This is a report on a long-term research project about the evolution of system of political organizations. An agent-based computer simulation model is developed with the aim of exploring the inter-connection between tools and concepts from the field of political science with the emerging field of complex systems analysis and the simulation of ecological processes. In political science, we can d...

Health systems are increasingly recognised to be complex adaptive systems (CASs), functionally characterised by their continuing and dynamic adaptation in response to core system drivers, or attractors. The core driver for our health system (and for the health reform strategies intended to achieve it) should clearly be the improvement of people's health - the personal experience of health, rega...

Statistical physics has accustomed us to mathematical descriptions of systems with a large number of components. The thermodynamic properties of ideal gases were understood as early as the end of the 19th century, while those of solids were understood at the beginning of the 20th century. In both cases, two important properties make modeling easy: B These are systems in which all of the compone...

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In the context of superintelligent AI systems, the term “oracle” has two meanings. One refers to modular systems queried for domain-specific tasks. Another usage, referring to a class of systems which may be useful for addressing the value alignment and AI control problems, is a superintelligent AI system that only answers questions. The aim of this manuscript is to survey contemporary research...

Complex adaptive systems (CAS) exhibit properties beyond complex systems such as self-organization, adaptability and modularity. Designing models of CAS is typically a nontrivial task as many components are made up of subcomponents and rely on a large number of complex interactions. Studying features of these models also requires specific work for each system. Moreover, running these models as ...

Concepts taken from complex systems theory, such as ‘agents’ and ‘attractors’, have been proposed as metaphors in medical practice. This proposal is assessed by a comparison of the notions of complex adaptive systems (CAS) and human complexity. CAS are characterized by the emergence of sophisticated output features of rule-governed non-linear systems. Human complexity is the result of higher me...

We live in a very complex world where we face complex phenomena such as social norms and new technologies. To deal with such phenomena, social scientists often use reductionism approach where they reduce them to some lower-lever variables and model the relationships among them through a scheme of equations. This approach that is called equation based modeling (EBM) has some basic weaknesses in ...

Virtual research collaborations (VRCs) have become an important method of conducting scientific activity; however, they are often regarded and treated as traditional scientific collaborations. Their success is measured by scholarly productivity and adherence to budget by funding agencies, participating scientists, and scholars. VRCs operate in complex environments interacting with other complex...