Dealing with Complexity

Speaker: Peter Andras

Abstract

Complexity is a top favourite buzz word in current science media. Many times its meaning is not very clear, and many times it is a source of diverging speculations due to its vague definitions. Here we propose a more rigorous approach to the topic of complexity. We discuss what makes systems complex, how can measure this complexity, what is the link between complexity and chaos, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of complexity in the context of information processing systems. We will cover several kinds of information processing systems, including biological systems, social systems and technical and abstract information processing systems.