The Hidden Fragility of Complex Systems—Consequences of Change, Changing Consequences

James P. Crutchfield

Complexity Sciences Center and Physics Department
University of California at Davis
Davis, CA 95616

ABSTRACT: Short-term survival and an exuberant plunge into building our future are generating a new kind of unintended consequence—hidden fragility. This is a direct effect of the sophistication and structural complexity of the socio-technical systems human's create. It is inevitable. And so the challenge is, How much can we understand and predict about these systems and about the social dynamics that lead to their construction?

J. P. Crutchfield, "The Hidden Fragility of Complex Systems—Consequences of Change, Changing Consequences", in Cultures of Change: Social Atoms and Electronic Lives, G. Ascione, C. Massip, and J. Perello, editors, ACTAR D Publishers, Barcelona, Spain (2009) 98-111.
[pdf] 164 kB
Santa Fe Institute Working Paper 09-12-045.
arXiv: 2003.11153.