First-person phenomena. Third-person rigor.
CSCSC Satellite Meeting at the Conference for Complex Systems 2026 · ccs26.cssociety.org October 14 or 15, 2026 · Binghamton, NY, USA
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Complexity science teaches us that the observer is part of the system. Contemplative practice teaches us how to be impartial observers. This satellite is about what happens when we take both seriously – as an invitation to ask what science is for.
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Call for Abstracts — Deadline: May 31, 2026
The central tension: how should complexity science handle the fact that the observer is part of the system? We invite you to bring this tension up from wherever it lives in your own research — as a problem, a provocation, a partial answer, or an open question. New perspectives and angles welcome.
We welcome short talks (15 min) and facilitated discussions. Submit an abstract →
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Most complexity science assumes an observer-independent world. But cracks appear everywhere. In finance, models of the market move the market — the act of studying the system changes the system. In social dynamics, your theory of the group reshapes the group. In contemplative practice, understanding your own mind is the mind changing. These aren't edge cases: they form a continuum from the physicist in the lab, through the economist studying markets, to the person on the meditation cushion studying their own mind.
Complexity science has the formal tools to take this continuum seriously. Contemplative traditions have spent millennia investigating it from the inside. This satellite brings both to bear on the same question: what are we, as scientists, when the observer is part of the system?
We welcome contributions from any angle — whether you apply complexity methods to contemplative phenomena, use contemplative insights to challenge how we model minds and societies, or simply want to think carefully about what observer-dependence means for how you do your research.
If you've felt the gap between your equations and your subject matter — this satellite is for you.
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This event is designed differently from the rest of the conference: alongside research talks, the day weaves in group reflection moments and community-led practices from diverse contemplative traditions. More below. ↓
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These questions run along a continuum — from cracks in observer-independence in physics, through collective systems where meaning shapes dynamics, to the fully first-person domain of contemplative practice. Some examples:
Other related topics (non-exhaustive): Relational ontology and emergence · Predictive coding and Bayesian-brain frameworks for mindfulness · Consciousness studies · Multi-scale competency and intelligence · Ritual dynamics and collective behavior · First-, second-, and third-person scientific methodologies · Attention training and neuroplasticity · Self-organization and contemplative experience · Alternative epistemologies and rigor