On the Status of Natural Boundaries: A Complex Systems Perspective

The aim of this paper is to consider the status of natural boundaries from a complex systems perspective. Contemporary science tends to trivialise the nature of boundaries with its inherent positivism whereby boundaries are considered real in an ontological sense. Furthermore, naïve versions of the scientific method fail to acknowledge the bias involved in making observations, implying that what we see is what there is. In short, contemporary science considers boundaries to be real and easy to recognise. This paper argues that there are no boundaries in any absolute sense (the no-boundary hypothesis), and that all apparent boundaries are emergent and temporary. This has important consequences for science, both natural and social, as well as the relationship between these same two branches of science.