Home Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
complexity
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
weather model of Edward Lorenz Computer interface for an artificial stock marketNotice that when “Offers” (to sell) exceed “Bids” (to buy) in the “Volume” window a market crash occurs, as indicated in the “Market” window by the “Price” line dropping below the “Dividend“ value (indicated in gray). Thursday night attendance at the El Farol Bar in Santa Fe, New MexicoEconomist W. Brian Arthur plotted the attendance of 100 possible Irish-music lovers over 100 weeks. No music lover would attend if he or she predicted that the crowd would exceed 60 (the “threshold”). Over time, the number of attendees, which appears to be a random (or chaotic) sequence, fluctuates around the threshold.
Related Questions
Read Next
Highway Night Traffic Portland, drive, driving, car, automobile.
What's the Difference Between Speed and Velocity?
Above the clouds 130 nautical miles below, astronaut Mark C. Lee floats freely without tethers as he tests the new Simplified Aid for Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Spacewalk Rescue (SAFER) system, Sept. 16, 1994. Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-64
Gravity: From Apples to the Universe
Discover
Periodical Cicada, Adult, Magicicada spp. Requires 17 years to complete development. Nymph splits its skin, and transforms into an adult. Feeds on sap of tree roots. Northern Illinois Brood. This brood is the largest emergence of cicadas anywhere
Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years?
Solar eclipse of the sun.
The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses
Solar Eclipse, Eclipse, Solar Flare, Outer Space, Astronomy
What Causes Lunar and Solar Eclipses?
Person paying with a credit card using a credit card terminal. Cashless payment, credit card reader
What Is a Cashless Society and How Does It Work?
Artist interpretation of a Space meteoroid impact. Meteor impact. Asteroid, End of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Planet Earth, Doomsday Predictions, comet
10 Failed Doomsday Predictions
solar eclipse, sun, moon, astronomy, space
How Do You Tell the Difference Between Total, Annular, Solar, and Lunar Eclipses?
Aphrodite. Greek mythology. Sculpture. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.
12 Greek Gods and Goddesses
Science & Tech

complexity

scientific theory
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://64.176.36.150/science/complexity-scientific-theory
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History
weather model of Edward Lorenz
weather model of Edward Lorenz
See all media
Category: Science & Tech
Key People:
John Henry Holland
Edward Lorenz
Related Topics:
system
See all related content →

complexity, a scientific theory which asserts that some systems display behavioral phenomena that are completely inexplicable by any conventional analysis of the systems’ constituent parts. These phenomena, commonly referred to as emergent behaviour, seem to occur in many complex systems involving living organisms, such as a stock market or the human brain. For instance, complexity theorists see a stock market crash as an emergent response of a complex monetary system to the actions of myriad individual investors; human consciousness is seen as an emergent property of a complex network of neurons in the brain. Precisely how to model such emergence—that ...(100 of 5548 words)

Access the full article
Help support true facts by becoming a member.