Complexity as an Anthropocultural Phenomenon

Abstract

The world is becoming more complicated, which is confirmed both in the natural and artificial spheres. Complication can be considered one of the key characteristics of the development process, and complexity – an indicator of the difference between one stage of development from another. However, if the objective complication of the material and technical culture of mankind seems obvious, the legitimacy of the statements about the complication of spiritual culture requires discussion. Scientific and technological progress reveals a number of pathological processes of complication. Man finds himself in a complex socio-cultural space, in the world of self-developing system objects, accelerating the flow of poorly understood innovations. The initial intuition of this article is the statement that a person experiences complexity throughout his socio-cultural development. The paper presents the transformation of anthropological and cultural complexity in historical perspective. It is proposed to understand the anthropological characteristics of the phenomenon of complexity, as well as the peculiarities of its unfolding in culture. Represent a summary of the issues associated with finding antropocentric nature and complexity of the humanitarian strategy for its comprehension. Culture reveals a tendency of complication, which non-linearly correlates with the complexity of human consciousness. Primitive art and the complexity of ritual practices indicate an underestimated level of cognitive complexity of primitive man. The development of philosophy and theistic religions greatly complicates the spiritual life of man. Industrial civilization is experiencing a significant round of social complexity, actualizing the practice of managing complexity. The widespread complexity of economic life, the multiplication of the number of transitional identities, cultural forms, the trend of globalization and intercultural integration indicate that post-industrial society, on the one hand, is the result of recursively increasing complexity, and, on the other hand, reveals the complexity of a qualitatively different order.