Understanding complex adaptive systems

One example of a complex adaptive system is the beautiful Japanese garden in Golden Gate Park.
The Japanese garden in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco is one example of a complex adaptive system.

So this is an interesting thing.

I had two classes this quarter at Northwestern University, and they both had similar, but seperate objectives.

  • First, it was a project to highlight my interactive graphic design skills.
  • Secondly, it was a project to highlight my interactive storytelling skills.

Ok, so with the approval of the instructors for both classes, I created this microsite on the subject of complex adaptive systems.

Complex adaptive systems are one way to model lots and lots of different kinds of things that happen in the universe, at a variety of scales.  CAS models are used to understand everything from immune system responses to macroeconomic fluctuations, to sociological phenomena.

So why not take a look at it?  Features include:

  • Fully object-oriented complex adaptive system simulator, coded from scratch in Flash CS4 (Actionscript 3).
  • Introductory movie with all kinds of appropriated images from the creative commons and Prelinger archives
  • Links to lots of complex systems resources, including a full programming framework to create your own multi-agent modeling schemes.

Understanding complex adaptive systems.