Complex Adaptive Systems: An Introduction to Computational Models of Social Life

John H. Miller, Scott E. Page

Princeton University Press, Nov 28, 2009 - Social Science - 288 pages

This book provides the first clear, comprehensive, and accessible account of complex adaptive social systems, by two of the field's leading authorities. Such systems--whether political parties, stock markets, or ant colonies--present some of the most intriguing theoretical and practical challenges confronting the social sciences. Engagingly written, and balancing technical detail with intuitive explanations, Complex Adaptive Systems focuses on the key tools and ideas that have emerged in the field since the mid-1990s, as well as the techniques needed to investigate such systems. It provides a detailed introduction to concepts such as emergence, self-organized criticality, automata, networks, diversity, adaptation, and feedback. It also demonstrates how complex adaptive systems can be explored using methods ranging from mathematics to computational models of adaptive agents.


John Miller and Scott Page show how to combine ideas from economics, political science, biology, physics, and computer science to illuminate topics in organization, adaptation, decentralization, and robustness. They also demonstrate how the usual extremes used in modeling can be fruitfully transcended.

Contents

• Introduction: 3
• Complexity in Social Worlds: 9
• Preliminaries: 33
• On Emergence: 44
• Computational Modeling: 55
• Why AgentBased Objects?: 78
• Models of Complex Adaptive: 91
• Complex Adaptive Social Systems in One Dimension: 114
• Social Dynamics: 141
• Evolving Automata: 178
• Some Fundamentals of Organizational Decision Making: 200
• Social Science in Between: 213
• Epilogue: 227
• How Sophisticated Must Agents Be Before They Are Interesting?: 239
• What Are the Equivalence Classes of Adaptive Behavior? A 15 When Does Adaptation Lead to Optimization and: 240
• Equilibrium?: 241
• How Important Is Communication to Complex Adaptive Social Systems?: 242
• How Do Decentralized Markets Equilibrate?: 243
• What Are the Origins of Social Life?: 244
• B Practices for Computational Modeling: 245
• Keep the Model Simple: 246
• The Old Computer Test: 247
• Nest Your Models: 248
• Construct Flexible Frameworks: 249
• Check the Parameters: 250
• Know the Source of Random Numbers: 251
• Avoid False Precision: 252
• Distribute Your Code: 253
• Reward the Right Things: 254
• Bibliography: 255
• Index: 261

About the author

John H. Miller is professor of economics and social sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. Scott E. Page is professor of complex systems, political science, and economics at the University of Michigan. He is the author of The Difference (Princeton).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Complex Adaptive Systems: An Introduction to Computational Models of Social Life; Princeton Studies in Complexity
• Authors: John H. Miller, Scott E. Page
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2009
• ISBN: 1400835526, 9781400835522
• Length: 288 pages
• Subjects: Mathematics / Applied; Social Science / General