Modularity and complexity management
- 1. Modularity thinking as a way of managing complexity in developmental biology Vivette Garc ía UNAM PhD Student
- 2. overview Complexity management as problem solving (PS) Reduction of complexity Management and systems thinking Modularity and management (examples) Management beyond problem solving: modularity thinking is not PS
- 3. 1. complexity management as problem solving Wildness, unruliness, freedom, diversity, and complexity often represent “problems” demanding solutions (Bavington 2002) Reduction of complexity is often treated as a way of managing complexity (PS)
- 4. 2. reduction of complexity Analytic approaches Complexity surpasses limits of cognition: must be reduced Decomposition and localization (Bechtel & Richardson 1993) Heuristics and their biases (Wimsatt 1974,1980) Cognitive strategies for PS
- 5. 2. reduction of complexity Clinical approaches Complexity of object of study/situation stands in the way of experimental research Experimental /strategic interventions for PS The experimental system as reducer of complexity (Rheinberger 1997) The social system as reducer of complexity (Thomposn & Trisoglio 1997)
- 6. 3. management and systems thinking Either a system’s complexity is reduced (analytic approaches) or A system becomes the reducer of complexity (clinical approaches) In both cases, systems thinking enters the picture as part of a managerial solution to a problem We owe this to Simon (1962)
- 7. 3. management and systems thinking The watchmakers’ parable (argument A) Hora and Tempus face the same problem: constant interruption while assembling watches Hora and Tempus assemble their watches in different ways: the first, hierarchically (in subsystems), the second piece by piece When Hora is interrupted he loses less work than Tempus when he is interrupted Hora prospers -while Tempus fails- because his hierarchical watch design is a solution to the problem of being constantly interrupted
- 8. 3. management and systems thinking The watchmakers’ parable (argument B) Watches/watchmaking present complexity Hierarchical design allows Hora to manage (via PS) this complexity To have a hierarchical design is to have the property of being modular Modularity is a way of managing complexity within the PS perspective - or is it?
- 9. 4. modularity and management Even though modularity of developmental/biological systems is linked to Simon’s notion, Use of modularity in biology does not render a solution to a problem Complexity management by way of modularity does not amount to PS
- 10. 4. modularity and management Is complexity management via modularity a solution to a problem? Problem: > complexity of molecular developmental processes, needs reduction Solution: decomposition of developmental system and localization of developmental modules ?
- 11. 4. modularity and management It is not modules per se, but other types of decompositions, that participate in PS: gene territories (e.g., oral ectodermal) gene networks (e.g., Pax/Six/Eya/Dach ) Modularity thinking does not provide a general strategy for partitioning systems
- 12. 4. modularity and management The notion of modularity is “a simple, but evocative term to describe an array of signaling pathways, protein interactions, gene networks, etc. Some might even argue that because its definitive meaning is unclear it is useful in its vagueness. We can mold it to suit our particular purpose” (Heanue, interview)
- 13. 5. management beyond problem solving Complexity management as PS has been fruitful in many ways: Elucidation of cognitive, experimental, and other intervention strategies for dealing with complexity Epistemology of discovery expanded from the individual to the social realm Characterizations of complexity (Simon’s, Wimsatt’s), and as a property that comes in degrees (reducible)
- 14. 5. management beyond problem solving Simon-like systems thinking constrains our framework for inquiry into complexity management Emphasis on systems thinking has disallowed us to question PS Current accounts of complexity management remain within the PS perspective
- 15. 5. management beyond problem solving Take home messages: Modularity thinking is a way of managing complexity in biology Modularity thinking is not PS There is more to complexity management than problem solving
- 16. thanks to Edna Su árez Griesemer Lab Peter Taylor (NEWSSC) Elihu Gerson UNAM funding