ComplexityExplorer

Reserve your free tickets for SFI’s Community Lecture with Tom McCarthy on May 12, 7:30 pm at @TheLensic. McCarthy will trace Moby-Dick’s tides and meridians to unpack the ways in which Melville overhauls the language of the Enlightenment and breaks open the horizons of modernity.  Drawing on twentieth-century visual art as well as classical and eighteenth-century philosophy, he will reveal a “grammar of the indefinite” at work in Melville’s prose. When: May 12, 2026 | 7:30pm Where: Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe, NM. Free tickets: lensic.org/events/the-ind… Presented free to the public thanks to generous sponsorship by the McKinnon Family Foundation, with support from The Lensic Performing Arts Center and the Santa Fe Reporter.

📢 Calling all NetLogo users for the inaugural NetLogo conference in Chicago, June 29–July 1! 🎤 Keynotes: Uri Wilensky, Josh Epstein & Moira Zellner 🛠️Workshops on ABM + AI, GIS & more. 👉Register by May 1 for early bird pricing: conference.netlogo.org/2026

Beyond Borders, the quarterly column by SFI President David Krakauer, is available on Substack! In “The Biophysics of Paradigm Change,” Krakauer moves from evolved accelerometers to cultural knowledge, paradigm change, and adaptive technology. Read the full column here: sfiscience.substack.com/p/the-biophysi…

Catch up on SFI’s first Community Lecture for 2026, Crossroads Democracy Panel. The panel featured Jenna Bednar, Samuel Bowles, Hahrie Han, Katrin Schmelz, and David Krakauer as moderator, and explored what science has to say about the history, economics, psychology, and politics of democracy, the citizens’ values that it both requires and may promote, and how a renewed expansion and deepening of democracy may be the best way to save it. Watch on SFI’s YouTube channel: youtu.be/XjiqWhlLKLE

Reserve your free tickets for SFI’s first 2026 Community Lecture event, Crossroads Democracy Panel, on April 14 at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. Hosted by the Santa Fe Institute, this panel brings together scholars from political science, economics, psychology, and behavioral science to explore what research can tell us about the history of democracy, the values it requires and may promote, and whether a renewed expansion and deepening of democracy may be the best way to save it. Speakers: - Jenna Bednar, political scientist at University of Michigan, SFI External Faculty. - Samuel Bowles, economist at the Santa Fe Institute. - Hahrie Han, political scientist at Johns Hopkins University. - Katrin Schmelz, behavioral economist and psychologist at the Santa Fe Institute. - David Krakauer, President of the Santa Fe Institute and moderator of the open discussion. When: April 14, 2026 | 7:30 pm Where: Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe, NM. Free tickets: lensic.org/events/crossro… More info: santafe.edu/events/crossro… Presented free to the public thanks to generous sponsorship by the McKinnon Family Foundation, with support from The Lensic Performing Arts Center and the Santa Fe Reporter.

The brain has evolved a voracious appetite for energy, consuming about 20% of our daily total. So what makes that cost worth it? At a recent SFI working group, researchers from across disciplines examined how the high energetic cost of intelligence is balanced against its evolutionary advantages, and began charting a mathematical foundation for understanding that tradeoff. santafe.edu/news-center/ne…

The grid is in crisis. A century-old system for generating, distributing, and regulating electricity is struggling to cope with electrification, decarbonization, rising demand from data centers, and rapid technological change. At a recent SFI working group, researchers and practitioners explored how a complex adaptive systems approach could help build a more resilient, adaptive grid. “Piecemeal solutions aren’t enough,” says SFI External Professor Seth Blumsack. “How is the grid system organized as a whole? How can we address whole-systems problems?” santafe.edu/news-center/ne…

New book from the @SFIPress: The Economy as an Evolving Complex System IV. Every chapter is available for download as a free PDF.

Thanks @sfiscience for an accessible coverage of our paper! @hyejin_youn

Final week to apply for SFI’s 2026 summer programs. Applications close soon for three of our immersive, residential experiences in complexity science: – Complex Systems Summer School (CSSS) – For graduate students, postdocs, and professionals interested in transdisciplinary research. – Graduate Workshop in Computational Social Science (GWCSS) – For early-career researchers exploring computational approaches to the social sciences. – CSSS Journalism Fellowship – For experienced journalists reporting on science and complexity. Application deadline: February 4, 2026 Apply for CSSS and GWCSS here: santafe.edu/engage/learn/p… Apply for the Journalism Fellowship here: santafe.edu/journalism-fel…

Are you a scholar of the social sciences looking to include computational approaches in your research? SFI’s Graduate Workshop in Computational Social Science (GWCSS) is designed for advanced Ph.D. students pursuing thesis research in computational social science. Participants work closely with peers and faculty to advance their own research and take part in collaborative modeling and complexity-based problem solving. Deadline: February 4, 2026 Apply here: santafe.edu/gwcss

SFI President David Krakauer joins Jim Rutt, SFI Trustee Emeritus and Distinguished Fellow, on The Jim Rutt show for a wide-ranging conversation on intelligence, evolution, scientific risk-taking, how we come to understand complex phenomena, and much more. jimruttshow.com/david-krakauer…

A write-up of the talk I gave at NeurIPS in December. ⬇️

Wealth inequality has persisted for over 10,000 years–but why? Economist Sam Bowles joined the Stone Center to explore its origins, from the ox and plow to the rise of power concentrations and the lasting effects of slavery. Watch his full lecture here → bit.ly/4pqxM0V

Now accepting applications for SFI’s 2026 Complex Systems Summer School (CSSS). CSSS is a three-week experience that brings together graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals to explore foundational theory and methods, engage in collaborative projects, and connect with a global research community. Deadline: February 4, 2026 Apply here: santafe.edu/csss

Applications open for SFI’s 2026 Graduate Workshop in Computational Social Science. This two-week workshop offers Ph.D. students and early-career scholars an opportunity to explore tools from complex systems and computation, collaborate on a hackathon-style challenge, and advance their independent research with support from SFI faculty and peers. Deadline: February 4, 2026 Apply here: santafe.edu/gwcss

In a new Undark op-ed, SFI Resident Professors Brandon Ogbunu (@big_data_kane) and Cris Moore argue that refusing to use AI won’t protect society — and that responsible resistance must begin with understanding how AI works. undark.org/2026/01/09/opi…

Can we build a definitive science of stories? This week, a transdisciplinary group at SFI is asking: What if we treated stories as data? As networks? As science? “Stories are storehouses of knowledge, but they are also instruments of power,” says Peter Dodds, SFI External Professor. “Fictional characters matter because real character matters. By using data to develop a science of stories, we can best identify and account for the power of stories in the real world.” santafe.edu/news-center/ne…

Build intuition for the behavior of nonlinear systems using animated visuals and paradigmatic examples from across the physical and biological sciences🌡️🌦️🐰🦊🦋🌉🌲 A Visual Approach to Nonlinear Dynamics from SFI Professor Sid Redner #gsc.tab=0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">complexityexplorer.org/courses/198-a-…

Applications are now open to join Scott and SFI External Professor John Miller for an intensive two-week study of computational social science modeling and complexity in Santa Fe in summer 2026. For more information and to apply: santafe.edu/gwcss

A new piece from SFI External Professor Scott Page in collaboration with Brookings explores the physics of collective intelligence in the age of AI.