The Simply Complex Law
By J.B. Ruhl
Post 4: Attributes of Complex Adaptive Systems (Part II)
July 24, 2006
The previous post introduced terms describing internal attributes of complex adaptive systems (CAS). Now we turn to terms describing co-evolution between CASs.
Co-evolution: No CAS is a closed system, thus any CAS has a set of other CASs with which it co-evolves. CASs can co-evolve horizontally on the same macroscopic scale, or vertically in nested hierarchies. Except in computer-based CAS models, defining the boundaries of a CAS thus is an artificial conception, as it may be that a seemingly small link between two CASs provides the information flow that sets of large effects in one or both, though it may be difficult to trace that causal property by studying either CAS.
Radical Openness: At some point a CAS may become so open to effects from another CAS that they essentially merge into a new CAS.
Fitness Landscape: Taking all of the attributes discussed in this and the previous post into account, each CAS has a fitness landscape, each point of which represents the fitness level associated with a particular configuration of its agents, rules of interactions, and so on. The point of adapting is to maintain high fitness. If the fitness landscape is rugged, attributes such as feedback, emergence, and path dependence will be pronounced, and it could matter significantly what the agents do on each move. Also, the CAS might find when it reaches a particular fitness “peak” that there are higher peaks nearby, but getting to them through incremental evolution is a poor strategy as it involves walking downhill before walking uphill. The CAS may need to cross a critical threshold in order to “jump” to the fitness slopes of higher peaks. All of this is complicated by the “Red Queen” effect—because a CAS co-evolves with other CASs on their own fitness quests, the former’s fitness landscape is constantly shifting below its feet. A CAS may need to run just to stay in place.
Next: The basic framework for thinking of law’s domain—its subject matter and the legal system itself—through the lens of complexity theory.