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Complexity
The property of an object or a system in which the elements or agents that compose it are diverse, connected, interdependent, and adapt to one another. In a complex object or system the whole transcends the parts, and phenomena emerge through bottom-up self-organization that could not easily be predicted by examining its elements.
Complex systems produce novelty and may exhibit drastic phase changes at certain critical thresholds, yet at the same time they are often very robust. Organisms, ecosystems, societies and cultures, information systems and economies all show high degrees of complexity. Many transapients and archailects are interested in complexity and hence encourage it. For that matter, see Political Science of Higher Toposophic Minds.
Complex systems produce novelty and may exhibit drastic phase changes at certain critical thresholds, yet at the same time they are often very robust. Organisms, ecosystems, societies and cultures, information systems and economies all show high degrees of complexity. Many transapients and archailects are interested in complexity and hence encourage it. For that matter, see Political Science of Higher Toposophic Minds.
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Development Notes
Text by Stephen Inniss; original by M. Alan Kazlev
Initially published on 24 September 2001.
Initially published on 24 September 2001.
