Our Folk Ontology interprets things as being of different genuses or types: locations, physical objects, organisms, biomes, organisations, words, to name a few. Based on that view, we understand different types of systems (e.g. physical, biological, social and conceptual ones) as made up of different types of things.
But there really are no types of things in the world –
The
world is a hierarchy of systems without any intrinsic qualities or
identities. Thus widely heterogeneous components can feature in
Complex
Systems – physical objects in organisations, words in a lab,
microbiomes in organisms.DeLanda’s explication of the concept of Assemblage is
roughly co-extensive and conceptually very similar to this and an
illustration of the range of “types” that can make up a compley
system.
So if we look at complex systems through the lens our Folk Ontology, we might miss important parts because we think they are of the “wrong” type when in reality they are crucial components of the systems.
References
- DeLanda (2011): “Assemblage Theory, Society, and Deleuze”, 44:20