[FRIAM] formalization of Complexity (was Dynamics of Complex Systems by Yaneer Bar-Yam)

[Stephen Guerin]

>  Yet when I ask for a formal treatment, I get no answer.

I very much like Hubler's deceptively simple definition of complexity:
	"A complex systems is a system with large throughput of Energy,
Information, Force, .... through a well designed boundary."

His notes from the SFI CSSS school with this definition are here:
http://www.how-why.com/ucs2002/tutorial/


As a restatement of the same ideas that formalizes what "large" means, I would
offer:
	"complexity emerges when a gradient acting on a system exceeds the
capacity of the internal degrees of freedom of the system to dissipate the
gradient".


Is that formal enough? or, does the statement need to be mathematized?

-Steve

________________________________________
Stephen.Guerin at Redfish.com
www.Redfish.com
624 Agua Fria Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501
mobile: (505)577-5828
office: Santa Fe, NM (505)995-0206 / London, UK +44 (0) 20 7993 4769