Complexity Theory
This document will attempt to explain the basics of complexity theory, which is an outgrowth (and in some senses a reaction to) chaos theory.
Chaos Theory
in a nutshell
Chaos theory is a branch of mathematics which seeks to explain why very small changes in starting conditions can have major impacts on the resulting systems. In popular literature, this is often expressed as the problem of the butterfly wing on the other side of the world which causes a snowstorm.
Complexity
in a nutshell
Complexity theory is the study of the emergence of complex order out of simple chaotic systems. Or why the major impacts of the small changes examined in Chaos Theory sometimes has a structure which is not implied by (but arises out of) the starting conditions of a chaotic system. In the popular mode, this can be expressed as the question of why the storm which flows from the butterfly's wing may have the complex structure of a hurricane when the starting conditions did not have any weather patterns of such structure.
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— ScotusTheProsyFaerie? - 20 May 2000
