RAM, 110
Ramanujan, Srinivasa, 77, 78
recursion:
in language, 71–72, 75
in programming, 71
refactoring, 200, 201
regulatory accumulation, 46–47
Renaissance man, 86–89, 93, 144
see also generalists
resilience, in technological complexity, 16
resolution, levels of, 127–28
RNA interference (RNAi), 123–24, 141
road system, complexity of, 16
Rosenberg, Scott, 69
Royal Society, 111
scale, difference of, 50–51
Schwarz, Barbara, 10
scientific method, 109
limits to, 153
scientific models, 131
edge cases in, 54–62, 207
interconnection of, 2
as means of understanding complex systems, 165–67
software bugs in, 97
Scientific Reports, 4
Scientific Revolution, optimistic view of human comprehension in, 152–53
security, software bugs and, 97–98
Seinfeld (TV show), 130
sentences:
garden path, 74–75
parsing of, 73–74
sewage systems, complexity of, 101
Shakespeare, William, 55
Shatner, William, 160
Shepard, Alan, 200
sickle-cell anemia, 128
SimCity, 159, 166
simulations, see scientific models
software:
accretion in, 37–38, 41–42, 44
in automobiles, 10–11, 13, 45, 65, 100, 174
branch points in, 80–81
complexity of, 43–44, 59, 68–69
“dark code” in, 21–22
“hygiene” in, 65, 81
interaction in, 44–45
kluges in, 35
legacy code in, see legacy code, legacy systems
modules in, 63–64
multidisciplinary teams and, 92
testing of, 107
see also programmers, programming
software bugs, 1, 45, 65, 156
complexity and, 96–97
dangerous consequences of, 67–69
debugging of, 103–7
in Galaga, 95–96, 97, 216–17
inevitability of, 174–75
in Microsoft Windows, 98
in scientific models, 97–98
security and, 97–98
in Vancouver Stock Exchange index, 105–6
soldiers, “losing the bubble” and, 70
sophistication, in technological complexity, 16
space shuttle missions, outdated computer systems used by, 38
spaghetti code, 44–45, 201
spatial memory, 78
special effects, greeblies in, 130
specialization:
abstraction and, 24, 26–27
collaboration and, 91–92
complexity and, 85–93
generalists and, 146
as rewarded by job market, 144
technological complexity and, 142
Stephenson, Neal, 128–29
stock market systems:
complexity of, 4
crashes in, 1, 4, 25, 187
interconnectivity of, 2, 24–26
laws and rules of, 25
and limits of human comprehension, 26–27, 189
storytelling, biological and physical thinking in, 129–30
strangeness, as impetus for scientific discovery, 124, 140–41
subitizing, 75
supply chains, interconnection of, 2
Supreme Court, U.S., 40
Symons, John, 79–80, 97
Systems Bible, The (Gall), 157–58
tax code, 16, 40, 42
Tay (chatbot), 106–7
technological complexity:
abstraction and, 23–28, 81, 121–22
accretion in, 130–31
awe as response to, 6, 7, 154–55, 156, 165, 174
biological thinking and, 116–49, 158, 174
branch points and, 80–81
evolution of, 127, 137–38
as examples of human ingenuity, 4
fear as response to, 5, 7, 154–55, 156, 165
“field biologists” for, 123, 126, 127, 132
humility as response to, 155–56, 158, 165, 167, 170, 174, 176
impact of computer on, 3
inevitability of, 42
interconnectivity in, 2, 47–48
interoperability in, 47–48, 64–65
interpreters of, 166–67, 229
kluges as inevitable in, 34–36, 127, 128, 154, 173–74
and limits of human comprehension, 1–7, 16–29, 69–70, 80–81, 153–54, 169–70, 175–76
misunderstandings about, 68–69
models as means of understanding, 165–67
naches as response to, 168–69, 174
new ways of thinking about, 6–7, 28–29, 163–67, 176
optimal interoperability in, 62–63
pervasiveness of, 15–16
physics thinking and, 122, 127–28
rapid growth of, 173
resilience in, 16
sophistication in, 16
specialization and, 142
unexpected behavior in, see unexpected behavior
user interfaces and, 159
wonder vs. mystery in comprehension of, 170–76
see also complexity, complex systems
technological werewolves, 93, 97, 102
technology:
cost of construction vs. cost of failure in, 48–50
interconnection of natural world and, 3–4
“natural history” of, 103–4
philosophy of, 79–81
self-contained ecosystems in, 4
Teece, David, 144
Thales, 139
Theory of Everything, 113
Therac-25, overdose failures of, 67–69
Three Mile Island nuclear disaster, 12, 126
time zones, 2, 51–52
tinkering, 118, 125–26, 127, 132, 191
Torvalds, Linus, 102
Toyota automobiles:
massively complex software in, 11, 45, 65
unintended acceleration of, 10–11, 13, 65, 174
Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), 18–19
translation software, 57–59, 207
triumphalism, 153, 156
T-shaped individuals, 143–44, 146
Tubes (Blum), 101–2
TurboTax, 160
Turing, Alan, 96, 175
Twitter, 106
unexpected behavior, 4, 18–20, 95–110
accretion and, 38
in biology, 109–10, 123–24
complexity and, 93, 96–97, 98–99, 192
debugging and, 103–4
deliberate inducing of, 124–25
edge cases and, 99–100
inevitability of, 157, 174–75
interconnectivity and, 11–12
as learning experience, 102–7, 123–24, 219–20
and limits of human comprehension, 18–22, 96–97, 98
“magical” explanation for, 20–22
modules and, 64
of software, see software bugs
of Toyota automobiles, 10–11, 13, 65, 174
United Airlines, 1
United States Code, 33–34, 64, 136–37
unity, search for,
see physics thinking
unthinkable present, 176
user interfaces, 159–60, 163
Valéry, Paul, 193
Vancouver Stock Exchange stock index, software bug in, 105–6
Wall Street Journal, 1, 187
water supply systems, complexity of, 101, 102
Watson, 169
Watts, Duncan, 62
weather science, 148, 165
Weber, Max, 13
websites, interconnection of, 2
Wells, H. G., 22
Weston, Mass., 101
Whiggish view of progress, 12–13
“Who Controls Your Facebook Feed” (Oremus), 189
Wilson, E. O., 90–91
Windows 95 Bug Collection, The, 98
Winner, Langdon, 22
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 176
“Wolf Hunters of Wall Street, The” (Lewis), 189
wonder:
mystery vs., 170–76
as response to technological complexity, 170–76
understanding and, 172–73
World of Wonders, The, 170–71, 172
Wozniak, Steve, 77, 78
“Written on the Wind” (Brand), 198–99
Xenophanes, 139
Y2K bug, 36–37
Yiddish language, 167
Yoder, Joe, 201
Young, Thomas, 86
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