Complexity Explained

“Complexity science,” the SFI website explains, “attempts to find common mechanisms that lead to complexity in nominally distinct physical, biological, social, and technological systems.”

Complexity – A typical complex system is composed of myriad individual constituents or agents that once aggregated take on collective characteristics that are usually not manifested in, nor could easily be predicted from, the properties of the individual components themselves. For example, you are much more than the totality of your cells and, simi... See more

Beyond the definitions, science, and patterns that emerge, the field of complexity fascinates me because of how it has captured the imagination and interest of some of the world’s smartest people.

It seems that, from the perspective of mathematical science, there exist two natural domains. The first is the physical domain of particles, fields, and universal laws, with an associated search for elegant theories that apply everywhere in the known universe. Here, science has made great strides. The second domain is that of complex phenomena. The

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