Simulation and the Search for Stability in Design

In making a design proposal, the designer is implicitly assuming some view of future events to which the design corresponds, yet the scenarios to which designers often respond are often too complex and difficult to define, so prediction is out of the question. Complex systems that appear unstable at one level of detail are often predictable at a higher order, and it is this that makes design possible. In the state space of the system in question, some regions will be stable basins of attraction in which design moves can be made with confidence, while others will be unsuitable. Suggestions are made for the use of simulation—in particular that it is less useful as a tool for scenario prediction as for mapping out this state space to search for such stable regions.