2012 Complexity and Modeling Program Word Wall

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Key Terms from the Complexity and Modeling Program

Complex v. Complicated:

Complex: individual behaviors and local interactions, goal-specific emergent structure, scale-dependent predictability and unpredictability, high level of throughput.

Complicated: is deliberate, has specific goal driven behavior, predictable behavior at all scales, system throughout manages within specifications.

Complexity:

-Leaderless: individual behaviors and local interactions not directed by central organization or control.
-Emergent: unexpected structure that comes from a system that does not have a direct connection to the system.
-Nonlinear: inputs and outputs are related but not in a linear fashion. Highly sensitive initial and ambient conditions.
-Self-organizing: organization comes from within the system and is nonhierarchical

Word Wall

-Chaos
-Feedback
-Hierarchy
-Pheromone
-Prisoner’s Dilemma
-Sierpinski Triangle
-Stigmergy
-Stochasticity
-Superfluid
-Throughput