Narrativity in Complex Systems

Abstract

Humans use narrative for making sense of their environment. In this chapter we ask if, and if so how and to what extent, our narrative mind can help us deal scientifically with complexity. In order to answer this question, and to show what this means for education, we discuss fundamental aspects of narrative understanding of dynamical systems by working on a concrete story. These aspects involve perception of complex systems, experientiality of narrative, decomposition of systems into mechanisms, perception of forces of nature in mechanisms, and the relation of story-worlds to modelling-worlds, particularly in so-called ephemeral mechanisms. In parallel to describing fundamental issues, we develop a practical heuristic strategy for dealing with complex systems in five steps. (1) Systems thinking: Identify phenomena and foreground a system associated with these phenomena. (2) Mechanisms: Find and describe mechanisms responsible for these phenomena. (3) Forces of nature: Learn to perceive forces of nature as agents acting in these mechanisms. (4) Story-worlds and models: Learn how to use stories of forces (of nature) to construct story-worlds; translate the story-worlds into dynamical-model-worlds. (5) Ephemeral mechanisms for one-time, short-lived, unpredictable, and historical (natural) events: Learn how to create and accept ephemeral story-worlds and models. Ephemeral mechanisms and ephemeral story-worlds are a means for dealing with unpredictability inherent in complex dynamical systems. We argue that unpredictability does not fundamentally deny storytelling, modelling, explanation, and understanding of natural complex systems.

A Narrative Approach to Foster the Construction of Recursive Thinking in High School Students

“…This hypothesis is supported by many different studies in which stories are used effectively in mathematics and science classrooms, in which they are useful to explore and describe complex systems, and even involving technologies [5,[7][8][9][10]. One of the advantages of using stories in mathematics lessons is the fact that they can help students to understand concepts and ideas, and are beneficial in the process of problem-solving [2].…”

Myth, Imagination, and Science

“…Fuchs (2010Fuchs ( [1996). 91 On the form and structure of analogy that governs the experience of different forces of nature, see Fuchs (2006), Fuchs, Dumont, & Corni (2023). 92 This means that there is only a single concept called energy in physical science: there are no forms of energy, energy is not transformed; very importantly, there are no "forms" of energy stored in physical systems.…”

Teaching and Investigating on Modelling through Analogy in Primary School

“…Not only historically, but also every time the concept of energy arises in the mind of a new student, a powerful analogy is drawn between processes underlying phenomena of different natures. By making reference to the cognitive process known as Figure-Ground Reversal [63,64], one could say that what happens is that all perceptual details of the system under consideration-be it the electric wire, a spinning wheel, a moving body of any size and composition, etc.-fade into the background of our experience, while an invisible agent (the force of nature) and an invisible quantity (the energy it receives from, or it transfers to another force of nature) come to the foreground in our mind [29].…”