Complexity Primer

Quick Reference on all Primer topics#

Written and reviewed by Students in Unravelling Complexity.

Go and Investigate!#

Adaptive systems#

systems that adapt to external changes

• Wikipedia page
• Murray Gell-Mann, Complex Adaptive Systems (a classic piece…)

Attractors#

areas that systems tend towards

• Wikipedia page - note: this is very maths
• Geoff Boeing’s article, Visual Analysis of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems: Chaos, Fractals, Self-Similarity and the Limits of Prediction

Behaviour#

the shape of the output of a system

• The Systems Thinker
• George Richardson’s, Getting Started with Behavior Over Time Graphs - *written to teach fifth

Black swans#

a metaphor for events that come as a surprise

• Wikipedia page
• The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Prologue [PDF]

Chaos#

where the approximate future cannot be predicted

• Wikipedia page
• Gleick, Chaos Chapter 1- the Butterfly Effect [PDF]{.link-ext

Co-Design#

where a system/society/situation declines

• Wikipedia summary of Participatory Design

Cognitive bias#

systematic non-normal judgement

• Cognitive Bias (Wikipedia)
• Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, Judgement under uncertainty: Heuristics & Biases
• Cognitive Bias 101 by Peter Baumann (YouTube Video)
• 50 Cognitive Biases to be aware of so You Can be the Very Best Version of Yourself (Infographic by TitleMax)

Collapse#

where a system/society/situation declines

• Wikipedia summary
• Collapse by Jared Diamond Prologue [PDF]

Collective behaviour#

spontaneous behaviour of a group

• Wikipedia section on collective behaviour
• Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell Prologue [PDF]
• Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (Wikipedia)

Complex Adaptive Systems#

where a system/society/situation declines

• Wikipedia summary

Conceptual metaphor#

describing one thing in terms of another

• Wikipedia page on Conceptual Metaphors
• More than cool reason: a field guide to poetic metaphor by George Lakoff & Mark Turner Chapter 2 [PDF]

Conspiracy#

the situation around a problem of interest

• Wikipedia page on Conspiracy{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Context#

the situation around a problem of interest

• Wikipedia page on Constructivism{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Context#

the situation around a problem of interest

• Wikipedia page on Context{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Carl May, et al Implemetation, context and complexity{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Country#

for Indigenous Australians, the culture, nature and the land

• Bruce Pascoe on Aboriginal agriculture Radio National
• NITV’s coverage of Nat’s Journey to Country NITV
• ABC’s Education package on Vincent Lingiari ABC Website ABC News Timeline

Crisis#

an unstable or dangerous situation

• Costanza’s After the Crisis: two possible futures PDF
• Wikipedia page on Crisis

Culture#

the social behaviour of human societies see also Living Culture

• Wikipedia page on Culture
• Understanding Environmental Values: A Cultural Theory Approach PDF

Cynefin framework#

a mapping of problem spaces from obvious to disorder

• Wikipedia page on the Cynefin framework
• A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making Harvard Business Review

Delays#

time lags in system responses

• Wikibooks page on control system delays on System Delays

Determinism#

that all events determined by previously existing causes

• Wikipedia page on Determinism{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Gleick, Chaos Chapter 1- the Butterfly Effect [PDF]{.link-ext
• See also: Conway’s Game of Life{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Discourse#

the totality of codified language in a given field

• Wikipedia page on Discourse
• Mark Olssen’s article on Discourse, Complexity, Normativity: Tracing the elaboration of Foucault’s materialist concept of discourse{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Graham, L., Discourse analysis and the critical use of Foucalt

Diversity#

a broad range of possibilities or entities

• Wikipedia page (disambiguation){.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Scott Page’s introduction to Diversity & Complexity{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Yin Paradies and Amanuel Elias on How racism and a lack of diversity can harm productivity in our workplace{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Page, S., 2011, Diversity and complexity. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press

Emergence#

the ultimate behaviour of interacting parts

• Emergence (Wikipedia)
• Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell Prologue [PDF]
• Emergence- How Stupid Things Become Smart Together

Entropy#

the tendency for a system to move towards equilibrium

• Wikipedia Introduction to Entropy
• Michio Kaku and Morgan Freeman Explain Entropy YouTube
• Charlie Lineweaver and Paul Davies provide an excellent discussion about entropy and complexity in Complexity and the Arrow of Time
• Arieh Ben-Naim’s, Discover Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics Chapter 1{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• History of Entropy{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Equality#

where relationships are of equal value

• Wikipedia (disambiguation){.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Equality as in rights, see the Australian Human Rights Commission
• Equality as in Maths (without Maths!) listen to The proof is in the pudding

Equilibrium#

the balancing of multiple conditions or inputs

• Scholarpedia article
• Biology Dictionary’s definition and example of Dynamic Equilibrium{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Estimation#

an approximation of a value

• A clever way to estimate enormous numbers
• Maths and Modern Life{.link-ext target=”_blank” }, on RN’s Big Ideas
• Guesstimates and Estimation (Wikipedia)

Evolution#

the change of a system over time

• Darwin’s On The Origin of Species Wikipedia
• Bar-Yam, Making Things Work Patterns, Chapter 2{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Jonathan Keith’s article on The Conversation, How To Grow An Evolutionary Tree{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Feedback#

a loop where the output effects the input of a system

• Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline, Chapter 5- A shift of mind{.link-ext
• George Richardson’s, Feedback Mechanisms and Self-Regulatory Processes in the Social Sciences{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Fractals#

self-similar replicating patterns

• Fractals Everywhere Ch1
• Wikipedia page
• Benoit Mendelbrot “Fractals and the Art of Roughness” (Ted Talk)
• Keith McGreggor “Fractal Thinking” (TED Talk)

Framing#

how we perceive or communicate reality

• Wikipedia page
• George Lakoff, Don’t Think of an Elephant

Game theory#

strategies for anticipating the outcome of a situation

• Wikipedia page
• Prisoner’s dilemma{.link-ext target=”_blank” } as a classic example of Game Theory
• Why do competitors open their stores next to one another? Jac de Haan on TED-ed (4 mins) a great introduction to Hotelling’s Law{.link-ext target=”_blank” }, explaining why similar shops set up next to one another YouTube
• Hendricks, V., Hansen, P. and Aumann, R. (2007). Game theory. [Copenhagen]: Automatic Press VIP.

Herd effect#

The herd mentality is a powerful social force

• Suggest a reading to include in the primer…

Hermenuetical circle#

an understanding of the whole and the parts [and reverse]

• Wikipedia page
• See also:, The Blind Men and the Elephant
• for a systems perspective, Both the Parts and the Whole: Leadership and Systems Thinking{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Heuristics#

experience-based methods for approximation

• Wikipedia page
• Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, Judgement under uncertainty: Heuristics & Biases
• Heuristics and biases in decision making, explained (YouTube)

Homeostasis#

Maintaining stability in unstable conditions

• The Emergence of Environmental Homeostasis in Complex Ecosystems
• Homeostatic Control

Identity#

(depends on the context and definition)

• Wikipedia’s disambiguation page on Identity{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• (Marketing) Americus Reed II and Lisa E. Bolton’s article on The Complexity of Identity{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• (Social in-groups) Roccas and Brewer’s Social Identity Complexity{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Ignorance#

a lack of knowledge, intentional or otherwise

• Mike Smithson, Ignorance Studies PDF
• Wikipedia page

Initial conditions#

the starting conditions of a system

• Gleick, Chaos Chapter 1- the Butterfly Effect [PDF]{.link-ext

Innovation#

application of better solutions to new requirements

• Wikipedia page
• Frieman and May’s Navigating Contact: Tradition and Innovation in Australian Contact Rock Art International Journal of Historical Archaeology
• Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation, PDF

Interaction#

the actions of one object on another

• Wikipedia page
• Yaneer Bar-Yam’s, Making Things Work, Patterns, Chapter 2{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Interdisciplinarity#

working together in a way that integrates different disciplines

• Wikipedia entry on Interdisciplinarity{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Defining Interdisciplinary Studies{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Gabriele Bammer’s, Should we discipline Interdisciplinarity?{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Intersectionality#

recognition of different aspects of a person’s identity

• Wikipedia’s entry on Intersectionality{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Learning organisations#

organisations that learn from previous situations

• Wikipedia entry on Learning Organisations{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline, Chapter 4{.link-ext target=”_blank” } on learning organisations

Legacies#

ideas and artefacts that stand the test of time

• Panich’s Archeologies of Persistence: Reconsidering the Legacies of Colonialism in Native North America (PDF){.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Leverage points#

places to intervene in a system

• Wikipedia entry on 12 Leverage Points{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Donella Meadow’s original article- Leverage Points: places to intervene in a system{.link-ext target=”_blank”

Living Culture#

a culture with a rich history and current practice

• Tyson Yunkaporta’s Sand Talk{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Mental games#

a situation that is confused and full of problems

• Game Theory{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Cognitive Bias{.link-ext target=”_blank” }]

Mental models#

the thought-process about how something works

• Wikipedia entry on Mental Models{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Barry Richmond’s introduction to Tracing Connections{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Mess#

a situation that is confused and full of problems

• A messy desk encourages a creative mind, study finds{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• What a Mess: Chaos and Creativity{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Narrative#

the sequence of a story or report

Natural capital#

the world’s stock of natural resources

• Wikipedia entry on Natural Capital{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Hawkin, Lovins and Hunter Natural Capitalism, Chapter 3{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Voork, V., and H. Venema, The Natural Capital Approach A Concept Paper{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Networks#

a system of nodes and links

• Wikipedia page
• Atsushi Tero et al, Rules for Biologically Inspired Adaptive Network Design{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Bar-Yam, Making Things Work, Chapter 3 on Networks and Collective Memory{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Non-linearity#

where the change in input does not proportionally change the output

• Wikipedia page
• David Suzuki on exponential growth (YouTube)
• Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems (Section on Non-Linearity )
• Larry Hardesty “Explained: Linear and nonlinear systems” MIT News Office

Occam's razor#

a principle for selecting solutions that rely on the fewest assumptions

• Wikipedia page on Occam’s Razor
• Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Simplicity{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Gibbs, P. (1996). What is Occam’s Razor?{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Patterns#

the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner

• Patterns on Wikipedia{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Precautionary Principle#

a response to reduce harm where there is a lack of evidence

• Cass Sunstein, 2002-2003, The Paralyzing Principle{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• How we edit science part 4: how to talk about risk, and words and images not to use{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Avoiding a Precautionary Principle for the Internet{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Prediction#

to be able to forecast an uncertain event

• Wikipedia page on Prediction
• Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Simplicity{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Randomness#

Randomness takes up the infinite space adjacent to unpredictability

• Predicting a die throw{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Fooled by Randomness{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Spotify’s super shuffle{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• An. A. Muchnik & A. L. Semenov, On the Role of the Law of Large Numbers in the Theory of Randomness{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Reductionism#

that the behaviour of a system can be explained by its parts

• Putnam H. (1973). Reductionism and the Nature of Psychology. Cognition, 2(1), 131-146.
• McClamrock R. (1991). Marr’s Three Levels: A Re-evaluation. Minds and Machines

Requisite variety#

the minimum number of alternative required for a successful outcome

Resilience#

the capacity of a system to resist change

• Ecological Resilience and Organisational Resilience and Regime Shift (Wikipedia)
• Stockholm Resilience Centre’s explanation of What is Resilience?{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• What is Resilience? (YouTube)

Rights#

principles of freedom or entitlement

• Wikipedia page{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Meg Good in The Conversation, Should Australia recognise the human right to a healthy environment?{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Risk#

the likelihood of gaining or losing something of value

• Risk{.link-ext target=”_blank” } (Wikipedia)
• Chapter 26, Coping and Managing under Uncertainty PDF
• Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein

Self-organisation#

a system that organises spontaneously

• Wikipedia entry on swarm intelligence{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Fleischer’s article on ‘Foundations of Swarm Intelligence’{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• PixelBots video{.link-ext target=”_blank” }, demonstrating self-organisation

Simplicity#

tending towards the state of being simple

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Wikipedia page
• How complexity leads to simplicity (TED Talk)

Social-Technical Intersection#

The interaction between society and technology

• Pfaffenberger’s Social Anthropology of Technology PDF
• Majcman’s Reflection on Gender and Technology Studies: In What State is the Art? PDF
• Wikipedia page

Songlines#

Indigenous knowledge systems for navigation

• Christine Judith Nicholls, Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters is a must-visit exhibition for all Australians on The Conversation
• NITV’s Learn Indigenous Australian creation stories- ‘Songlines on Screen’ multimedia features{.link-ext target=”_blank”

Storytelling#

the cultural activity of telling stories

• Wikipedia page
• Ira Glass on Storytelling Video{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Mead, G, 2014, Telling the Story- The Heart & Soul of Successful Leadership, Wiley & Sons, San

Sustainability#

the property of system to continue indefinitely

• Harris on Seeking Sustainability in an Age of Complexity PDF
• William McDonough on Cradle to Cradle
• Wikipedia page

Synthesis#

the cognitive ability to merge multiple ideas or worldviews

Systems thinking#

an approach for thinking about systems principles

• Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems: A Primer, Introduction, and The Basics{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Daniel Kim, Introduction to Systems Thinking{.link-ext target=”_blank” }

Tipping points#

levels that change the behaviour of a system when traversed

• Threshold limit value (Wikipedia)
• Planetary Boundaries (read Will Steffen’s 2015 paper{.link-ext target=”_blank” } or watch the TED Talk )
• Geoff Mead, Telling the Story- The Heart & Soul of Successful Leadership, Wiley, San Francisco,

Transdisciplinarity#

a strategy that crosses many disciplinary boundaries

Triangulation#

using multiple sources to determine the truth

• Wikipedia page
• SAGE reference entry on Triangulation{.link-ext target=”_blank” } (ANU Login required)

Uncertainty#

the absence of certainty in a given situation

• Uncertainty{.link-ext target=”_blank” } (Wikipedia)
• The Many Faces and Masks of Uncertainty by Michael Smithson

Unintended consequences#

the unforeseen effects of an action

• Wikipedia entry on Unintended Consequences){.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Can Anything Save Us from Unintended Consequences? , explainer by Stuart Vyse
• 10 Fascinating Examples of Unintended Consequences by Simon Whistler (YouTube)

Unknowns#

variables or factors with incomplete information

Visualisation#

a visual representation of a system

• Edward Tufte on The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
• Harbisson- I listen to Colour

Wicked problems#

problems that are resistant to resolution

• Wicked Problems (Wikipedia)
• Brown, Valerie A., John A. Harris, Jacqueline Y Russell 2010, Tackling wicked problems through the transdisciplinary imagination, Earthscan (Chapters 1 and 2) PDF{.link-new-win target=”_blank”}
• Alford, J., & Head, B. W. (2017). Wicked and less wicked problems: a typology and a contingency framework.{.link-new-win target=”_blank”}