Valentin Turchin
Abstract
Metasystem transition (MST) is the formation of a new level of control, when systems of a certain kind become integrated as subsystems of an emerging metasystem. The main tenet of the MST theory is that the major steps of evolution -- both biological, and cultural -- are metasystem transitions at various system levels. Metasystem transitions are thus seen as {\em quanta} of evolution. From this viewpoint we can try to make extrapolations about the future of human society.
Biography
Valentin Turchin received an MS in physics from the Moscow State University in 1952, a Ph.D. in physics from the Soviet Atomic Center in Obninsk, and a Doctor of Physico-Mathematical Sciences from the Center at Dubna in 1964. Since 1965, he has worked in computer science and philosophy. In 1977, he was forced to emigrate from USSR because of his involvement in the Human Rights Movement. Since 1979, he has taught the computer science at the City College of New York.
His talk was based on two books and one article.
(1) V.F. Turchin. The Phenomenon of Science: A Cybernetic Approach to Human Evolution, Columbia University Press, 1977.
(2) V.F. Turchin. The Inertia of Fear and the Scientific Worldview, Columbia University Press, 1981.
(3) V.F. Turchin. "A Dialogue on Metasystem Transition," World Futures, Vol.45, pp. 5-57, 1995.