Abstract:
Systems of order in organic nature follow predictable patterns that repeat in time and space, from the quantum to the macro level. Among these, there are certain processes such as competition, natural selection and evolution that have well-studied analogies in economics. In this presentation I will explore the application of concepts developed to describe the ecological organizing process known as succession as a means for explaining systems of order in the socioeconomic sphere. In this context I will examine the nature of roles for both the individual and the group in society and how these relate to larger patterns of socioeconomic organization, patterns that bear clear affinities with the process of succession in nature. In the course of developing these concepts I hope also to briefly address the manner in which the evolution of organisms is constrained by patterns of energy flux within the negative entropy system of Schroedinger.
Speaker:
Conor Meade lectures in Ecology at Maynooth University. His current interests focus on plant population genetics and phylogeography, as well as plant- soil microbiota interactions in high-altitude Alpine ecosystems.