Properties common to complex systems:
- Simple components or agents (simple relative to whole system)
- Nonlinear interactions among components
- No central control
- Emergent behaviors
- Hierarchical organization
- Information processing
- Dynamics
- Evolution or learning
Core Disciplines
- Dynamics: The study of continually changing structure and behavior of systems
- Information: The study of representation, symbols, and communication
- Computation: The study of how systems process information and act on the results
Goals
- Cross-disciplinary insights into complex systems
- General theory
Methodologies
- Experimental
- Theoretical
- Computer simulation
Definition
- Problems of simplicity: a few variables Examples:
- Pressure and Temperature
- Current, Resistance, and Voltage
- Population vs. Time
- Problems of disorganized complexity: billions or trillions of variables Examples: Understanding laws of temperature and pressure as emerging from trillions of disorganized air molecules Science of Averages: Statistical Mechanics Assume little interaction among variables
- Problems of organized complexity: Moderate numbers of variables Strong, nonlinear interactions among variables “Problems which involve dealing simultaneously with a sizeable number of factors which are interrelated into an organic whole.” Examples:
- What makes an evening primrose open when it does?
- What is the description of aging in biochemical terms?
- What is gene and how does the original genetic constitution of a living organism express itself in the developed characteristics of the adult?
- On what does the price of wheat depend?
- How can currency be wisely and effectively stabilized?
- How can one explain the behavior pattern of an organized group of persons such as a labor union, or a group of manufacturers, or a racial minority
Info
Info