Study Finds Similar Structures In the Universe, Internet, and Brain

It turns on the definition of complexity itself, which is not so straightforward as one might imagine [wikipedia.org]. One of the keys to many definitions of complexity lies not in the number of different parts, but in the non-trivial and adaptive ways those parts interact. Yes, there may be humans in this galaxy, but the relationships between those humans have no effect on the galaxy, qua galaxy. In other words, the interactions that occur on a galactic level produce no appreciable feedback in the system as a whole from human beings. Yet it is feedback and adaptation that occurs in complex systems that make them complex. As a complex system, therefore, the galaxy is not concerned with the presence of humans.

The same cannot be said of the relationship between neurons as a system and the brain as a system. As the article says, each neuron has its own level of complexity and this is in turn connected to the larger system of the brain, itself having billions of adaptive connections. Yet what is missing, but I think implied, is that the complexity within each neuron is non-trivial to the interactions between neurons.

Also, I wouldn't think less of a man who very occasionally indulges in hyperbolic excess. This does not make him stupid, only a lively writer.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/aP6B_OL4o68/story01.htm

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