Quotable

Pithy sayings to remember

Quote:  Control, in Moderation, Yields Adaptability

“We do not yet know what makes some systems more adaptable than others, but research on complexity has yielded some clues. Some of my own work on physical systems called spin glasses suggests that the level of central control over subsidiary parts of a system is an important consideration. Too much control freezes the system into limited configurations; too little causes it to wander aimlessly. Only systems that hover on the border between order and chaos exhibit the needed general stability and capacity to explore the universe of possible solutions to challenges.”

--Stuart A. Kauffman, Scientific American November 2006, p. 44

Posted by Neil Carlson on Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 09:50 PM
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Circular reasoning is divine

“All correct reasoning is a grand system of tautologies, but only God can make direct use of that fact.”

Herbert Simon, The Sciences of the Artificial, 3rd Edition, 1996

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Posted by Neil Carlson on Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 11:10 PM
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