Policy and Complex Systems
1997 ). However , these interrelated elements become illogical when applied simultaneously in the context of another problem . Plans and theories are dismantled easily by the influence of paradox ( Pasmore & Woodman , 1997 ). Paradox exposes blind spots to linear thinking ( Pasmore & Woodman , 1997 ). Paradox in complex adaptive environments tends to ignore neatly constructed linear theories ( Pasmore & Woodman , 1997 ). Policymakers struggle with the paradox of the pros and cons of establishing anti-poverty policy . Increasing advances in technology , global competition , and social diversity will continue to intensify paradox found in the U . S . poverty problem . Policymakers must begin to examine how contradictions encourage organizational development ( Pasmore & Woodman , 1997 ).
Time
I propose that the construct of time has emerged as a dimension of complexity that confounds policymakers . Both the enormous amount of information and the time it takes that information to become available create an environment with emergent properties that is unforgiving to a policymaker who misjudges this fact . These emergent properties create another dimension of complexity , moving the threedimensional model of complexity to a model that now has four dimensions . The application of time adds a metabolization 1 effect to complex problems . This means conditions of complex environments will always be moving in time , and at no point will they ever be the same as they were in any previous state . This emergence of time in complex environments is brought about by the twenty-first century information revolution . The effects of time in complex environments are described in three ways : as a linear construct , a social construct , and as simultaneity . Though all three descriptions are important , simultaneity is the most significant with regard to complexity .
Linear construct .
Newtonian scientists consider time in a relatively simple matter : time occurs in a linear format from the beginning of an event until its end . These scientists measure time by comparing one standard motion against another . In this context , measuring time using a timing device is no more than comparing a motion of an event ( one object ) to the motion of the clock ’ s hands ( another object ). Time in this sense has no independent existence ( Zyga , 2011 ). This concept of time has given meaning to such phenomena as lags , timing , and age ( Zyga , 2011 ).
Social construct .
Time as a social construct yields concepts such as early or late ( Levine &
1
The understanding of metabolism includes two basic aspects . The first aspect is the continuous flow of energy and matter . All living systems need energy and food to sustain themselves ; and all living systems produce waste . Life has evolved in such a way that organisms form communities . The second aspect of metabolism is the network of reactions . The emphasis here is on ‘ network .’ One of the most important insights of the new scientific understanding of life is the recognition that networks are the basic pattern of organization of living systems . Wherever we see life , we see networks . It is important to realize that these living networks are not material structures , like a fishing net or a spider ’ s web . They are functional networks , networks of relationships between various processes . Living networks are self-generating . They continually create or recreate themselves by transforming or replacing their components . In this way they undergo continual structural changes while preserving their weblike patterns of organization ( Capra , 2005 ).
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