Author Archives: bethplutchak

By Nancy Jane Moore             Every day I eventually read the pandemic news. It always makes me angry and sometimes scares me, but I have to read it. I have to know what’s going on.              Checking that news on the last day in November, I saw this (from an LA Times report) in the Cal Matters newsletter: “LosContinue reading “What the Pandemic Shows Us About the Economy”

by Dr. Clare Hintz Thank you for your thoughtful questions and honest comments that my essay sparked… such a delight to engage in this slow discourse that gives us time to complicate and complexify! You conclude, “Too many times, no one is punching up and no one is punching down—we’re just punching each other onContinue reading “A Response to Othering the Other”

by Debbie Notkin This entry is written as a response to “Complexity in an Age of Uncertainty”. I know I’m not the only person who is deeply upset by the consistency of the voting maps in this month’s election. In every state, we see blue cities and red rural areas. Of the 375 counties with theContinue reading “Othering the Other”

by Beth Plutchak My favorite explanation of complexity is the pot of boiling water. When you put a pot of liquid water on the stove it is in a steady state. All of the collective molecules exist in liquid form, but as soon as you begin applying heat and pressure that state begins to change.Continue reading “Boiling Water”

by Homo Economics himself and Debbie Notkin I was asked to write about complexity economics, which is funny, because I am the world-renowned face of simple economics … and yet I am the structure on which this complexity relies. Kate Raworth, in Doughnut Economics, calls me “the most influential portrait … the protagonist in every economics textbook.” SheContinue reading “Homo Economicus: Bringing Out the Worst in all of Us”

Traditionally, scientists are taught to vary only one variable at a time, if at all possible—to use that method to tease apart complicated tangles, to find out when variables aren’t independent, or when expected correlations fail.

by Nancy Jane Moore When we come across a dragon in a story, we assume (often correctly) that it will have amassed a hoard of gold and other precious objects by plundering the surrounding area and killing all who stand in its way. The classic western dragon lives alone and sleeps on a bed ofContinue reading “We Aren’t Dragons”

My neighbor said, “I’m concerned about what’s going to happen after the election.” I agreed, and we talked about homesteading and stocking up our freezers, root cellars, and pantries. Gradually I realized that we were on opposite ends of the political spectrum: she a conservative, and I, a liberal. I was on this woman’s farm a couple of weeks ago to help her with young piglets that had been birthed as a result of the services of my boar.

We are at one of those historic pivot points where the future seems particularly dangerous and unpredictable. The past year has seen an increased awareness of the crises of our time: systemic racism, economic inequality, the climate crisis, and of course the pandemic. It’s not clear which is most serious or whether the pandemic broughtContinue reading “Edge of Chaos Blog Symposium”