The emergence of complexity

This book considers the question how complex systems suddenly emerge during the course of evolution and why the long-winded evolution of systems and species is interspersed with short phases of fast revolutions. Based on an agent based view of complex systems, the author gives well illustrated explanations for the emergence of complexity and describes how systems become more and more complex. From ancient cultures to modern states and from the earliest primitive organisms to self-conscious human beings, the text explores the widest range of phenomena with the fewest possible principles. All Multi-Agent Systems have a natural system boundary, the agent itself. As the word „emergence“ suggests, the emergence of complexity is always possible at system boundaries, which enable the transfer of complexity between different systems. Fitness barriers set the boundaries of evolution. Revolutions in evolution are possible because evolution gets stuck from time to time when a large fitness barrier is reached. Evolution waits until massive catastrophes break these barriers or single agents are able to cross them through a tunneling process.