The Digital Cobbler

One very important theoretical capacity should be discussed here. Much of the
work of current computational scientists (that is: researchers who are using
computer models and routines to solve the problems in their discipline, as opposed
to “computer scientists” who are developing the computers themselves)
is based on the idea that they are running a process to solve their problems
and that the process itself is the solution, not the product of the process
once it is finished. Of the several ways in which process can be (and has been)
described, for our purposes play might be the most useful. As a critical
aspect of today’s information, play has three manifestations that define our
information age: profusion, complexity, and emergence.

Profusion is the most immediately obvious idea. We have a ‘cornucopia’ of information at hand. Complexity is at a deeper level. It is opposite to the information idioms of previous ages. With complexity, information is not linear nor predictable. Emergent systems lead from studies of complexity. They embody concepts like ‘self-organized’ and ‘adaptive’ systems using ‘feedback loops’. Emergent systems have another property: they follow the “arrow of time” (Hobart & Schiffman 238).

 

There are pleny of other discussions and explanations of their analysis of
these concepts. Look down near the bottom of this page.

 

It is also worth noting that not everybody agrees with their analysis, as this
page demonstrates.

 

Back to Some Information Theory.