How would you differentiate between complicated and complex? Lou
----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Guerin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group'" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 6:47 PM Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Kinds of complexity > Robert writes: > > At least those scientists had the good sense to give these > > quantities different names. We just call each of our > > disparate quantites 'complexity' and then wonder why we can't > > get any equations to work. > > The history of thermodynamics was interesting when folks had many defintions for > the concept of "heat" and later "work". Early definitions struggled when these > terms were defined as things that flow instead of defined as processes. I > speculate that Complexity, if it is ever defined, will also be a closely-related > process definition. > > -Steve > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Robert Holmes [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 2:14 PM > > To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group > > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Kinds of complexity > > > > > > > > On 8/9/06, Pamela McCorduck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > <snip> > > ...In fact, asking for the true mathematical definition > > of complexity today is like asking for the true mathematical > > definition of electricity in 1800: to understand electricity, > > it turned out to be much more productive to define several > > quantities, such as charge, current, voltage, inductance, etc. > > > > > > At least those scientists had the good sense to give these > > quantities different names. We just call each of our > > disparate quantites 'complexity' and then wonder why we can't > > get any equations to work. > > > > Robert > > > > > > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
