Complexity is a foremost concept that was initially introduced in the Week 1 lecture,

where Beilin briefly explained it to be composed of multiple interconnected elements,

and more than the sum of its parts due to its emergent behavior. This week, we
dwelled deeper into the complexity theory, as well as its association with post-normal
science, uncertainty, self-organization, emergence and risk. To begin, Heylighen gives
much weight to interpreting complexity by its Latin roots of complexus, to which it
gives the meaning of entangled. With that, he proceeds to describe complexity as
the relations weaving the parts together that turn the system into a complex,
producing emergent properties. As mentioned in the lecture, in order to address the
notion of complexity and its consequent interconnectivity within a system, we must
also acknowledge the properties of self-organization and emergence, where both play
a crucial role in providing a more holistic view of complex systems in our
contemporary society. As Heylighen suggest, all these properties are most often
subjective and highly dependent upon one another. With that, all of these constituent
elements then interact together on manifold levels within an interconnected system
that ultimately results in differing degrees of subjectivity, uncertainty and risk.
In my opinion, the notion of complex systems has a strong correspondence to the
scale (Week 9), systems perspective (Week 5), interdisciplinary thinking (Week 4), as
well as critical thinking (Week 2), all which have been introduced to us
comprehensively in previous lectures. To me, the perception of complex systems is an
analytical tool and at some philosophical level an act of imagination of an artificially
given boundary (Beilin, Chapter 13) to assist us in acquiring a more extensive and
in-depth understanding of the world as a system. With a complex system outlook, it
brings forth an opportunity for the synergy and consensus of transdisciplinary
approaches to make sense of an high uncertainty and high risk reality, where each
adaptive interaction creates change and each change subsequently creates an infinite
more. As such, this intricate network of interconnected components demand a more
critical and analytical approach as to obtain more viable solutions for future
complications caused by outliers of respective systems.
As Johnson mentions in his article Street Level, Those of us who walk the
sidewalks of todays cities remain as ignorant of the long-term view, the thousandyear scale of the metropolis, as the ants are of the colonys life. This statement
denotes the significance of scale to deciphering complexities for it is scale that allows
us to segregates particular entities/organisms/ ideas into relevant classifications that
subsequently become integral parts of a complex system. In my perspective, the
theory of multiple cause-effect connections call for an integration of all that has been
learnt in prior lectures to develop new ways of knowing and doing for the sake of a
more sustainable future.
In light of all this, I believe that this has made a notable impact on my outlook
towards confronting the complicated issues at present. Wicked environmental
problems will be a preeminent issue I will be given to resolve as an environmental
engineer in the future, and thus this refreshed attitude has allowed me to see things in
a more holistic point of view. Initially, Ive been entirely uninterested in the fields of
politics and economics, for it was at that time I felt that it would not play a grave
importance of any sort within my area of interests. Now, it is to my knowledge that all
branches of knowledge play an imperative role in progressing towards sustainability
(such as local policies and economical system substitutability , where I will now put

more of an effort to acquiring knowledge of diverse disciplines, including my own, as

to aid me in contributing to a more sustainable society.