Evolution of Complex Systems

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Evolution of Complex Systems

• Lecture 10 Technological systems
• Peter Andras / Bruce Charlton
• peter.andras_at_ncl.ac.uk
• bruce.charlton_at_ncl.ac.uk

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Objectives

• Writing, books, libraries
• Simple and complicated machines
• Roads, vehicles, transportation systems
• Computers and software
• Electronic communication systems

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Writing - origins

• Symbols written on stone, leather, paper
• Communication actions changing the environment in
  a way that can be preserved (e.g., carving
  symbols into stone, painting symbols on silk)
• Objective storage and preservation of spoken
  language

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Extending the reference space

• Memory of verbal communications written records
• Stored spoken language extends the reference
  space for human communications
• Writing preserves the communications making
  possible unaltered reference to them over a long
  time period
• Note interpretation of written communication may
  change by referring to a context made of a new
  set of other communications

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Grammar

• Rules of written language
• Restrain the continuations of written
  communications
• Provides a set of communications (statements of
  grammatical rules) that add meaning to written
  communications

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Books

• Large amounts of written communications texts
• Have a systematically organized internal
  referencing structure (i.e., sentences refer to
  other sentences, chapters, sections)
• Have an external referencing structure (i.e.,
  formal references to other books, texts)

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Libraries

• Collection of books
• Systematically organized collections
• Provide structure to help referencing books

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Is this a system ?

• Are written communications forming a system ?
• Are written communications reproducing themselves
  ?
• Is there a specialist language of written
  communications ?

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Communications

• Communication units humans, books and texts
  (extensions of humans, who create the
  communications contained in them)
• Text communications meaning depends on the
  referential context, determining the expectations
  about the communications

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Referencing

• Grammar
• Book structure
• Library structure

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Reproduction

• Reproduction of written communications happens in
  the context of society
• The written communications are part of the society

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Specialist language

• Written communications have a specialist
  language the written language (different from
  the spoken language in terms of continuation
  distributions)

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Communication density boundary

• Texts reference texts or human communications
  (e.g., experimental measurements)
• Human communications reference texts regularly
  (e.g., articles in tabloids)
• Written communications form a subsystem of the
  society, having a density boundary determined by
  the language of written communications

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Writing, books and libraries

• Written communications are a subsystem of the
  society, allowing the extension of human
  communications by serving as memories of them
• Texts, books, libraries provide rule sets
  (institutional framework) for human
  communications adding meaning to them and
  providing long term preservation of them

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Simple machines

• E.g., guns
• Mechanical components organized in well
  determined manner that allows systematic
  interaction between them

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Complicated machines

• E.g., cars
• A large set of mechanical, chemical, electronic
  and other components organized in a systematic
  manner, allowing them to produce a complicated
  beahviour

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Machines

• Machines are products of human communications
• Human communications act upon the environment, a
  well determined sequence of such actions leads to
  the formation of machine components and the
  assembly of them as machines
• Machines are memories of these communications
  they also facilitate the reproduction of
  communications related to them (usage of machines)

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Machine communications

• Machines can produce behaviours (i.e., changing
  constellation of their components)
• Such behaviours may be perceived by humans as
  communications, which have attached meaning by
  referring to other communications that determine
  expectations about machine communications
• E.g., the blinking side lights of a car

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Machine grammars

• The communication leading to the production of
  machines, communication produced by machines, and
  communications directly facilitated by the usage
  of machines have sharp continuation distributions
• Simple communication grammars, i.e., typically
  there is one or very few possible communication
  behaviours that may follow a previous
  communication behaviour (see possible
  interactions in mechanical machines)

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Are the machines systems ?

• Do they have a communication density boundary ?
• Do they reproduce themselves as communication
  systems ?
• Do they have a specialist language defining their
  system ?

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Communications

• There are communications between machines (e.g.,
  automated assembly lines)
• There are many communications between humans and
  machines
• Machine communications reference human
  communications for the generation of new
  communications in the long term

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Referencing boundary

• There is no clear referencing density boundary
  between machine-machine and machine-human
  communications
• Such boundaries may exist for a short time period
  and for a physically restricted set of machines
  (e.g., automated factories needing relatively
  rare human interventions)

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Reproduction

• Machines are reproduced by the intervention of
  human communications and by referencing human
  communications
• Self-reproducing robots reference a finite set
  of human communications (original design), AI is
  not able to provide them a self-expanding
  communication system that could guarantee longer
  term survival and reproduction in an infinitely
  complex and varying environment

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Machines and society

• Machines are products of human communications and
  can be seen as memories of these communications
• They produce behaviours that can be seen by
  humans as communications, and these
  communications integrate into the society by
  facilitating the production of further human
  communications
• Machines form extensions of the society, and may
  form specialist subsystems involving also humans
  which produce communications for such subsystems

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Roads

• Roman roads constituted a significant component
  of Roman expansion and of the empire
• German and US road system

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Roads and communications

• Roads are the product of human communications
  constituting actions upon the environment
• They provide signals for humans (e.g., road
  directions) and help the expansion of human
  communications

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Postal systems

• Transportation on roads of written human
  communications and other human artefacts
• Thurn and Taxis in mid 19th century
• Stamps, standard procedures

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Transportation systems

• Rail, ship, airplane
• Transport humans, written communications,
  artefacts, machines
• Facilitate the expansion of the system of human
  communications

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Language

• Road signs
• Stamps
• Standard procedures

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Are they systems ?

• Is there a communication density boundary ?
• Do they reproduce ?
• Do they have a defining language ?

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Roads, transportation and society

• Communicate with humans and facilitate human
  communications as forms of memories of earlier
  human communications
• Reproduction involves humans
• Form a part of the society
• Transportation systems may form specialist
  subsystems of the society defined by their
  specialist language and involving appropriate
  human communications

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Computers

• 50s room size machines
• 70s cupboard / wardrobe size machines
• 90s briefcase size machines
• Computer behaviour screen display, printing,
  writing on the disc, reading key pressing patterns

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Software

• Computer programs written by humans or other
  computer programs
• Instruct the computer to perform behaviours

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Programming languages

• Special communication language with a grammar
• Several generations
• Machine language
• Structured programming languages
• Object oriented languages
• Component based languages

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Software systems

• Many programs interacting and communicating with
  each other
• E.g., Windows, Linux

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Realisation of software systems

• Instructions and data
• Processor, memory, disk
• Bits, flip-flops

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Are the software systems real systems ?

• Do they have a referencing density boundary ?
• Do they reproduce ?
• Do they have a defining language ?

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Communications

• Communications produced by humans or computers
  are stored as programs and data
• Such communications are received by a computer
  that produces corresponding behaviour
• Computer behaviour is perceived by humans or the
  computer and provides reference for further human
  or computer communications

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Language

• Software systems have their own specialist
  language (e.g., communication behaviours and
  continuation rules describing the behaviour of
  the MS Word in terms of effects of hitting key
  combinations)
• Software systems are the products of
  communications defined by rules of programming
  languages, these communications are referred by
  the specialist communications of the software
  system (i.e., the specialist behaviours are
  determined by the software code describing the
  software system)

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Software systems and social system memory

• Software systems are memories of social
  communications leading to the creation of them
• Software systems describe a part of the society
  and constitute a memory of that

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Software systems and society 1

• Large software systems have a dense internal
  referencing structure, and they also reference
  human communications (e.g., some programs written
  by humans, or interactions with humans)
• Reproduction involves human communications
• There are to some extent self-expanding software
  systems

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Software systems and society 2

• Software systems and computers are extensions of
  the society and they facilitate the reproduction
  of the society
• Software systems capture a relatively small part
  of the environment (the part described by their
  human creators) and they lack the automated
  expansion to capture more
• Reflexive software systems may represent a new
  level, but so far they are in a very experimental
  stage

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Software systems and society 3

• Software systems form subsystems of the society
  with the participation of human communications
• They are similar to the system of written
  communications, with the difference that they
  produce a wider variety of behaviours, allowing a
  wide range of human communications to be produced
  with reference to software system communications

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Software systems and society 4

• The communication subsystems of software systems
  sit on the top of the communication subsystems
  defined by computer programming languages
• A personally used software defines a small social
  subsystem containing communications between the
  human user and the computer running the software

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Software systems and society 5

• Software systems as memories are similar to
  written and material memories of human
  communications
• Software systems have the additional feature that
  they can communicate between them
• Software systems may constitute the root of the
  system of communications between memories of
  human communications

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Telegraph and telephone

• Telegraph 19th century
• Telephone 20th century
• Machine systems providing transportation for
  human communications over large physical distances

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Radio and TV

• Electronic communication systems allowing
  broadcasting of human communications

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Fax, e-mail and data communications

• Advanced forms of electronic communications
• Allow transmission of a wide range of human
  communications

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Mobile telephony

• 1G 70-80s
• 2G 90s
• 3G after 2000

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Specialist language

• Special signals transmitted between machines
• Machines communicate with humans and transmit
  human communications

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Referencing

• Most of the references are to human
  communications
• Exceptions computer networks, Internet many
  references to computer communications, but they
  also refer to human communications

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System nature

• Extension of the human society, e.g., mobile
  phone systems
• Internet subsystem of the society

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Technological systems 1

• Extensions of the human society
• Help the expansion of the human society, by
  preserving and reproducing human communications
  and by transmitting them over long physical and
  temporal distances
• They reproduce by referencing human
  communications
• They capture relatively small part of the
  environmental complexity

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Technological systems 2

• They may form subsystems of the society
• Large subsystems written communications,
  Internet
• Small subsystems communication system between a
  computer software and its user
• Software systems may constitute the root of the
  system of communications between memories of
  human communications

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Summary

• Writing, books, libraries
• Machines and machine systems
• Transportation systems
• Computers and software systems
• Electronic communication systems
• Technological systems are made of memories of
  human communications
• Technological systems are extensions of the human
  society helping its expansion
• Technological systems may form communication
  subsystems of the society
• Software systems may constitute the root of the
  system of communications between memories of
  human communications

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QA 1

• Is it true that the continuation rules of written
  language have the same distributions as the
  continuation rules of spoken language ?
• Is it true that the structure of a library adds
  meaning to the communications contained in the
  books of the library ?
• Is it true that communications between the
  components of a modern car constitute a
  communication system ?

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QA 2

• 4. Is it true that roads are similar to machines
  that help the expansion of the society system ?
• 5. Is it true that the railways constitute a
  system with its own specific language ?
• 6. Is it true that many communications between
  the components of the MS Office suit refer to
  communications between components of the MS
  Office suit ? Does this make the MS Office suit a
  communication system ?

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QA 3

• 7. Is it true that Internet web-sites refer most
  frequently to other Internet web-sites ? Does
  this make the Internet a subsystem of the society
  ?
• 8. Is it true that mobile phone systems
  constitute a subsystem of the society ?
• 9. Is it true that technological systems are
  extensions of the society helping the expansion
  of it ?