Measuring complexity in organisms and organizations.

ABSTRACT: While there is no consensus about the definition of complexity, it is widely accepted that the ability to produce uncertainty is the most prominent characteristic of complex systems. We introduce new metrics that purport to quantify the complexity of living organisms and social organizations based on their levels of uncertainty. We consider three major dimensions regarding complexity: diversity based on the number of system elements and the number of categories of these elements; flexibility which bears upon variations in the elements; and combinability which refers to the patterns of connection between elements. These three dimensions are quantified using Shannon's uncertainty formula, and they can be integrated to provide a tripartite complexity index. We provide a calculation example th

SUBMITTER: Rebout N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8074971 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature