Complex System

Absolute vs. Relative Optimization:

• Absolute Optimization (
  Utilitarianism): Maximizing benefits for everyone.

• Relative Optimization (
  Nash equilibrium): Maximizing individual benefits while maintaining balance with others.

• Price of Anarchy: The degree to which individual selfishness hinders overall social optimization.

• Braess Paradox: When excluding the fact that wrong choices (e.g., adding a specific path) can disrupt equilibrium, utilitarianism and Nash equilibrium can achieve the same ideal results.

Complex vs. Complicated

• Complicated: Structural and predictable systems with repeatable solutions

• Complex: Unique and unpredictable systems requiring adaptive and innovative approaches

Properties

• Emergent Behavior: Impossible to predict overall behavior from individual components alone

• Delayed Consequence: Effects of actions appear later rather than immediately

• Local vs. Global Optimization: Local optimization can negatively impact the whole system

• Hysteresis: System continues to be influenced by past states even after they're gone

• Nonlinearity: Small changes can cause large ripple effects or sudden boundary shifts

Working on Complex Systems: What I Learned Working at Google

This is why recognizing whether a system is complicated or complex is so important: it shapes how we should approach problem-solving.

https://www.thecoder.cafe/p/complex-systems

Complex system - Wikipedia

A complex system is a system composed of many components which may interact with each other. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication systems, complex software and electronic systems, social and economic organizations (like cities), an ecosystem, a living cell, and ultimately the entire universe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_system