Last week, consultant to the State Council Qiu Baoxing came to Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) to give the 216^th lecture in the SUSTech Lecture Series. He spoke on the topic of “The internet and cyberspace: composed or collaborated -based on the perspective of complex adaptive theory (CAS).” SUSTech Vice President Teng Jinguang presided over this lecture.

Mr. Qiu Baoxing is a consultant to the State Council and a former Deputy Minister of Housing and Urban and rural construction. He was also a member of the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee of the State Council and Deputy Director of the Committee on Population, Resources and Environment.

Mr. Qiu Baoxing talked about complex accommodation theory (CAS). He specifically discussed its origin, specific structure, concept and applications. A complex adaptive system is a system in which a perfect understanding of the individual parts does not automatically convey a perfect understanding of the behavior of the whole system. The theory provides a new way of thinking for people to recognize, understand, control and manage complex systems.

He started from the market supervision system, arguing that the market alone could not manage the economic system as a whole. He used the concept of system generation and formation to introduce the problems and defects of the original system generation theories. Mr. Qiu Baoxing then moved into the new, third generation of CAS. The third generation of CAS theory can better explain complex phenomena of an organization and solve its complex problems.

Mr.Qiu Baoxing used sewage treatment plants as an example. He compared the damage caused by ancient Chinese agriculture to that caused by modern agriculture to the environment, before introducing comprehensive system theory. Mr. Qiu Baoxing also described the specific characteristics and usage of CAS, using vivid examples such as cells and building blocks.

In the Q & A section, the students exchanged their views and asked probing questions of Mr.Qiu Baoxing.