@normonics' Intro to Applied Complexity #ACS101 #SpringA2021 Highlights
Session 2: Intro to Dynamics
1/n
Session 2: Intro to Dynamics
1/n
https://twitter.com/evolvingcalm/status/1365032289554497537
@chrismanfrank & @bavoter appear:
Imparts some wisdom from Dr. Dwanye Beck.
'Diversity is important in emulating natural systems.'
'Pests, weeds, & disease are a sign of a lack of diversity. Nature's way of replacing the diversity that was lost.'
2/n
Imparts some wisdom from Dr. Dwanye Beck.
'Diversity is important in emulating natural systems.'
'Pests, weeds, & disease are a sign of a lack of diversity. Nature's way of replacing the diversity that was lost.'
2/n
In nature pillage is a catastrophic event.
3/n
(Brain transplants/Brian transplants?)
3/n
(Brain transplants/Brian transplants?)
A further Brian gem:
'Quite often we try to simplify our real-world system to match the model rather than adapt the model to match the real world.
A dangerous place to go.'
4/n
'Quite often we try to simplify our real-world system to match the model rather than adapt the model to match the real world.
A dangerous place to go.'
4/n
A system is carving out a piece of the world.
It takes a heroic effort to isolate a system in science but this is not typical of the real world, so you have to be careful applying conclusions from an isolated system to the real world.
5/n
It takes a heroic effort to isolate a system in science but this is not typical of the real world, so you have to be careful applying conclusions from an isolated system to the real world.
5/n
A simplified example is the H20 molecule.
At room temperature water is in a substance phase.
But is there any sense asking if a molecule is a solid or a liquid?
No, not by itself.
6/n
At room temperature water is in a substance phase.
But is there any sense asking if a molecule is a solid or a liquid?
No, not by itself.
6/n
Put together then they can interact.
7/n
7/n
The property of liquidity is a scoping issue arising from the interactive transient coupling of a multiple of molecules.
8/n
8/n
Lower the temperature parameter and you hit a critical threshold where attractive forces overpower the repellent forces abruptly - phase transitioning into an organised solid (more ordered).
(Consider the gas as an even more disorganised system of strong repulsive forces.)
9/n
(Consider the gas as an even more disorganised system of strong repulsive forces.)
9/n
Definitionally a 'parameter' as a system dynamically behaves is constant.
10/n
10/n
Again, the bandwidth of an agent is always limited.
11/n
11/n
Unlike models, in the real world we might not know where phase transitions exist in a system.
12/n
12/n
Non-linearity is generic, linearity is more the exception.
There are a lot of assumptions of linearity where there should not be.
There's only one way to be linear.
There's many ways to be non-linear.
(non-linearity is an emergent property)
13/n
There are a lot of assumptions of linearity where there should not be.
There's only one way to be linear.
There's many ways to be non-linear.
(non-linearity is an emergent property)
13/n
J W Norman
'Scientific Truth', 2021
Apple pen on EasyCast
1080p
14/n
'Scientific Truth', 2021
Apple pen on EasyCast
1080p
14/n
Phase transitions are all over the place.
Consider music e.g. Major chords & minor chords.
The substance differs in quality & falls out of the invariant distance between they notes & their relation/interaction.
15/n
Consider music e.g. Major chords & minor chords.
The substance differs in quality & falls out of the invariant distance between they notes & their relation/interaction.
15/n
Patterns are the primary drivers of the properties we observe.
Patterns (interactions, relations, organisation) that things embody rather than just the things themselves.
16/n
Patterns (interactions, relations, organisation) that things embody rather than just the things themselves.
16/n
It's a cliché but the whole is different (less/more) than the sum of its parts.
17/n
17/n
Complexity is hard because of a cultural overreliance on reduction, linearity, summing type operations, etc. and their simplicity.
18/n
18/n
The century of complexity quote by Hawking is wrong.
19/n
19/n
There is an inversion in our thinking between the special and the general.
20/n
20/n
Scoping out, experimenters have to contrive all sorts of ways to isolate a system.
It's 'easy for us to work with' so we consider it general.
21/n
It's 'easy for us to work with' so we consider it general.
21/n
The general condition is open systems locally receiving flows of energy and flows of matter.
22/n
22/n
If you have something very huge but it's homogenous there's not much information there, but if some small material but with lots of details then it has a much greater richness.
23/n
23/n
Boundaries/evidence:
Look for where abrupt behavioural shifts occur.
Cells have boundaries, as do organs.
Social systems have Boundaries.
24/n
Look for where abrupt behavioural shifts occur.
Cells have boundaries, as do organs.
Social systems have Boundaries.
24/n
The Machine Metaphor:
Machines are assembled by putting parts together.
When an organism grows where do its parts come from?
25/n
Machines are assembled by putting parts together.
When an organism grows where do its parts come from?
25/n
A foetus has massively complex structural intricacy that differentiates internally to generate functional complexity.
26/n
26/n
A developing organism synthesises into a whole from which the parts emerge.
A machine is fabricated from pre-existing part and put together.
You can't take a mouse apart and then put it back together.
27/n
A machine is fabricated from pre-existing part and put together.
You can't take a mouse apart and then put it back together.
27/n
Social systems are more complex because ultimately more complex because agents can learn, so the behaviours can be richer, but not necessarily.
28/n
28/n
"Even" physical systems are able to display a richness of behaviours that we see in the likes of e.g. social systems.
(Analogise boiling water to a riot.)
29/n
(Analogise boiling water to a riot.)
29/n
The fact that it maps is interesting because in certain conditions details don't matter, regardless of the difference between physical & (with the intricate details of its agents) social systems.
30/n
30/n
Something like trust can't be discussed in a physical, but in general, as you scope out and stack layers of systems you are always getting new novel properties.
But maybe trust can be modelled as a physical property in a certain context.
31/n
But maybe trust can be modelled as a physical property in a certain context.
31/n
One of the challenges is finding which details matter and which don't.
The largest scale behaviour is often helpful to discover what details don't matter.
32/n
The largest scale behaviour is often helpful to discover what details don't matter.
32/n
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
