COMPLEXITY

• Complexity means that simple linear models won’t do. Our world is fast moving and highly interdependent.
• The sine qua non of social processes is positive feedback
• Complexity can occur even in apparently simply structured situations, with only simple decision rules.
• Complexity means you have to look at more not fewer contributing factors – Occam’s razor may have had its day.
• If the environment is complex, then you need a model that can cope – or you will trip over.
• And understanding human systems means understanding highly complex human values as they influence our actions