In a similar vein:

https://xkcd.com/2945/

-- rec --

Russel Munroe is so prolific and self-documenting, I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't (somewhere) documented/attributed the myriad influences:

Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcxKIJTb3Hg>


On Thu, Jun 13, 2024 at 9:49 AM Marcus Daniels <[email protected]> wrote:

    Simulate from first principles: https://www.vasp.at/

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    *From:* Friam <[email protected]> on behalf of Prof David
    West <[email protected]>
    *Sent:* Thursday, June 13, 2024 6:11 AM
    *To:* [email protected] <[email protected]>
    *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] new math of complexity
    Naive, but honest question:

    Can a computer program be "complex?"  Jochen seems to assert so,
    /"Every developer knows that each piece of code which is added
    makes the system more complex."/ I would say no, it only makes it
    more complicated.

    My answer is partially based on the fact that code must execute on
    a deterministic machine and the code itself (at least its compiled
    self) is nothing more than a virtual machine, still a
    deterministic system. Even the source code is a context free
    grammar, so none of the things that make natural language complex
    (context sensitivity, metaphor, interpolation) prevail. Otherwise
    the code would not work?

    A secondary motivation for asking, I am working on an extended
    monograph/book on how to intentionally 'evolve' complex systems
    like a business and the software that supports it,or ULS (
    
https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/library/ultra-large-scale-systems-the-software-challenge-of-the-future/
 ),
    i.e., systems that *_cannot_* be "engineered."

    davew


    On Wed, Jun 12, 2024, at 5:30 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:

        Emergence as a kind of “software in the natural world"? If we
        mean code by it, then yes, certainly. Every developer knows
        that each piece of code which is added makes the system more
        complex. Therefore we usually try to keep it simple. For
        biological systems it is the DNA code. For cultural systems it
        is the hidden code people do not want to talk about because
        everything related to it is sacred (at least for the group
        which it defines). The knights templar had their own code, the
        order of the cistercians, the Franciscans and the other
        religious orders and organizations as well.


        Cults and sects have their code ( which can be simple
        political slogans such as "Make Your Country Great Again",
        "Build the wall" and "Lock them up" or simply "Do not
        criticize the supreme leader"). Criminal organizations have
        their code. Ideologies and political parties have their code.
        Behind every complex organism or organization there seems to
        be some form of code or DNA that generates and maintains it.


        Whenever something is happening in nature it is either supper
        or pairing time. Obviously  because the underlying "selfish"
        code has created bodies which have the directive to maintain
        and replicate themselves. If we look at cultural systems, for
        instance at political conventions or at religious
        congregations, then we notice that every time something is
        really happening at a larger scale is that the code becomes
        active. People come together to read or express laws, rules,
        guidelines and policies.


        So I would say yes, if there is a secret then it is the code.
        Definitely. Is there a new math for it? IMO it is quite hard
        to formulate the expression of such a code in general
        mathematically. For example how can you describe
        mathematically if the speech of a president or party leader or
        priest has bigger consequences or not? It is at least as
        complicated as calculating a path integral in Quantum Field
        Theory.


        What might be possible is to calculate a probability how a
        group behavior changes depending how frequent a rule is read,
        remembered and expressed.


        -J.



        -------- Original message --------
        From: Roger Critchlow <[email protected]>
        Date: 6/12/24 8:05 PM (GMT+01:00)
        To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
        <[email protected]>
        Subject: [FRIAM] new math of complexity

        Speaking of emergence, any takes on Phillip Ball's article in
        Quanta?

        
https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-new-math-of-how-large-scale-order-emerges-20240610/

        I really liked his summary of the current non-explanations for
        emergence, but I haven't had time to read further.

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