Science & Cocktails: Making sense of chaos

Science & Cocktails is a series of public talks by scientists with live music and smoky dry-ice chilled cocktails in your hand

19:00 doors open for cocktails
19:30 Rolodex (live)
20:30 Doyne Farmer (talk)
Event in English, semi-seated.

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We live in an era of increasing complexity, where rapid technological advancement and global interconnection offer both unprecedented promise and peril. Financial crises, climate change, automation, growing inequality, and polarization all have deep economic roots—yet traditional economic models often fall short.

Many books have explored Doyne Farmer’s pioneering work in chaos and complexity theory. Making Sense of Chaos is the first to present his ideas in his own words—a manifesto for rethinking economics. Blending science with personal narrative, Farmer distills his deep expertise into an accessible exploration of how complexity theory can transform our understanding of economic systems.

For the first time, big data and ever more powerful computers allow us to apply complex systems science to economic activity, building realistic models of the global economy. These simulations and the emergent behaviors they reveal form the foundation of complexity economics. Farmer argues that this new science will enable us to test ideas, improve economic foresight, and tackle society’s most pressing challenges.

This event is an initiative by the Dutch Institute for Emergent Phenomena (DIEP) with the support of the University of Amsterdam. Science & Cocktails Amsterdam is presented in cooperation with Paradiso Amsterdam.