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1 The Structure of Complex Systems

The document discusses the five attributes of complex systems: 1. Complex systems are hierarchical with interrelated subsystems and components. 2. What is considered primitive is subjective and depends on the observer's perspective. 3. Intra-component linkages are stronger than inter-component linkages, separating internal dynamics from interactions between parts. 4. Complex systems are usually composed of a few types of subsystems in different arrangements. 5. Complex systems evolve from simpler systems that worked, rather than being designed complex from the start.

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Durgavajjala Karthik
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303 views6 pages

1 The Structure of Complex Systems

The document discusses the five attributes of complex systems: 1. Complex systems are hierarchical with interrelated subsystems and components. 2. What is considered primitive is subjective and depends on the observer's perspective. 3. Intra-component linkages are stronger than inter-component linkages, separating internal dynamics from interactions between parts. 4. Complex systems are usually composed of a few types of subsystems in different arrangements. 5. Complex systems evolve from simpler systems that worked, rather than being designed complex from the start.

Uploaded by

Durgavajjala Karthik
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Structure of Complex Systems

The Five Attributes of a Complex


System
1. "Frequently, complexity takes the form of a hierarchy,
whereby a complex system is composed of interrelated
subsystems that have in turn their own subsystems, and so
on, until some lowest level of elementary components is
reached" .

• It is important to realize that the architecture of a complex system is a


function of its components as well as the hierarchic relationships among
these components. As Rechtin observes, "All systems have subsystems and
all systems are parts of larger systems . . . The valued added by a system
must come from the relationships between the parts, not from the
parts per se"
The Five Attributes of a Complex
System
2.” The choice of what components in a system are primitive is
relatively arbitrary and is largely up to the discretion of the
observer of the system.”

• What is primitive for one observer may be at a much higher level of


abstraction for another . Simon calls hierarchic systems decomposable,
because they can be divided into identifiable parts; he calls them nearly
decomposable, because their parts are not completely independent.
The Five Attributes of a Complex
System
3. “Intracomponent linkages are generally stronger than
intercommoning linkages. This fact has the effect of
separating the high-frequency dynamics of the components -
involving the internal structure of the components - from the
low-frequency dynamics - involving interaction among
components“.

• This difference between intra- and intercomponent interactions provides a


clear separation of concerns among the various parts of a system, making it
.
possible to study each part in relative isolation
The Five Attributes of a Complex
System
4. "Hierarchic systems are usually composed of
only a few different kinds of subsystems in
various combinations and arrangements “.

• "complex systems will evolve from simple systems much more rapidly if
there are stable intermediate forms than if there are not”
The Five Attributes of a Complex
System
5. “A complex system that works is invariably found to have
evolved from a simple system that worked.... A complex
system designed from scratch never works and cannot be
patched up to make it work. You have to start over, beginning
with a working simple system “.

• As systems evolve, objects that were once considered complex become


the primitive objects upon which more complex systems are built.

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