phil henshaw wrote: > Can a self-consistent model have independently behaving parts, like > environments do? > If the independently behaving parts don't have some underlying common physics (e.g. they could in principle become different from time to time according to some simple rules, but generally are the same), then there will be so many degrees of freedom from the independently behaving parts that arguments about why a system does what it does will be quantitatively as good as any other. Luckily `environments' can have stable observable properties that can be treated as hard, fixed constraints.
It seems to me self-consistency and reflectivity isn't a problem, provided the list of exceptions can grow indefinitely or that the individual exceptions can be ambiguous. Consider the popularity of the legal profession. ;-) Marcus ============================================================ 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
