A delusion of control: Loss of agency in modern complex systems

This article argues that as “we increasingly rely on [globalized complex adaptive systems], we surrender more and more individual autonomy and agency, diminishing our ability to actually control our outcomes and wellbeing.” Concomitantly, “the illusion that we as individuals–or even as a society–can fully control the modern complex systems-of-systems that enable modern living is a dangerous optimism bias.” But rather than giving up in the face of complexity, the authors advocate “greater study and understanding of these systems and for the design of governance paradigm s that employ the lenses of complexity, global systemic risk, and out inexorable interdependence.”