Research On The Development History Of Holland's Complexity Theory From The Perspective Of Communication Studies

Complexity theory,which was born in the interdisciplinary field,is feeding back into all disciplines,including communication.As an important theoretical source of communication,cybernetics and information theory have made new research achievements in the sustainable development.With the development of communication science,communication scholars have gradually realized that cybernetics and information theory are not suitable for the study of human society.The complexity theory,called "science in the 21 st century",is closely related to the development of cybernetics and information theory.It is under this background that it is of great significance for the development of communication science to sort out the viewpoints of important schools of complexity theory and their representatives.This paper focuses on the complexity theory of Santa Fe Institute and focuses on the representative of the institute – John Holland.This is the first time to sort out the academic development process of this "pioneer of complex adaptive system" from the perspective of communication.This paper studies the theoretical development history of this pioneer by literature research method,so as to introduce Holland's theory into the field of communication and bring enlightenment to the development of communication theory.The birth place of network communication--Internet is also a complex system,which is the research object of complexity theory.Holland's research on complex adaptive systems is the further development of cybernetics.His research on emergent phenomena in complex adaptive systems provides a new perspective for the reflection of information theory.On this basis,from the perspective of Holland complexity theory,this paper criticizes the basic paradigm cybernetics and information theory of communication.The non-linear characteristics and the hierarchical structure formed in the interaction between the main body in the process of network communication make the essential difference between the network communication and the traditional communication process based on the linear system.The emphasis on biological systems in complex adaptive systems and the prominence of competition mechanism in information feedback make up the theoretical defects of the school of communication mechanical technology.The position of mass communication theory in contemporary society has changed,and communication theory needs to be updated urgently.Facing the dilemma of network communication,Holland's complexity theory may be a key.