The Puzzle of How Large-Scale Order Emerges in Complex Systems
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Re: The Puzzle of How Large-Scale Order Emerges in Complex Systems
#2If you want to read more about how this works, I'd recommend Stuart Kauffman's "The origins of order".
Be warned, it's not light reading, it's basically his PhD student's and his research, written up as a book, it is engaging though, and he leads you gently through the concepts - you do have to master one chapter before getting to the next though. Having said that, it does show how chaos and order interact with each other, and he then leads into the mechanism of evolution along the boundary of that interaction.
Spoiler: the boundary is where all the interesting stuff happens...
Re: The Puzzle of How Large-Scale Order Emerges in Complex Systems
#3If you want to read more about how this works, I'd recommend Stuart Kauffman's "The origins of order". Be warned, it's not light reading, it's basically his PhD student's and his research, written up as a book, it is engaging though, and he leads you gently through the concepts - you do have to master one chapter before getting to the next though. Having said that, it does show how chaos and order interact with each…
https://www.amazon.com/Sync-Order-Emerges-Universe-Nature/dp... is also a good read on it. Perhaps not as technical as the above but has some interesting history on the discovery of these interesting mathematical truths.
Re: The Puzzle of How Large-Scale Order Emerges in Complex Systems
#4This has been a topic of interest for me for almost a decade so far.
See also: non-linear dynamics, dynamical systems
The study of Complexity in the US Sciences is fairly recent, with the notable kickoff of the Santa Fe Institute [1]. They have all the resources there, from classes to scientific conferences.
A few book recommendations I've picked up over the years:
- Lewin, Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos [2] (recommended for a gentle introduction with history)
- Gleick, Chaos: Making a New Science [3]
- Holland, Emergence: From Chaos To Order [4]
- Holland, Signals and Boundaries: Building Blocks for Complex Adaptive Systems [5]
- Holland, Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity [6] (unread but part of the series)
- Miller, Complex Adaptive Systems: An Introduction to Computational Models of Social Life [7]
- Strogatz, Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: With Applications To Physics, Biology, Chemistry, And Engineering [11] (edit: forgot i had this on my desk)
Also a shoutout to Stephen Wolfram, reading one of his articles [8] about underlying structures while stuck at an airport proved to be a pivotal moment in my life.
- Wolfram's New Kind of Science, as an exploration of simple rules computed to the point of complex behavior. [9]
- Wolfram's Physics Project, a later iteration on NKS ideas with some significant and thorough publication of work. [10]
Links:
[2] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226476553
[3] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143113453
[4] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0738201421
[5] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262525933
[6] https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Order-Adaptation-Builds-Comple...
[7] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691127026
[8] https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2015/12/what-is-spacetim...
[9] https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/
[10] https://wolframphysics.org/
[11] https://www.amazon.com/Nonlinear-Dynamics-Chaos-Applications...
Re: The Puzzle of How Large-Scale Order Emerges in Complex Systems
#5This has been a topic of interest for me for almost a decade so far. See also: non-linear dynamics, dynamical systems The study of Complexity in the US Sciences is fairly recent, with the notable kickoff of the Santa Fe Institute [1]. They have all the resources there, from classes to scientific conferences. A few book recommendations I've picked up over the years: - Lewin, Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos [2] (…
About 30 years for me. As my username might suggest.
To this already excellent list I would add that the Santa Fe Institute (mentioned above) is continually putting out new work and papers on this topic.
Examples here: https://www.santafe.edu/research/results/books
Re: The Puzzle of How Large-Scale Order Emerges in Complex Systems
#6Order emerges in simple systems as well. Turing was fascinated by the emergent order of bi-stable chemical reactions, the moving wave-fronts of reaction inside a bounded space.
Not that there aren't puzzles a-plenty here. Why things like energy minimisation make water freeze in complex regular shapes which presents as "how do the limbs know to take that pattern" delight me. I kind of felt ok with "just because" but I realize that's not really an answer.
Re: The Puzzle of How Large-Scale Order Emerges in Complex Systems
#7This is a topic of interest of mine, and something I've spent a lot of time experimentally investigating.
I can add more detail later, but for now, see https://slackermanz.com/understanding-multiple-neighborhood-...
Re: The Puzzle of How Large-Scale Order Emerges in Complex Systems
#8This has been a topic of interest for me for almost a decade so far. See also: non-linear dynamics, dynamical systems The study of Complexity in the US Sciences is fairly recent, with the notable kickoff of the Santa Fe Institute [1]. They have all the resources there, from classes to scientific conferences. A few book recommendations I've picked up over the years: - Lewin, Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos [2] (…
About 30 years for me. As my username might suggest. To this already excellent list I would add that the Santa Fe Institute (mentioned above) is continually putting out new work and papers on this topic. Examples here: https://www.santafe.edu/research/results/books
Complex, nonlinear - possibly adaptive - systems with or without convergence but emergence, and structure!
Convergence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convergence > STEM
Emergence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence
Stability: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stability
Stability theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stability_theory
Glossary of systems theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_systems_theory
Re: The Puzzle of How Large-Scale Order Emerges in Complex Systems
#9If you want to read more about how this works, I'd recommend Stuart Kauffman's "The origins of order". Be warned, it's not light reading, it's basically his PhD student's and his research, written up as a book, it is engaging though, and he leads you gently through the concepts - you do have to master one chapter before getting to the next though. Having said that, it does show how chaos and order interact with each…
https://www.amazon.com/Sync-Order-Emerges-Universe-Nature/dp... is also a good read on it. Perhaps not as technical as the above but has some interesting history on the discovery of these interesting mathematical truths.
This is the book I'm currently reading.
I guess that's not so interesting a comment, but it's an old and pretty niche book so I'm surprised to see it mentioned on HN today.
Anyway I agree Strogatz does a good job. He's both telling a good story and he also explains more of the mathematical ideas than a lot of books for popular audiences. He also has a podcast that's worth checking out.
Re: The Puzzle of How Large-Scale Order Emerges in Complex Systems
#10Many great recommendations in the comments here about on emergent order in complex systems -- does anyone have recommendations for reading about how such systems de-organize?