|
|
|
|
|
|||
Feb 2011You may need to click "load images"
or something similar to see the photos WelcomeWell, the changes have not stopped with seemingly endless twists and turns in what might happening for me and Sonja in the future. Sonja has been in Australia working for the last three months as a nurse in a rest home. She was offered two different jobs as a manager of a rest home; one in Wagga Wagga and one in Sydney. I travelled to Australia for 12 days earlier this month with Sonja's daughter and grandson to see her staying in Sydney and Brisbane.I have been looking to be able to study for a PhD through the University of Otago but none of the options of I have looked at have ended up being possible. While in Sydney I went to the University of Western Sydney. I completed my MA through them over the internet back in 2003. I went to talk over the possibility of completing a PhD in Complex Systemsthrough them . They were keen to have me. I later found I could get no help for the full international student fees and have had difficulties finding a research methods paper they require me to complete before I can start.. There are so many things to take into consideration at present. Sonja returns from Australia next week and we must decide what we will be doing. The story continues..... The Christchurch earthquake is of course dominating the news here. Even 3-400km away my house shook and the lights were swinging in the ceiling. My family in Christchurch are all safe and well. Here are some photos I took in Sydney. The mirrors around the escalator is a shopping mall created some interesting images.     |
Subscribe to this newsletterIf you would like to receive this newsletter as a monthly email just send me an email. You may choose to email me to Unsubscribe. Previous NewslettersNewsletter archive Old "Recent News" Books I read this monthOn Complexity by Edgar Morin
Edgar Morin is not that well known in part because he writes mostly in French and so his writings are often overlooked. This book was originally written in French and sometimes translations are a bit hard to read. While he is not a quick easy read, he certainly writes quality. Simply Complexity: A Clear Guide to Complexity Theory by Neil Johnson.
Best of the NetThe Origin, Evolution and the Future of Life presents a stimulating discussions from an expert panel, with people coming from a range of academic perceptions about this wide-ranging topic.The Joy of Stats Visually amazing look at income and life expectancy around the world since 1810. I don't necessarily agree that the future will just carry on as predicted in the video clip, but it still very interesting. |
Victor's webpage Victor's complexity website Subscribe Email Victor Victor's first book |
|
After
hearing about Edgar Morin a while back, I have finally got around to
reading some of his work. He is a most impressive writer with great
insight into complexity and how it might fit into our lives. He is still
alive and in his 90s. In "On Complexity" he writes of the link
between autonomy and diversity and self -eco- organisation,
saying that the term self-organisation misses out on the importance of
recursive relationships with the environment.
This
book is written as an introduction to complexity. I would not recommend
it personally as a first book to read to get an overview of complexity,
but it is good to read after you have already read a book or two.
and gives some perspectives not covered in other books.