of life as emerging from the reiteration of selectionist mechanisms over long periods of time (Darwin, 1859; Mayr, 2001). The trans-disciplinary aspect of complexity science becomes apparent when one considers the wide range of phenomena for which complexity theories have been proposed, from the emergence of social establishments (Ferguson, 1767; Glenn, 1988, 1989) and wolves’ hunting strategies (Muro et. al., 2011), to features of the stock market (e.g. the price system; Hayek, 1952, 1988) and whole brain functioning (Neural Darwinism; Edelman, 1978, 2006).