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Complex Systems Articles, Papers, Books &
Bibliographies
"Where chaos begins, classical science stops. For as long as the world
has had physicists inquiring into the laws of nature, it has suffered a
special ignorance about disorder in the atmosphere, in the fluctuations
of the wildlife populations, in the oscillations of the heart and the
brain. The irregular side of nature, the discontinuous and erratic side --
these have been puzzles to science, or worse, monstrosities."
-- Jame Gleick in Chaos: Making A New Science
- What
is Chaos? A working definition from The Qualitative Study of
Unstable Aperiodic Behavior in Deterministic Nonlinear Dynamical
Systems (Kellert). A more complete defintion of Chaos is offered on
Santa Fe Institute's server at: What is
Chaos? which is part of the document entitled Messy Futures
and Global Brains.
- What If... You
Could Map Out the Future This Feb. 4, 2002, Computerworld article suggest how to apply
Complex Adaptive Systems Theory to business planning to enable companies to predict future
business conditions by crunching current information. What are the dangers in following these
assumptions about determining future from past data? Read in this Santa Fe Institute
Paper: An
Incompleteness Theorem for Calculating the Future which states: "one can not build a computer
which can, for any physical system, take the specification of that system's state as input and
then correctly predict its future state before that state actually occurs". Or read what it means in
business terms when you bet your future on historical data archived in your computers in these articles:
From Information Management to
Knowledge Management: Beyond the 'Hi-Tech Hidebound' Systems and Advancing Information Strategy to Internet
Time. For more related articles on developing complex adaptive systems that really
work, see Global Risk Management Network's Book on Knowledge Management.
- Simple
Yet Complex: Business Management (CIO, April 15 '98) This article
offers a basic outline of complexity theory and its relevance to business. Many
other pieces of the puzzle that are not discussed in this article,
are explained and discussed in various other sections of @BRINT (www.brint.com) web site, in particular the WWW Virtual Library on Knowledge Management.
Complexity theory has been recently occupying the attention of the business managers.
However, most traditional management literature has focused on
control as a means of compliance instead of self-regulation and
self-control and on extraneous rewards and incentives instead of
intrinsic motivation. However, a better understanding of autonomous
human behavior underpinning individual, group and social interactions
is required for appreciating the notions of self-adaptive and
emergent systems.
- Role of Information Technology in Managing Organizational Change and Organizational Interdependence
(Malhotra) This article discusses the application of open systems theory for generating propositions regarding the management of
organizational change and organizational interdependence. The
commonly preferred approaches - goal theory, population ecology,
systems resource theory and transaction costs theory - are inadequate in
providing a "wholistic" perspective of the organizational issues. This
article argues that the survival and growth of organizations in an
increasingly turbulent environment would depend upon effective
utilization of information technology for aligning the organizational
structure with environmental preferences and for creating symbiotic
interorganizational structures.
- Information
Systems Management in a Distributed
World: As Viewed within the Broader Context of Organizational
Change (Mento & McClane)
- Applying
Complex Adaptive Systems Theory to Organizations & Management This
web site is the cyberspace home of Uri Merry. Among other articles posted on this site, the following
articles are accessible: New Science: New Training
and Development and Nonlinear Organizational
Dynamics.
- Complexity
Metaphors and the Management of a Knowledge Based Enterprise :
An Exploration of Discovery" (Lissack) This dissertation proposal
intends to investigate the influence of complexity theory metaphors on
competitive positioning, behavior and strategy. An extensive summary of
the science of complexity literature and the literature on metaphors is
provided. To access Michael's other academic writings on related topics,
click here.
- Insights
from Complex Systems (Grobstein) An attempt at creating a general
conceptual framework for thinking about complex systems for both
scientists and non-scientists.
- Papers on
Adaptive Complex Systems Philosophy of Computation; Image
recognition; Learning algorithms; System failures
-
The Man from C.H.A.O.S. Message from this inventor of
chaos computer sytem: "To gain control, you've got to lose control."
He suggests that American corporations generally resist chaos and prefer
reorganization unlike some Japanese who are willing to embrace chaos.
The million-dollar question (pun intended) is if American companies
can balance the emphasis on a predictable 'bottomline' with the
unpredictable future that goes with embracing chaos!
- Self-Organising Systems FAQ
- Self-Organization,
Autopoiesis, and Enterprises (Whitaker) Increasing interest in
self-organization for understanding enterprises ('purposeful
social collectives') derives from the appreciation of three key issues:
systemic perspectives on enterprises; auto-determination of system form
and function; and contextualization. This article cautions against
circular reasoning for explaining the notion of a self-determinant system,
and recommends explicit specification of the connotation of
'self-organization.' The paper elaborates upon one approach to
self-organization, namely autopoiesis. An overview of the autopoietic
theory is provided followed by its relevance to theory and practice of
social systems.
- Game
Rules, or, Emergence according to Holland, or, Confessions of a
Creative Reductionist This review of Holland's more recent work,
Emergence, discusses the notion of ``constrained generating
procedure,'' or CGP, basic element of which is something which has an
internal state and a set of inputs, and whose next state is a
function of the current state and those input. The issue arises: if a
mechanism is constrained by its current state and 'inputs,' is it
truly a generative emergence producing mechanism: does it create the
kind of process that is akin to generative learning. If so, how does
the system escape from the 'constraints' to account for the 'leaps of
insights' and 'leaps of faith' that often account for breakthrough
innovation and creativity. On another note, is there truly language
of thinking as many scientists are suggesting: can we really see what
we are thinking? Can the perceptive measures really capture the speed
at which the neurons fire in the process of thinking and often escape
from a certain 'stable state' to another 'stable state' which may not
be explained by deterministic models.
- Ross
Ashby on Self-Organization The argument that "there's really no
such thing as self-organization" is presented in terms of systems
that are rule-bound based on internal state of the system and
internally or externally generated input that causes the shift from
one state to another. However, could such systems be described as
self-regulating or self-controlling systems that don't need any
input, internal or external? Won't truly self-organizing system be
characterized by absence of [convergent] rules or rather generation
of multiple anti-rules that continuously assess the ongoing validity
of the rules. For instance, systems that may be able to provide
simultaniety of the convergent processes often characterized by
Lockean and Leibnitzian systems and divergent processes often
characterized by Kantian and Hegelian systems.
- Turtles,
Termites and Traffic Jams The notion of control and a central
controller seems to be based on explicit focus on the main effects
while not paying due attention to the interactions that may not be
attributable to any single system, its state or its inputs, but to
the "messes" that constantly redefine the external environment (back
to Emery & Tryst and Terreberry, 1960s). However, the notion of
control seems also to ignore the counter-active nature of control -
often the controllee tends to become the controller of the controller
and the game of control ensues. Instead of pursuing such a
self-defeating game of control with 'intelligent' controllees, could
there be a possible alternative such as 'let it be.' The references
to Piaget seem to rely upon a model of learning that is a relic of
the past, being displaced in the theories of motivation and learning
by more organismic explanations. Perhaps, time for tying up the
'messes' floating across the disciplinary boundaries that often
escape the eyes of trained scientists, in particular,
disciplinary 'experts'!!
- Descartes's
Discourse on Method and Self-Organization This
explanation provided by comes closest to the notion of
self-organization [at least as I relate to it] that underlies the
generation of 'new' from the 'old.' The critique of the chaos
generating structures that again get lost in chaos may seem plausible
for the Newtonian world of 'things.' However, for a world that is
unconstrained by the laws of physics - the world of mind, imagination
and insights - possibly allows one to wear the Gestaltic lens and
construe the existing phenomena without necessarily being constrained
by the superficial structures and interpretations that have been
imposed upon them. Edge of chaos... creates... absence of 'enforced'
structure... allows the diversity of structures that is constrained
only by one's own imagination.
-
At Deere They Know A Mad Scientist May Be A Firm's Biggest Asset
Companies such as General Motors Corp.,
Citicorp, Swiss Bank Corp. and Deere & Co., have been applying the
concepts of chaos theory and complex adaptive systems in developing
'self-organizing' systems as solutions for business problems. However,
the question that arises is if this techno-centric perspective can cope
with the dynamic and discontinuous change phenomena or if over the long
run these firms would represent the 'hi tech-hide bound'
organizations.
- Learning
How to Control Complex Systems (Lloyd) A framework that treats
behavior (dynamics) and information processing (control) is used to
understand how complex adaptive systems solve problems of
control. The two theories: dynamical systems theory and information
theory could be used together to formulate a solution for the control
of complex adaptive systems. However, control of complex, nonlinear
systems requires insight and intuition. "For the algorithm to model
the system successfully, it must be an adaptive algorithm: to acquire
intuition, one must learn." One caveat that apparently questions the
generalizability of this framework to robots as well as humans:
Shannon & Weaver's information theory didn't take into account
meaning, context, purpose, and similar issues that are relevant in
case of human systems.
- Dan
McShea and the Great Chain of Being: Does Evolution Lead to More
Complexity? (Zoretich) Is the course of evolution towards more or
less complex systems? This is the key question covered by this
article which delineates diverse views on this issue. Drawing upon the
issues of complexity from biology and chemistry, this article
notes that more complex social and organizational systems are made of
[individually] simpler parts! For more on Evolution and Complexity, see
Evolution,
Complexity and Philosophy.
- How
can Chaos Theory be applied to Crisis Management?
- Chaos Theory and
Information Systems Four themes are derived from a discussion of
chaos theory: the importance of emergent behaviour, the influence of
an essentially arational body of knowledge on decision-making and
information systems development, the significance of choice and
selection and the significance of chaos theory for the prediction of
the effects of information systems.
- WWW
and the Demise of the Clockwork Universe (Munnecke 1994) The author observes that the "clockwork universe" of Newton, Laplace, and Descartes has long been descredited
by physicists, its vestiges linger on in the extant thinking of institutions, bureaucracies,
economies, universities, software development methodologies, and general
zeitgeist. There are several indicators that suggest the decline of the
reductionist frenzy. Within the context of managing a large scale
enterprise-wide information system, and in contrast to the dominant
reductionism in computer science, the author describes a different view
of the information system which evolves as a complex adaptive system.
- Scientific Ideas
and Education in the 21st Century (Hartwell 1995) Criticism of the
current educational systems as being stuck in the traditional mechanistic
model characteristic of the Newtonian, positivist world view, with
suggestions for gearing up the learning systems to the 'organic-ness'
necessary for the next century.
- Complex
Adaptive Systems in Finance and Strategy (Mark White)
- Cybernetics, Systems Theory and Complexity: Articles
on Complexity and Knowledge (Martin Ryder)
- SFI's Next Generation of Models Tackles the Real World
- The
Intelligence Advantage (Michael D. McMaster): Book Review & Notes
Also of interest, McMaster's archive
of messages in the Learning Organization list.
- Whole
Systems Design Bibliography Covers Systems Theory, Cybernetics and
Wholism, and Design, Creativity and Innovation.
- From
Chaos to Complexity in Strategic Planning: Phelan, S.E. (1995) An
overview of chaos theory; the nature of complex systems and their
various states; and implications of the theory of the 'science of
complexity' for strategic planning.
- Using
Artificial Adaptive Agents to Explore Strategic Landscapes
(Dissertation: Steven E. Phelan)
- Chaos Theory as a
Framework for Studying Financial Markets
- Life
and Complexity in Architecture From a Thermodynamic Analogy
(Salingaros)
- Road Maps: A
Guide to Learning System Dynamics Self-study guide to learning
systems dynamics
being
developed by MIT's System
Dynamics in Education Project under the guidance of
Jay
Forrester. The objective of the guide is to serve as a resource for
both beginners and advanced system dynamics
modelers. The focus is on identification and computer modelling of
systems. (Needs Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Papers
on System Dynamics (Jay Forrester): On Systems Dynamics & Learning
(Needs Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Whole Systems Web
Page
- Complex
Systems Information Network
- Center for
Complex Systems Research (CCSR) Technical Reports
- The
Santa Fe Institute Working Papers List
- Recent
Papers by Melanie Mitchell: Complex Systems and Genetic Algorithms
- Heaven
in a Chip (Bart Kosko)
- Introduction to a General
Theory of Religion (Wolpert)
- Composing
with Chaos, Applications of a New Science for Music
- Bibliography
"The Evolution of Complexity"
- Evolutionary
Theory
- Cybernetics &
Systems Theory Resources
- Cybernetics and
Systems Theory Glossary
- Cybernetics and
Systems Science Compendia
- On Defining Chaos (Preprint)
- Research
Interests: Subareas in Chaos: with Papers
- sci.nonlinear: Frequently Asked Questions
- FTP:
Bibliography on Nonlinear Systems and Chaos
- Hypertext
Bibliography of Measures of Complexity (Bruce Edmonds)
- Fractals
for Beginners (Green)
- References on
Fractal Geometry and Chaos Theory
- SFI
Publications
- Mathematical Synthesis
Between Chaos Theory (Complexity), Fractal Geometry and the Golden
Mean
Complexity Journals
Complex Systems & Knowledge Creation
Other Complex Systems Resources on WWW
- INFORMS
Conference on Complexity & Organization Science: Useful Books and
Articles
about Complexity Theory
- Chaos at Maryland
- New England Complex Systems
Institute
- Ecological
Modelling Resource Homepage
- Society for Chaos Theory in
Psychology and the Life Sciences
- World-Wide Web
Virtual Library: Complex Systems
- Philosophy &
Measurement of Complexity per se (Bruce Edmonds)
- Whole Systems Web
Page
- Einstein
Meets Magritte: InterDisciplinary Reflection on Science, Nature,
Human Action, and Society
- Self Organizing Systems Home
Page
- Enactive Cognitive Science & Autopoiesis
- Resources on
Autopoiesis (One Approach to Self-Organization)
- The
Ontological Foundations of Autopoietic Theory: Tutorial (Palmer)
- Autopoiesis
Related Web Sites
- Autopoiesis
and Enaction: Observer Web
- Principia Cybernetica
Project, Brussels
- Complex
Systems (Australian National University)
- The Complexity &
Artificial Life Research Concept for Self-Organizing Systems
- Complex
Adaptive Systems and Artificial Life (Buffalo)
- Center for Complex Systems
- Information Mechanics
Group, MIT Laboratory of Computer Science
- System Dynamics, MIT
- System-Dynamics
Resources & Mailing List
- The Santa Fe Institute
- Complex Systems Resources (Yahoo)
- Links on Chaos and Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Fractals, etc.
- Chaos &
Music: Links
- Neuroprose
Archives at Ohio State University
- Richard K.
Belew
- John L. Casti
- George Johnson (NYT
at Santa Fe)
- Wentian
Li: Publications
- Genetic
Algorithms Archive Access to past issues of the GA-List digest,
source code for many GA
implementations, and announcements about GA-related conferences, besides
links to web sites related to evolutionary computation.
- Alife & Genetic
Programming Web site
- Evolutionary
Computation: An Online Workshop
- Center for Nonlinear
Studies(CNLS) at Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Conferences on AI & Cybernetics
Tools for Complex Systems Research
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