CHANGE (Propagation of)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 399 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
In complex systems, propagation of change is very difficult to evaluate in real time and still more difficult to forecast.
It is in most cases a percolation phenomenon as for ex. in floods or in forest fires. This is so because:
- change can be self multiplying in a fractal form, for ex. by the production of flying sparks in a forest fire
- some parts of the environment are more conducive than others to propagation: sparks can trigger a new focus on a dry place or be extinguished in a pool of water
Such types of propagation are very difficult to predict because they affect environments which are similar to non-homogeneous networks , with locally different characteristics, which may, or may not brake or accelerate the process and, in cases, start secondary sequences of events of different types.
These in turn can be multiplicative by positive feedbacks or self-limitative by negative ones.