Looking for a Fast Demonstration of Complex Behavior

[Niall Palfreyman]

Hi,

Im giving a 15 minute talk on Tuesday to school-leavers interested in
taking bioinformatics. Of those 15 minutes, 5 will be about our
bioinformatics course and 5 will be questions. That means I have 5
minutes in which to make the point that sequencing the human genome is
only a miniscule part of the work that needs doing. The problem is that
the genome sequencing only tells us the components in a complex network
system of switching circuits between genome and environment which
together determine the phenotype. This is an SD-type problem, and I want
to make the basic SD point in about 1-2 minutes that even simple systems
can behave in unexpected ways. This is where you come in.

Can anyone think of a quick, punchy demo that makes this point? I like
to use kinaesthetic demonstrations where possible. For example, maybe I
ask one person to do something and s/he does it with no problems. Then I
ask 2-3 people to do it together and it falls apart due to reinforcing
loops. Any suggestions? Something really simple and _physical_.

Thanks for your help,
Niall Palfreyman.
From: Niall Palfreyman <niall.palfreyman@fh-weihenstephan.de>

["Ashley Woolmore"]

Hi Niall,

Im not sure that this is the sort of thing that you are looking for - and
may be a bit of a squeeze in the time that you have. I use it for groups of
about 10-30 depending on the space available.

Essentially it is a demonstration based on CAS and simple rules generating
complex behaviour. It is also about the consequence of change in one part
of the system having an impact across the whole.

What I ask people to do is to stand on their feet. They then decide to fix
on two other people in the group. They keep this decision to themselves.
The task for the group is to position themselves equidistant from the two
people that they have picked. They have to move around in order to do this.
The experience of trying to keep your distance is fun - a bit like
hearding cats!

After a period of time the group will become stationary (at least it has so
far every time that I have done this demo...). The seemingly random and
difficult to predict moving about of people can be used as an analogy for a
complex system.

A powerful second step for this demo is then to ask one person only to
change their selected target-people. Everyone else remains with their old
ones. This person will likely then have to move, which sets a chain
reaction of people moving. The impact of one change has a consequence for
the whole system.

The whole thing can take just a few minutes. In some situations I have led
a discussion and de-brief which can take half-an-hour.

This may not fit your needs, but thought that I would share it anyway.

Regards

Ashley Woolmore
From: "Ashley Woolmore" <ashley_woolmore@hotmail.com>

[Bill Harris]

Niall Palfreyman wrote:

> Can anyone think of a quick, punchy demo that makes this point? I like

Ive seen a colleague try this one; does this help? (Im not sure it
helps with your SD case, but it might.)

Take a raw egg thats sitting in a container. Ask one person to pick it
up with their two index (first) fingers and move it from one container
to another.

Then ask a pair of people to do it, with one person contributing the
left hand and the other the right.

Without good feedback between them, theyll have a lot of fun (?!)
trying.

Bill

PS: Oh, yes, you might want to consider using a cooked egg for the
actual experiment; thats what my colleague did, although he said it was
raw. While I normally dont like subterfuge in meetings, this seemed
okay with everyone. "Raw" gave incentive to try hard, and "cooked"
preserved peoples clothes.
--
Bill Harris 3217 102nd Place SE
Facilitated Systems Everett, WA 98208 USA
http://facilitatedsystems.com/ phone: +1 425 337-5541
From: Bill Harris <bill_harris@facilitatedsystems.com>

["Andy Ford"]

Niall,

James Gleick, the author of the best-seller on "Chaos: Making a New
Science" had an interesting demo to open a speech on the science of
complexity. (The speech was in Santa Fe, New Mexico so he had a receptive
audience.) He was greeted with vigorous applause. When the applause died
down, he thanked the audience and told them how wonderfull their applause
made him feel. Then he asked them to indulge him by giving him a second
round of applause. But this time, the audience was to synchronize their
applause. Without further instructions, he asked for the applause to begin.
We all jumped in with applause and within about 10 seconds, we found
ourselves applauding in a synchronized beat. When we were all in sync, the
applause got louder and louder until Gleick called a halt to our fun.

He then began his speech by describing our ability to synchronize our
clapping as an example of schooling behavior and he asked us to think about
how we were able to synchronize with so little central control (ie, no
instructions or guidance from him in the front of the auditorium). He then
moved into examples of schooling behavior under study by scientists who look
for complex behavior to emerge from relatively simple rules for individual
actors in the system.

This demo worked great. Now all you need is an audience that is eager
to applaud your entry in the auditorium!

Andy Ford
Program in Environmental Science & Regional Planning
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164 - 4430
USA

phone (509) 335-7846
email FordA@mail.wsu.edu
web http://www.wsu.edu/~forda

[Niall Palfreyman]

Hi.

Thanks VERY much to Ashley Woolmore and Bill Harris. Those are two
wonderful demonstrations! As you say, Ashley, your exercise is a little
too long for Tuesday, but Im Dean of Studies for Bioinformatics, so I
often give such presentations, and I fully intend to use the exercise as
soon as possible. For Tuesday Ill use yours, Bill. Ill let you know
how it went.

Many thanks again,
Niall.
From: Niall Palfreyman <niall.palfreyman@fh-weihenstephan.de>

["John Gunkler"]

Since this has become a discussion thread, rather than an immediate response
to Nialls need, I thought someone should mention the obvious: Dennis
Meadows and Linda Booth Sweeneys Systems Thinking Playbook, Vols. I and
II -- games for use in K-12 classrooms.

If anyone is still looking for demonstrations of SD concepts, these two
volumes are gold mines.


John W. Gunkler
jgunkler@sprintmail.com