Publication Date

2010

First Advisor

Pat Moran

Abstract

There are foundational errors in the mathematical frameworks currently used in Economic and Decision Theories. Recent systemic failures in the interdependent business and educational sectors also show that many practices based on these theories are unsustainable in the changing dynamics of the global economy. A new approach is needed in social science research and systems engineering. This paper examines how the new understandings of complex systems, the role of emotion in cognition, and the core dynamics of decision making can help us correct these errors and to create a general framework for systemic innovation. It argues for the development of more rigorous linguistic tools that can objectively analyze social dynamics from an empirical perspective rather than from subjective cultural frames. In order to upgrade theories and adapt practices in social and educational systems, we need to first correct problems at the fundamental end of the mathematical framework that is used for such analysis. Examples of complex systems are explored within the operational context of cross-cultural language and insurance classrooms at Yamamah University in order to define the methods and illustrate the approach of Basic Social Math to correcting errors and testing theories in the social sciences.

Disciplines

Curriculum and Instruction | Dynamic Systems | Educational Psychology | Non-linear Dynamics

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