Technological Quotes by John Henry Holland

Particular individuals do not recur, but their building blocks do.

— John Henry Holland

nonlinear interactions almost always make the behavior of the aggregate more complicated than would be predicted by summing or averaging.

— John Henry Holland

The multiplier effect is a major feature of networks and flows. It arises regardless of the particular nature of the resource, be it goods,…

— John Henry Holland

Model building is the art of selecting those aspects of a process that are relevant to the question being asked. As with any art,…

— John Henry Holland

When a new building block is discovered, the result is usually a range of innovations.

— John Henry Holland

Evolution continually innovates, but at each level it conserves the elements that are recombined to yield the innovations.

— John Henry Holland

The recycling of resource by the aggregate behavior of a diverse array of agents is much more than the sum of the individual actions.

— John Henry Holland

Unwrapping occurs when the "solution" is explicitly built into the program from the start.

— John Henry Holland

Looking back to data, we can see if the consequences are plausible; looking forward to theory, we can see if general principles are suggested.

— John Henry Holland

Holland's and Kauffman's work, together with Dawkins' simulations of evolution and Varela's models of autopoietic systems, provide essential inspiration for the new discipline of…

— John Henry Holland

From the point of view of physics, it is a miracle that [seven million New Yorkers are fed each day] without any control mechanism…

— John Henry Holland

The measure of performance of any given agent is the amount of money it accumulates through its actions.

— John Henry Holland