A critique of dissipative structures in the human realm

Abstract The essay constitutes an exercise in philosophical critique of the claims made for nonlinear functional descriptions in the human realm. The examination is grounded in both mathematical and philosophical concern. The former considers the circumstances under which bifurcation is conceptually admissible, and the practical difficulties of determining whether a parameter characterizing the trajectory of a complex regional system has passed through such a value. The latter considers the difficulty of mapping the sequential geographic configurations of an actual regional history onto such a mathematical structure, and of marshalling empirical evidence that bifurcation has occurred.