"It is no longer possible to ignore the connections and interdependencies among ecosystems, health and disease, behavior, technology, and myriad other facets of social and economic life. Synthesizing the experiences and perspectives of SFI's broader research community during the COVID-19 pandemic-a novel experience in the digital age-this volume contains both early-stage assessments and reflections composed a year later. Edited by David C. Krakauer and Geoffrey West, The Complex Alternative spans original research as well as essays. It compiles SFI's 2020 Transmission web series, transcripts from COVID-focused Complexity podcast episodes, articles published in Aeon and Nautilus, transcripts of the 2020 Applied Complexity Network symposium, and newly written reflections that muse on the future of complexity science and the broader impact of science in the twenty-first century"--