COMPLEXITY

Greg Lynn states, “The difference between the reductive tendencies of Cartesianism and the unfolding logic of Leibniz is that reductivism is expedient and crude compared with the creative, vital elegance of combinatorial multiplicity.” I love it.

Anyway, DeLanda, Casti, Wolfram and Lynn explore the issue of complexity. These authors seem to be on the same boat but on different sides of it. While it seems to me that there are similarities in the ways that they perceive and strive for complexity, there are also differences. It seems that emergence is of priority for each. One underlying difference though is in the way that emergence….emerges. LOL.

For DL it seems to always be about generational reproduction with the author creating complex and clever inputs and sorting and eliminating outputs, a glorified breeder. It seems that for Wolfram and Casti, the complexity achieved by CA and other such phenomena relies only on simple rules and simple outputs. The complexity and reproduction of the system relies on internal logic not external forces. None of the above mentioned authors seem to be as form hungry as Lynn. He discusses a model of complexity that relates directly to Leibniz. Complexity seems to be achieved through interaction and interconnectedness, “combinatorial multiplicities” and the intensities of “singularities”.