Posted by
Phil Henshaw-2 on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Dynamics-of-Complex-Systems-by-Yaneer-Bar-Yam-tp522166p522208.html
Steven,
Not sure if it fits, but the type of complex systems I first carefully
studied were natural air currents.
There's a clear energy gradient involved when sunlight provides heat at
the bottom of a column of air and buoyancy drives the development of
intricate motions. What I noticed is that the paths of motion evolve
individually by growth processes. Some small perturbation at an
instability results in a positively reinforced development of movements,
that gives the air a system of solving the problem of getting out of its
own way, to release the gradient. From observation, it looks like
there are some delays in the right disturbance occurring, perhaps.
Individual currents rising from a floor can develop in what appears to
be erratic and lazy fashion.
I think this behavior probably fits your model somehow, but I don't see
the degrees of freedom or capacities you refer to as the gateway to
relieving any gradient.
Make any sense?
>
>
>
> > 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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