Capable Quote by John L. Casti

A second possible approach to general systems theory is through the arrangement of theoretical systems and constructs in a hierarchy of complexity, roughly corresponding…

— Kenneth E. Boulding

“The term we use for the unanticipated result from these interactions is emergence. While not all interactions create emergent effects, when emergence does occur…

— Rich Jolly

A system is a set of things people, cells, molecules, or whatever interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of…

— Donella Meadows

“So, what is a system? A system is a set of things—people, cells, molecules, or whatever—interconnected in such a way that they produce their…

— Donella H. Meadows

“Emergence: A phenomenon where an interaction among objects at one level generates new types of objects at another level. The emergent characteristic requires a…

— Rich Jolly

We are a species that must try to impose and find systems - systems of thought, ways of organizing and categorizing reality.

— Jonah Goldberg

This spontaneous emergence of order at critical points of instability, which is often referred to simply as "emergence," is one of the hallmarks of…

— Fritjof Capra

“systems theory or, as some people might call it, complexity theory? The simplest explanation is that it is the study of interactions.”

— Rich Jolly

The relations that define a system as a unity, and determine the dynamics of interaction and transformations which it may undergo as such a…

— Francisco Varela

“diverse, connected, interdependent entities whose behavior is determined by rules, which may adapt, but need not. The interactions of these entities often produce phenomena…

— Scott E. Page

“Because of their composite nature, complex systems can exhibit catastrophic behavior.”

— Per Bak

What is important is that complex systems, richly cross-connected internally, have complex behaviours, and that these behaviours can be goal-seeking in complex patterns.

— William Ross Ashby