Complexes

Cities are changing constantly. All urban systems face different conditions from day to day. Even when averaged regularities can be found, urban systems will be more efficient if they can adapt to changes at the same speeds at which these occur. Technology can assist humans in achieving this adaptation. Inspired by cybernetics, we propose a description of cities as adaptive systems. We identify three main components: information, algorithms, and agents, which we illustrate with current and future examples. The implications of adaptive cities are manifold, with direct impacts on mobility, sustainability, resilience, governance, and society. Still, the potential of adaptive cities will not depend so much on technology as on how we use it. Adaptive Cities: A Cybernetic Perspective on Urban Systems Carlos Gershenson, Paolo Santi, Carlo Ratti http://arxiv.org/abs/1609.02000

Education at all levels is facing several challenges in most countries [1-4], such as low quality, high costs, lack of educators, and unsatisfied student demand. Traditional approaches are becoming unable to deliver the required education. Several causes for this inefficiency can be identified. I argue that beyond specific causes, the lack of effective education is related to complexity [5, 6]. However, information technology is helping us overcome this complexity. Complexity can be measured with information theory and can be seen as the balance between stability and variability [7-10]: phenomena without change or with constant change cannot exhibit complex behavior. It has been noted that to actively control a complex system, the controller has to be at least as complex as the controlled [11, 12]. For example, a successful healthcare provider has to match the complexity of the patients she attends. Treatment is highly specific for different patients, so a general practitioner must ha...

Education at all levels is facing several challenges in most countries, such as low quality, high costs, lack of educators, and unsatisfied student demand. Traditional approaches are becoming unable to deliver the required education. Several causes for this inefficiency can be identified. I argue that beyond specific causes, the lack of effective education is related to complexity. However, information technology is helping us overcome this complexity. http://arxiv.org/abs/1402.2827

This article presents an overview of current and potential applications of living technology to some urban problems. Living technology can be described as technology that exhibits the core features of living systems. These features can be useful to solve dynamic problems. In particular, urban problems concerning mobility, logistics, telecommunications, governance, safety, sustainability, and society and culture are presented, and solutions involving living technology are reviewed. A methodology for developing living technology is mentioned, and supraoptimal public transportation systems are used as a case study to illustrate the benefits of urban living technology. Finally, the usefulness of describing cities as living systems is discussed. Gershenson, C. (2013). Living in living cities. Artificial Life , 19  (3 & 4): 401–420. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/ARTL_a_00112   Free Access Related to this  TED@SãoPaulo talk . Check the rest of the...

Cybernetics and Systems Research (CSR) were developed in the mid-twentieth century, offering the possibility of describing and comparing different phenomena using the same language. The concepts which originated in CSR have spread to practically all disciplines, many now used within the scientific study of complex systems. CSR has the potential to contribute to the solution of relevant problems, but the path towards this goal is not straightforward. This paper summarizes the ideas presented by the authors during a round table in 2012 on the past, present and future of CSR. The Past, Present and Future of Cybernetics and Systems Research Carlos Gershenson, Peter Csermely, Peter Erdi, Helena Knyazeva, Alexander Laszlo http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.6317

Earlier this month I gave a seminar back at the VUB, one of my alma maters. Here is a video recording, more details here  or below. Application of living technology to urban problems   Carlos Gershenson  (Universidad Nacional  Autónoma de México)  Abstract: I will present an overview of current and potential applications of living technology to urban problems. Living technology can be described as technology that exhibits the core features of living systems. These features can be useful to solve dynamic problems. In particular, urban problems concerning mobility, logistics, telecommunications, governance, safety, sustainability, and society and culture are presented, while solutions involving living technology are reviewed. A methodology for developing living technology is mentioned, while supraoptimal public transportation systems are used as a case study to illustrate the benefits of urban living technology. Finally, the usefulness of de...

Last June I had the privilege to participate in a wonderful evening in São Paulo where local TEDx organizers from all over Brazil gathered to attend TED's worldwide talent search . There were extremely interesting and moving 6 minute talks from a very broad range of themes and topics. I gave a talk on our work on Living Cities and their potential for solving urban problems. There were almost 300 talks in 14 cities worldwide. 20 of those will be selected to present in TED2013. TED@SãoPaulo was the only event held in Latin America, and I am the only Mexican competing for a place in TED2013. Please watch, rate, comment, and share my talk before August 31st, to help the organizers decide: http://talentsearch.ted.com/video/Carlos-Gershenson-Bringing-urba;TEDSao-Paulo You can find related work at http://arxiv.or­g/abs/1111.3659 http://dx.doi.­org/10.1371/jour­nal.pone.0021469 http://dx.plos.­org/10.1371/jour­nal.pone.0007292

This paper presents and overview of current and potential applications of living technology to urban problems. Living technology can be described as technology that exhibits the core features of living systems. These features can be useful to solve dynamic problems. In particular, urban problems concerning mobility, logistics, telecommunications, governance, safety, sustainability, and society and culture are presented, while solutions involving living technology are reviewed. Finally, the usefulness of describing cities as living systems is discussed. Gershenson, C. (2011). Living in Living Cities. C3 Report 2011.09.  http://arxiv.org/abs/1111.3659

The science: mice are born with genetic material of two males (fresh news). http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2010/12/look_dads_no_mum.html The science fiction: dreams of a teenager (~12 years ago). http://turing.iimas.unam.mx/~cgg/jlagunez/npm1.htm  [in Spanish...]

I was wondering the other day: what would happen if there was a single currency throughout the world? Who would benefit? Who would lose? Is it a sensible idea? It seems to have been good for the Euro zone, but there are not that many disparities between the member states. Searching a bit online, I quickly found: http://www.singleglobalcurrency.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_currency http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/0614.htm So it is an interesting idea, but will it be worth the effort?

One measure of people's knowledge is the amount of information that a person can come up with. In the "old" days, this information would come mainly out of your head. From experience, you can know what things are, e.g. facts, dates, etc. With a good memory , you can reproduce much learned information. Add reasoning , and you can combine your experiences to produce novel information and know how things work. Thus, people will have more knowledge if they are able to store and manipulate information. This was the game humankind played... until a decade ago. Blame it on Google . What is the use of memorizing information when you can find it in an instant? Before you had to go to a library to search for information, so it was a big advantage to have a good memory. Now remembering and reasoning are not enough. You need to know where to find information. Certainly, this does not displace reasoning, only encyclopedic memory. The thing is that having such an accessible inform...

In this TED Talk , Al Gore argues for global action to face global crisis. The proposed solution: tax carbon. In theory, it sounds like a good option. However, how to bring it to reality? How many changes in economies would this produce? Certainly, companies would be tempted to use renewable energy sources, and these would become a great market. However, oil companies hold much of the power behind curtains. Could a social movement achieve this change? Could this be effectively implemented in most countries? What to do with countries who would not tax their carbon emissions? This huge change wouldn't be the end of the world, certainly, but such a drastic transformation seems almost impossible. Well, let's fight for this almost impossibility, otherwise we'll be sitting on our fat behinds waiting for catastrophes to force the transformation.

Researchers from the Venter Institute recently synthesized an entire genome . Not too big, just 582,970–base pairs. They first synthesized pieces and then "stitched" them together into a larger one, then larger ones together, and so on. I wonder, how big a DNA molecule could you make? Usually long proteins such as DNA tend to fold into complex shapes, but chromosomes are actually single molecules that can be seen under a not so posh microscope. Could DNA molecules visible to the naked eye be made? If so, what would be their properties? Solid? Springy? Would they be stable? There are already visible molecules: nanotubes , graphite sheets, and diamonds, which have quite unique properties. Would huge DNA molecules have also interesting properties up the sleeve?

My friend Clément recently uploaded this preprint: Vidal, C. (2008). " The Ultimate Future of Artificial Life: Towards Artificial Cosmogenesis ". arXiv 0803.1087. Among other things, he explores a possible solution to the heat death problem, i.e. our universe will die as its energy dissipates and will reach thermodynamical equilibrium. This is to create a new universe, not necessarily in simulation, but a brand new physical universe. I agree with some of his ideas, but not with others. E.g. he believes that OUR universe was created by a higher civilization (otherwise why all the cosmological constants are just right for life? this is known as the fine tuning problem), while I believe in natural selection at all scales . But anyway, that is not even in the paper (gladly, since it smells of intelligent design...), but remains from our discussions on the topic. I'll just list the obstacles I find in the creation of a universe from ours: Even when Moore's law has increa...

I recently watched Robin Chase's talk on TED.com . She is the founder of Zipcar , Goloco , and Meadow Networks . Great ideas for reducing carbon emissions, traffic, and improving quality of life... I wonder whether Zipcar would work in Mexico City...

James E. Lovelock and Chris G. Rapley recently submitted a letter to Nature , suggesting the use of pipes to mix ocean waters to help them bloom pumping carbon dioxide underwater. Sounds much better than some others ... but still, we should be cautious. I asked Inman Harvey his opinion about it, and here's his reply: On the one hand, my instinct is to be deeply sceptical and worried about *any* largescale attempt to modify a complex nonlinear feedback system barely understood, with not only known unknowns but unknown unknowns. I am somewhat sympathetic with a comment piece by Hari on http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/johann_hari/article3024703.ece On the other hand, compared with some other bizarre geo-engineering proposals, this is reassuringly lowtech, cheap, could be introduced and monitored in just one area initially -- and would be simple and quick to turn off if necessary. Rapid and scaleable and monitorable and turn-offable seems to offer more opportunities fo...

My friend Arturo Frappé recommended me to read Devices of the Soul : Battling for Our Selves in an Age of Machines , by Steve Talbott, so I ordered it from Amazon.com . It poses important questions about our open embrace of technology. Since I am an Internet addict , my opinions are certainly biased. Nevertheless, the book motivated me to write some thoughts down, even when I'm half way through it. Talbott warns about the self-forgetfulness that technology causes: we trust technology so we are not conscious on how much we depend on it. I agree, but when was society more conscious??? When there was slavery? When the majority of population was working most of the day in fields or factories? It is indeed a problem that should be addressed, but rejecting technology will not solve it (not that Talbott suggests this). In my opinion, technology offers more opportunities than dangers. But to harvest a conscious humanity we need a specific education and culture that we have always lacked. ...

Nuclear winter... (See Complexity Digest 2007.06 for an excerpt, or Science News for the full article).

What to expect from Web 3.0 by ZDNet 's Phil Wainewright -- Web 2.0 is just a staging post. Web 3.0 is coming, and it's going to recreate our notion of the application as well as upsetting a few applecarts along the way.

These thoughts emerged after speaking with Clément Vidal , from an ongoing discussion at the FRIAM mailing list, and are also related to the so called Singularity . Many people say that in a few decades computers will have the same computational power as the human brain, and then AI machines will take over. This argument is based on Moore's law , which states that the transistor density of semiconductor chips doubles roughly every 18 months, giving an exponential growth in computing power. Ignoring the fact that brains do different types of computations than PCs, these people argue that when we'll have the computational power to model all the neurons of a human brain (100 billion, with about 100 thousand connections each), computers will be smarter than humans. And since their capacity will keep on growing, soon we'll be left in the shadow of obsolence. Now, just imagine that you have all that computational power right now. Even more, let's say with the capacity of 10^...