Clipmarks | abailart's 'complexity' clips

Playing With Complexity

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 07:35:56 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes

Playing With Complexity

In brief, in the presentation I argue two things: one — that the more sophisticated applications of interactive data visualization resemble games and toys in many ways, and two — that game design can contribute to the solutions to several design issues I have detected in the field of data visualization.

Below are the notes for the talk, slightly edited, and with references included. The full deck of slides, which includes credits for all the images used, is up on SlideShare.

In my work I focus on three areas: mobility, social interactions, and play.

My talk is roughly divided in three parts. First, I will briefly describe what I think data visualization is. Next, I will look at some applications beyond the very obvious. Third and last, I will discuss some design issues involved with data visualization. For each of these issues, I will show how game design can contribute.

Tags: visualization, data visualization, game, games, interaction, complexity, design, information design

Evolution Beyond Darwin — Way Beyond

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:06:53 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Highly complex honeybee communities are one example of phenomena that some scientists think can't be explained by the mainstream theory of evolution alone, but instead by a theory of self-organization.
Courtesy AlainB/Flickr

Nearly 150 years after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, evolution has been widely accepted by scientists -- and, except for a few religious dogmatic types, the public -- as the blueprint for the engine of life.

But not every scientist thinks that evolution as it's now understood and applied is complete. They want to scale it up to the level of populations, even whole ecosystems. Moreover, they say evolution is intertwined with other dynamics that science is just starting to understand.

"The process of evolution is fundamental to the universe. Biology is the most obvious manifestation of it," said Carl Woese, a legendary microbiologist and one of the first proponents of this newly revised evolutionary framework.

Tags: complexity, evolution, darwin

life is destined to become more complex

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:09:51 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: "We must not forget that bacteria – very simple organisms – are among the most successful living things. Therefore, the trend towards complexity is compelling but does not describe the history of all life.”

Clip Source: physorg.com

Scientists have revealed what may well be the first pervasive ‘rule’ of evolution. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences researchers have found evidence which suggests that evolution drives animals to become increasingly more complex.

Looking back through the last 550 million years of the fossil catalogue to the present day, the team investigated the different evolutionary branches of the crustacean family tree.

They were seeking examples along the tree where animals evolved that were simpler than their ancestors.

Instead they found organisms with increasingly more complex structures and features, suggesting that there is some mechanism driving change in this direction.

“If you start with the simplest possible animal body, then there’s only one direction to evolve in – you have to become more complex,”

“This is the nearest thing to a pervasive evolutionary rule that’s been found.

Tags: evolution, complexity, life, structures

Rigidity: Why.

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:25:34 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo

Clip Source: www.ecologyandsociety.org

Feedbacks leading to alternative stable modes of behavior occur on levels varying from the cell and the mind to societies. The tendency to lock into a certain pattern comes at the cost of the ability to adjust to new situations. The resulting rigidity limits the ability of persons, groups, and companies to respond to new problems, and some even suggest that it may have contributed to the collapse of ancient societies. In the face of these negative effects, it may seem surprising that lock-in situations are so ubiquitous.

In cells, it filters out noise, and allows a well-defined and consistent behavior once a certain threshold is passed. Basically, the same holds for the attitudes and behavior of individuals and groups.

Understanding why rigidity makes sense may help in finding ways to avoid traps in situations where flexible response and innovation are needed.

Tags: complexity, behavior, innovation, change, adaptation