Complex adaptive system
[1][2][3] It is a "complex macroscopic collection" of relatively "similar and partially connected micro-structures" formed in order to adapt to the changing environment and increase their survivability as a macro-structure.
Complexity science is not a single theory—it encompasses more than one theoretical framework and is interdisciplinary, seeking the answers to some fundamental questions about living, adaptable, changeable systems.
[8] Hard theories use formal language that is precise, tend to see agents as having tangible properties, and usually see objects in a behavioral system that can be manipulated in some way.
Softer theories use natural language and narratives that may be imprecise, and agents are subjects having both tangible and intangible properties.
[4][9][10] John H. Holland said that CAS "are systems that have a large numbers of components, often called agents, that interact and adapt or learn.
"[11] Typical examples of complex adaptive systems include: climate; cities; firms; markets; governments; industries; ecosystems; social networks; power grids; animal swarms; traffic flows; social insect (e.g. ant) colonies;[12] the brain and the immune system; and the cell and the developing embryo.
Human social group-based endeavors, such as political parties, communities, geopolitical organizations, war, and terrorist networks are also considered CAS.
[23] Michael D. Cohen and Robert Axelrod however argue the approach is not social Darwinism or sociobiology because, even though the concepts of variation, interaction and selection can be applied to modelling 'populations of business strategies', for example, the detailed evolutionary mechanisms are often distinctly unbiological.
Other important properties include adaptation (or homeostasis), communication, cooperation, specialization, spatial and temporal organization, and reproduction.
[36] In 2013 SpringerOpen/BioMed Central launched an online open-access journal on the topic of complex adaptive systems modeling (CASM).
