Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos

by M. Mitchell Waldrop

“So from this point of view, the purpose of having a Santa Fe Institute is that it, and places like it, are where the metaphors and a vocabulary are being created in complex systems. So if somebody comes along with a beautiful study on the computer, then you can say ‘Here’s a new metaphor. Let’s call this one the edge of chaos,’ or whatever. So what the SFI will do, if it studies enough complex systems, is to show us the kinds of patterns we might observe, and the kinds of metaphor that might be appropriate for systems that are moving and in process and complicated, rather than the metaphor of clockwork. “So I would argue that a wise use of the SFI is to let it do science,” he says. “To make it into a policy shop would be a great mistake. It would cheapen the whole affair. And in the end it would be counterproductive, because what we’re missing at the moment is any precise understanding of how complex systems operate. This is the next major task in science for the next 50 to 100 years.” “I think there’s a personality that goes with this kind of thing,” Arthur says. “It’s people who like process and pattern, as opposed to people who are comfortable with stasis and order. I know that every time in my life that I’ve run across simple rules giving rise to emergent, complex messiness, I’ve just said, ‘Ah, isn’t that lovely!’ And I think that sometimes, when other people run across it, they recoil.”