A research community bridging complexity science and contemplative studies to understand minds, societies, and human flourishing
Welcome to the Complexity Science and Contemplative Studies Community
We are an emerging research community at the intersection of complexity science and contemplative studies, united by the vision that rigorous scientific inquiry and contemplative wisdom can illuminate each other in profound ways.
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Our Mission
Acknowledging the long history and challenges of attempts to formalize contemplative philosophy as a hard science, we propose that the young field of complexity science provides new opportunities for this age-old quest.
Our intention is three-fold:
- Foster community among experts working on either side of this intersection
- Collectively define the core questions and opportunities of this space
- Embody the ideals of contemplation and scientific rigor in our work
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Our Approach
We navigate between two essential polarities:
Contemplative ⟷ Scientific
We honor both subjective, first-person contemplative experience and objective, third-person scientific observation, seeking their productive synthesis rather than reduction of one to the other.
Theoretical ⟷ Applied
We pursue rigorous mathematical and computational frameworks while remaining grounded in meaningful applications that address real human needs and global challenges.
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Key Research Themes
Complexity Science brings us tools like:
- Relational ontology and emergence
- Multi-agent systems and network dynamics
- Predictive coding and Bayesian frameworks
- Phase transitions and self-organization
Contemplative Studies offers insights through:
- Mindfulness and meditation research
- Wisdom traditions and comparative religion
- Psychology of meaning, consciousness and spiritual development
- Practices for perception and inner transformation
Together we explore questions like:
- Observer-dependence across quantum, classical, social systems
- Agency and purpose as causal force from cells to AI
- Rituals and beliefs constructing social reality
- Complexity frameworks to understand contemplative practices
- How to integrate contemplative with scientific ways of knowing
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Our DNA: Ideas We Agree On
Core ideas that identify our community:
- Reality is fundamentally relational and emergent, not built from isolated parts
- Any parts are adaptive and intelligent, not inert mechanisms
- Rigor requires integrating the first-, second-, and third-person perspectives:
- 1st: individual introspection, felt-sense truth (e.g., 1+1=2)
- 2nd: relational progress, like scientific discourse (connect and transform)
- 3rd: objective reproducible results (scientific method)
- Science as a contemplative tradition, striving for discovery (expansion) over closure
- We hold generative tensions between polarities (e.g., knowing vs emptiness) instead of seeking easy resolution
- Awe or felt sense as guidance for direction or truth
- Complexity as humility, realizing that closure isn't possible, allowing for openness or epistemic provision
- Open non-sectarianism: balance among various contemplative and scientific traditions
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Our Shared Assumptions
Foundational commitments that guide our work:
- The Primacy of Tacit Knowledge & Practice
- Science as a Mode of Revealing
- The Insufficiency of Reductionism
- Relational Ontology
- A "Seed-Grow-Harvest" Epistemology
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Resonate? Join Our Community!
Whether you're a complexity researcher curious about contemplative dimensions, a contemplative scholar interested in formal modeling, or someone working directly at this intersection, we welcome your participation.
"The challenge we propose is to develop a research program that is rigorous and meaningful according to the standards of each domain, and can lay the ground for concrete applications in physical- or psycho-technologies."
Stay in touch
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Creators: