Complex Science Essay

Kelly McDonald

04/28/14

Module 7

Complexity Science Looking at the world where we live everything in someway is connected. Our world is not simple and in fact consists of multiple complex systems. Some everyday examples of complex systems are the brain, immune system, insect colonies, and even social networks such as Facebook and twitter. So what exactly do all these have in common in order to be a complex system? First is the fact that each one has a large amount of simple components that work together by communication through signals without being under leadership. But not all systems are exactly the same so we can break it down further into chaotic systems, complex adaptive systems, and nonlinear systems. Chaotic systems differ in that

It can become very beneficial in the long run depending on how it is applied. However, that’s just it you do not need to know how the entire global economic system works in order to benefit from it. When Benoit Mandelbrot created fractals they were used in various ways, to measure nature and various systems throughout the world. Proven in the video, fractals were used to translate a small piece in the real world to a larger scale involving multiple complex systems. We see this demonstrated when one single tree in the rainforest was observed breaking down into fractals and using the geometrical math in order to predict the amounts of C02 the entire rainforest can absorb. By having this ability to look more at the individual rather than the whole system it is used to our advantage into understanding the system while making the right choices as needed. By right choices I mean looking at the cause and effect of every decision. So referring back to the tree example the decision was to chop down one single tree because the research behind the one tree helped analyze how an entire rainforest is aiding to slow down global warming. Unfortunately, fractal geometry cannot be used towards absolutely everything as it was proven in the videos of anxious age that in a chaotic system it would be

After studying the water Temple’s in Bali the structural and organized farm lands created by the Bali people in order for them to regulate their land and resources is a great example to demonstrate the cause and effects of situations according to the right and wrong choices. The complex system they created for the rice fields used a form of small governance by the people over the subak fields by the individuals themselves forming a coordinated schedule of when the crops would be irrigated. Due to the fact that they control what goes into their crops and the amount of resources used they can limit the outcome of pesticides and damaging effects to the corral reefs. At the individual scale this allowed the Bali people to save their resources while growing just enough food to support their people. Not only is this a positive outcome for the environment but just as much for the community because the success of their crops is based on one another’s communication and interaction. When the government steps in concentrating solely on the larger scale and outcome they may have been making the right choices for the bigger picture but not necessarily for the long haul. By forcing the Bali people to produce larger amounts of food it created food security for more people due to the higher amounts of crops produced at one single time. However, in order to grow larger amounts of crops means that more resources such