International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

P. BAK writes: "The Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico is a lively center for exchange and debate on complex systems…

"The Institute brings together many of the most imaginative thinkers from vastly different fields in an open environment. The meetings at Santa Fe are continuous brain storms"(1996, p.114)

He adds: "Since the Santa Fe Institute does not have a permanent staff of scientists, it can change its emphasis quickly when new ideas come up. A number of external professors are associated with the Institute… In contrast, traditional university and government laboratory environments have a tendency to freeze into permanent patterns as their scientists become older. Typically, a couple of long-term visitors, some short-term visitors, and a few young postdoctorate fellows work at the Institute. In addition, scientists from various fields come together at seminars and conferences"…

"These meetings force us to place science in a greater perspective. In our everyday research, we tend to view our own field as the center of the world. This view is strengthened by our peer groups, which are, because of the compartmentalization of science, working along the same lines. No mechanism for changing directions exists, so more and more efforts go into more and more esoteric aspects of well-studied areas that once paid off… Nobody has an incentive to step back and ask himself, "Why am I doing this?" In fact, many scientists are put off if you ask this question" (p.115-6)