Complexity all the way down
Topic: Scale
by Albert-Ngabo, 2019 Cohort
Scale is an important factor to consider when trying to understand a complex system. In this primer we will focus on scale as a tool for analysis. From this point of view there are three levels of the system that you need to concern yourself with: the macro, micro, and meso level.
The macro level of your system is the entire system. At this level the general behaviour of the entire system can be observed. The micro level involves the individual parts of the system. This means that the behaviour of individual components of the system can be identified.
Macro and micro level analysis are both useful however, they only provide limited information of the system. For example, let’s say you have a picture of a city. When looking at the entire picture, you can observe the buildings and how they are arranged. However, you can’t see individual streets and people. Once, you zoom into the picture, you start seeing individual streets and people with more detail, but you can no longer see the entire city. Therefore, depending on whether you are analysing the macro or the micro there is information you can’t access.
Although, it is tempting to analyse the system at both a micro and a macro level and combine the results of the analyses, this is not enough. The connection between micro interactions and macro behaviour is often unclear. For example, emergent systems may display macro behaviour that can’t be predicted from only the micro interactions of the system.
There are multiple techniques proposed to bridge this gap between macro and micro level analysis. This primer will focus on using meso level analysis to bridge the gap. The meso level of the system refers to the organisational level of the system. It represents how the individual parts of the system are organised. It is the level where the links between micro and macro level behaviour can be observed. Using the city picture analogy, zooming into one block of the city, would represent the meso level. At this level the overall structure of the city starts to emerge, but you can still see some micro structures like streets.
Meso level analysis, or more generally multi-level analysis is used heavily in the social sciences as a means of trying to understand how micro- interactions leads to macro-behaviour. For example, in history there has been a push in using meso level analysis when explaining civil wars. When analysing civil wars, one can look at how the rebel groups organise themselves. This organisation represents the meso level. Using these organisations, the affects of micro interactions like recruitment and morale and the macro patterns like the duration and severity of the war can be
Overall, analysing your complex system, on the macro, micro and meso level can provide you a holistic view on how your system behaves.
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