TABLE OF CONTENTS We know now that any real-life referent can be represented as a system, either as a black box a coherent collection of attributes, or as a structure a collection of related parts.
We know also that all real-life entities are complex, even if at first sight they appear simple. Under scientific analysis even a speck of dust or a drop of rain can reveal infinite complexity.
If we take the black box view then complexity will be evident from the limitless number and boundless diverse features which can characterize a referent.
If we select the structural view then complexity is shown by the vast number of intricately interrelated atomic and subatomic parts of matter of which even the smallest referent is composed.
The task of the skilled modeller is to tame complexity as far as the problem permits: simplify the referent, forming a representation in terms of the smallest number of characteristics or the smallest number of components which is still adequate for the given purpose. Thus, depending on the problem in hand and the purpose of modelling, system representations of referents can range from the simple and comprehensible to the fiendishly complex. Technology and business can throw up elaborate problems, but the most complex problems of all are those associated with natural systems living organisms, their behaviour, structure and interactions. Ecosystems, the human body, human behaviour, and the behaviour of societies in general give rise to complicated problems to be modelled by rules which we...
