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Edit -RSurles-hw4- here. 1. The two most improtant things/concepts which I learned from Simon's Chapter 8 "The Architecture of Complexity" are first, thinking about complexity in relation to systems of hierarchies and second, applying a reductionist (regress) method to analyze something that is complex or appears to be complex. 1.1 I consider these to be significant because it gives one a specific frame of reference to begin your own comprehension of something that is complex. In reading this chapter again I am reminded of Per Bak's book "How Nature Works". In the book complexity is defined as being or having variability. We live in a dynamic world. Nature is complex because it is has variability. The things that are of our world, the artifical, also has variability. We live in a dynamic world both natural and artifical. Simon employs basic reductionism to breaking complexity down into smaller more understandable subsystems. The subsystems are hierarchial and relational. By continually reducing variability down into smaller units they become more tractable. His method is very comparable to Descartes's rules for the direction of the mind. Descarte proposed that if and when we encounter difficulty or difficult situatons we should start to understand the problem by breaking it down into more managable elements and continue the process until we have reached a position of comprehension. While we are in the process of breaking down the comple into the simple we must always keep in mind the totality of the problem and the various relationships between them. 1.2 The concepts are very relavant to my work. As a real estate developer I am continusously confronted by very complex problems. Those problems are confounded by the fact that they are nutured by competing interest of many different groups. Each group wanting its interest to prevail. The problems are dynamic. They exibit all the attributes of complexity and must be broken down into more managable elements. Simon's techniques are very applicable and are also very instrumental in arriving at some resolution and in many cases solutions that are acceptable to all the stakeholders. 2. 8x8 mutulated matrix. 2.1 There are 62 squares. 2 divided into the 62 squares comes out to 31 units. 31 is not an even number therefore you cannot place a domino square over the grid 31 times. 2.2 I used both a trial and error method as a basic heuristic for trying to cover the matrix 31 times. I was not successful in doing it by this method. Next I just tried to justify it mathemathically and it did not work. This gave me reason to believe it cannot be done. 2.3 First covering the grid by trial and error. Second by math. 2.4 Pencil and paper. 2.5 I believe that one could write a program that would show that it cannot be done and it would be useful. 2.6 I have learned that it is important to frame the problem into smaller elements. 2.7 This course is one on Design, Learning, and Collaboration and as such it will, no doubt, provide us with many concepts that will enable us to approach learning with specific stategies in mind for getting the most out of complex issues. It will enable us to be more prudent in formulating assumptions about our world and applying those assumptions in complex problems. We should never be afraid to change our assumptions when we find out that they are wrong. It is ok to be wrong or to fail, however we must always be ready to try again; to change the assumptions, the model, or the resources in order to succeed! |
