antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 1:42 am on July 23, 2020

Sonja Blignaut on Twitter: “A loose network absorbs shock; a tightly coupled one transmits it. The more complex systems get — the more tightly coupled their component parts.” referring to Debora MacKenzie: Complex Systems Theory Explains Why Covid Crushed the World

It’s my opinion there’s some element or confusion or missing step in this otherwise powerful analysis. I’d value contributions, preferably commetning on twitter or Medium.

twitter thread:

A loose network absorbs shock; a tightly coupled one transmits it. The more complex systems get — the more tightly coupled their component parts.
https://t.co/UuYwf7rxjC
— Sonja Blignaut (@sonjabl) July 23, 2020

Original piece:

https://onezero.medium.com/complex-systems-theory-explains-why-covid-crushed-the-world-a2cf5c0f9176

ilia12b 4:50 am on July 23, 2020

A misleading statement. N. Luhmann differentiate “simple” complexity and “complex” complexity. The first one is when each element is connected to each other element of the system. In the second case, each element is connected only to some elements of the system as the system is too big to have each element to be connected to it. Thus a really complex system cannot be tightly coupled. In other words, the system is tightly coupled, it is not complex enough to survive.
myscriptorium 4:23 pm on July 23, 2020

Three respected ideas munged in this article. Perrows analysis on tight coupling [Normal Accidents – based on the analysis of Three Mile Island], the complexion of complexity [Luhmann, Brodu] and confusion over robustness vs resilience [under stress does it bounce like a football or a rugby ball].
There are some very real challenges ahead in a sustainable response to Covid, there are many articles which attempt to cut-through the issues but they tend to cut-out the real complex challenges

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