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RE: Complex Systems [was: Ontologies vs Schemas vs Transformat

• To: "'Roger L. Costello'" <costello@m...>, xml-dev@l...
• Subject: RE: Complex Systems [was: Ontologies vs Schemas vs Transformations]
• From: "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@i...>
• Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 15:10:19 -0500

Yes.  Reading experience but everyone everywhere has 
experience with complex systems because they are products 
of one:  evolving in a semi-closed environment called 
the real world.

That was a source for my work on information ecosystems. 

http://www.eco-online.com/pdf/infoeco.pdf

Prior to that, there is work on behavioral cybernetics that is 
of interest.  Complex systems theory was part of the research 
I did when working on Enterprise Engineering and Beyond the 
Book Metaphor; unfortunately, these aren't available today.

Just be aware that complexity theory can be a bit of a rat hole 
when it comes to practical applications, or that you will begin 
to see such practices such as object encapsulation and windowing 
systems as techniques for controlling the chaotic effects of 
complex systems.  Undamped feedback is a common source of chaos. 
That is why controls are enabled given an intelligent observer 
but can be emergent given an affective ground (say the environment 
as a sign capable or semiotic entity).  The principle challenge 
of designing an evolving system is scaling the controls.  Given 
that no system is ever completely closed or completely open, you 
will always be dealing with energy loss or Boltzman entropy 
where problems of energy loss and determinism might be summarized 
in the term "missing information".  Fisher Information is of interest.  

Note that schemas and ontologies are forms of controls.   The challenge 
could be summarized by the phrase "directed evolution in faster than real 
time" systems.

Or you cut the Gordian know and reinvent HTML which reinvented 
the GML work of people like Truly Donnovan and SGML which 
reinvented the work of Brian Reid in Scribe, and so on.  

len


From: Roger L. Costello [mailto:costello@m...]

It might be fun to create a list to
discuss semantics and data interoperability as a complex system?  I am
just starting to learn about complex systems.  Does anyone have a lot of
experience with it?   /Roger

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