Dean Falk is Professor of Anthropology at SUNY Albany. Her 1992 book, "Braindance", is a crucial reporting of one more important step taken by a modern scientist, bringing our understanding of living systems out of the shadow of ' classification by form' into the light of 'systems competently integrated by way of extended plural and influencial dynamics'. That is, whether it's the ecology of immediate performance and consequences, or, the tenuous thread of sub-tabula events lost to direct observation in the relentless long unfolding of time and transitions, real processes have significant impacts on the formation of the artifactual forms of life. It is by appreciating and acknowledging what such impacts are in vivo that their blending and coordination help us form a truer picture of the dynamism and potential which living organisms enact.
Her seminal work focuses on what is now termed the "radiator theory" of brain evolution, in particular in Australopithecines several million years ago, which blood lines are considered ancestral to humanity. Her work vis a vis the Integrity Paradigm is very interesting as it pinpoints the subtle dynamics involved in how slight changes in the chemistry of life can have profound changes up through the resulting "assemblies of assemblies". Induced bodily changes arise, and unavoidably, alter the behavior and action potentials of organisms and creatures, in some cases, advancing them.
This Ceptual Institute Intra-site will present Professor Falk's formal concepts, reviews by various peers, and CI commentaries discussing the possible links in the respective theories.
Index and Links
- A Brain Radiator - from the KUHF program: 'Engines of our Ingenuity'
- Review - "Origins of Humankind" - peer journal coverage
- BRAINDANCE - Relevance to Integrity/Complexity
- Integrity commentary - ICSSSE98 conference, Beijing PRC (Aug, 1998)
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