Department of Management Science and Engineering, School of Business, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
Department of Information, Technology and Innovation, Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Nov 12;121(46):e2400812121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2400812121. Epub 2024 Nov 7.
It has been widely recognized that technologies evolve with recombinant inventions. However, it remains unknown whether technologies developed using different approaches would exhibit different features during evolution. In particular, would technologies developed mainly based on accumulated experience in practices-formulas of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are typical examples of such technologies-have similar evolution features found in modern technologies? This study applied network science to explore the evolution of TCM from the perspective of recombinant inventions based on 59,063 TCM formulas documented over the last two thousand years, with each formula being a combination of components that are mostly herbs. Our results show that similar to modern technological systems, the TCM component networks maintained the core-periphery structures during evolution, and the (weighted) degrees of components followed heavy-tailed distributions. Moreover, simple tuples, which are frequently used combinations of TCM components, serve as building blocks for complex ones. A significant difference with modern technological systems is that the TCM core components were quite stable, while substitutions of core components are frequently observed in modern technological systems, leading to new technological trajectories. TCM comprises ancient knowledge and wisdom. This research provides insight into how it will be like in the future and what is important for its future.
人们普遍认识到，技术是随着重组发明而发展的。然而，目前还不清楚采用不同方法开发的技术在进化过程中是否会表现出不同的特征。特别是，主要基于实践经验积累的技术（如中医的方剂）是否具有与现代技术相似的进化特征？本研究应用网络科学，基于过去两千年来记录的 59063 个中医方剂，从重组发明的角度探讨了中医的演变，每个方剂都是由主要是草药的成分组合而成。我们的研究结果表明，与现代技术系统相似，中医成分网络在进化过程中保持了核心-边缘结构，并且成分的（加权）度遵循长尾分布。此外，简单元组（中医成分的常用组合）是复杂元组的构建块。与现代技术系统的一个显著区别是，中医核心成分非常稳定，而现代技术系统中核心成分的替换很常见，从而产生了新的技术轨迹。中医包含着古老的知识和智慧。本研究为其未来的发展提供了启示，也为其未来的发展指明了重要方向。
