 Abstract | Despite a general recognition of the importance of complex systems, there is a dearth of general models capable of describing their dynamics. This is attributed to a complexity scale; the models are attempting to describe systems at different parts of the scale and are hence not compatible. We require new models capable of describing complex behaviour at different points of the complexity scale. This work identifies, and proceeds to examine systems at the high end of the complexity scale, those which have not to date been well understood by our current modelling
methodology. It is shown that many such models exhibit what might be termed contextual dependency, and that it is precisely this feature which is not well understood by our current modelling methodology. A particular problem is
discussed; our apparent inability to generate systems which display high end complexity, exhibited by for example
the general failure of strong ALife. A new model, Process Physics, that has been developed at Flinders University is discussed, and arguments are presented that it exhibits high end complexity. The features of this model that
lead to its displaying such behaviour are discussed, and the generalisation of this model to a broader range of complex systems is attempted. |
