Posted by
Carl Tollander on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Dynamics-of-Complex-Systems-by-Yaneer-Bar-Yam-tp522166p522202.html
Stephen,
Could you say more about how gradients *act* on a system?
I tend to think of gradients as new (non-adjoint) structure produced by
the application
of constraints between elements in a system. That is, the constraints
form the context
(the DOF) for the gradient.
I think I may be able to reconcile this with Hubler's definition (some
problems with
that "well designed" part), but the the latter is more challenging. Are
you saying
that gradients embody agency? How do we describe the dissipative
capacity of a
degree of freedom so that we can characterize what happens when it
breaks down?
Hmmm, ok, I now think I see how to answer that, but lets see what the
comments are...
Carl
Stephen Guerin wrote:
>
>
>> Yet when I ask for a formal treatment, I get no answer.
>>
>
> I very much like Hubler's deceptively simple definition of complexity:
> "A complex systems is a system with large throughput of Energy,
> Information, Force, .... through a well designed boundary."
>
> His notes from the SFI CSSS school with this definition are here:
>
http://www.how-why.com/ucs2002/tutorial/>
>
> As a restatement of the same ideas that formalizes what "large" means, I would
> offer:
> "complexity emerges when a gradient acting on a system exceeds the
> capacity of the internal degrees of freedom of the system to dissipate the
> gradient".
>
>
> Is that formal enough? or, does the statement need to be mathematized?
>
> -Steve
>
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