Beyond Black Swans. Managing Complexity: A Contradiction in Terms?

The purpose of this chapter is to enhance the capacity for recognizing, comprehending and learning how to inhabit complexity, in particular social complexity, on the part of both experts and laymen, by describing the unique characteristics of complex systems, and above all by clarifying the crucial differences between complex and complicated systems, so often confused even among prominent scientists and researchers. Equally important is the purpose of changing the trajectory of those experts, educators, economists and political leaders who persist in the erroneous conviction that in the near future it will be possible to obtain a thorough understanding of virtually all phenomena, controlling and managing their complexity, and eliminating error, doubt and unpredictability from our societies and our lives.