| John Hopkins on Tue, 2 Apr 2019 05:54:07 +0200 (CEST) |
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| Re: <nettime> Managing complexity? |
Hi Felix --The 'size' of the system is an externally applied abstraction in that, unless one is speaking theoretically, a 'system' is always a subset of wider system: a subset conveniently defined via limits (of interaction with that wider system) and so-called boundary conditions. If one makes a basic assumption that the nature of reality is manifest as a continuity of flows, there is always 'more to consider' with any assumptions one makes about any human-defined system. In the case of a continuity of reality, there are no boundary conditions except in the abstract.
Within a techni-social system, complexity is a metric reflecting the granularity of the maintenance of control over that system. The level of control is a metric correlated to the amount of energy available to the system, as the finer 'grain' the control, the greater energy expended in maintaining that control over time. There is a direct relationship beween available energy and the potential of a system to maintain or increase complexity.
Pilots, when training on a new aircraft (or new system) have only a certain (life-limited) amount of time/energy to acquire the knowledge to control the system. Because that time/energy factor is deeply embedded in/limited by the fiscal calculation of profit, pilots weren't given the necessary knowledge tools (even the proper complete flight manuals for the 737 that do describe the cause of the fatal issue and solution). And the typical airline company outside US jurisdiction did not understand (and was not properly apprised of) the increased need for pilot training, a factor that would cost the company...
jh On 01/Apr/19 04:24, Felix Stalder wrote:
This, of course, leads to the question how to determine the size of the system. The first generation of cybernetics gave another answer to that question than the second, as Ted pointed out.
-- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dr. John Hopkins, BSc, MFA, PhD hanging on to the Laramide Orogeny http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@kein.org # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject: