Understanding Complexity

By: Scott E. Page, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Scott E. Page

Recent years have seen the introduction of concepts from the new and exciting field of complexity science that have captivated the attention of economists, sociologists, engineers, businesspeople, and many others. These include tipping points, the wisdom of crowds, six degrees of separation (or Kevin Bacon), and emergence.

Interest in these intriguing concepts is widespread because of the utility of this field. Complexity science can shed light on why businesses or economies succeed and fail, how epidemics spread and can be stopped, and what causes ecological systems to rebalance themselves after a disaster.

In fact, complexity science is a discipline that may well hold the key to unlocking the secrets of some of the most important forces on Earth. But it's also a science that remains largely unknown, even among well-educated people.

Now you can discover and grasp the fundamentals and applications of this amazing field with Understanding Complexity. Professor Scott E. Page of the University of Michigan - one of the field's most highly regarded teachers, researchers, and real-world practitioners - introduces you to this vibrant and still evolving discipline. In 12 lucid lectures, you learn how complexity science helps us understand the nature and behavior of systems formed of financial markets, corporations, native cultures, governments, and more.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2009 The Great Courses (P)2009 The Teaching Company, LLC

Great Overview Of A Complex Subject

The lectures are presented at an ideal technical level for an introduction to complexity in a college level course. The written materials are extremely lean. At best, they provide only two thirds of the detail presented in the narration. In both the narration and the written materials, Atlanta's Hartsfield airport is referred to as "Hatfield" airport. This does not reflect well on the author's or the publisher's quality control.

great but fast

What a great and excellent overview of Complexity! However this audiobook could have been double the length with a slower unfolding of the ideas and still scored 5. The lecturer could have talked a bit slower. i will re-listen again in full right now.

highly recommended

I teach simulation and Agent Based Modeling and I found this course refreshing, very clear and informative.

Wish I heard and absorbed it earlier in my career!

I would have made many different decisions as a leader for 45 years if I would have had the Ben of Scott Page’s brilliant but easy to comprehend lecture series.

One of the best lecture series I have listened to

This lecture series hits the sweet spot between providing a lot of information without being too technical or dull. A lot of this will be review for a lot of people but I suspect even those who know something about the field will gain value from these lectures.

Try slowing the speed to understand his speech

This is interesting material, but delivered with a pace that makes it difficult just to understand, much less comprehend. The professor has a delivery that often races through short phrases, leaving me tempted to return the series without finishing it. I managed to get through it but only by slowing the speed to 90% of the original.

Good but basic

I was hoping for both introductory level and intermediate level models and explanations because I have already watched several YouTube series explaining overviews of Complexity Science, complex adaptive systems, network theory, and a nonlinear systems. Theses series were all only 10 to 20 videos with each video only 3 to 20 minutes long but watching those already taught me 80% of what I learned in this Great Courses lecture series.

This would make a great introduction to the science of complexity for someone who has not already been introduced to it but not necessarily for someone who has already been exposed to the many diverse foundational concepts of this field of knowledge.

Interesting Field

Covered many different areas of application chapter by chapter. Narration was lively. The last chapter summed things up nicely, mentioning Decision Theory, its improvement - Game Theory, and how Complexity Theory deals with non-linear, unpredictable systems.

Good course

Good course. Provides insightful information about how huge and necessarily unmanaged systems behave; it's characteristics and differences with other systems. Common misconceptions are discussed. Overral, it provides reasonable understanding and a reference framework to conceptualize the specifics of complexity. It is useful because understanding the concept help you understand and even perhaps navigate such gigantic systems with a good expectation of possible consequences or at least a reason for types of behaviors and patterns (or lack of) of those systems.

A complex survey of complexity

Complexity permeates to varying degrees the world around us, from the micro to the macro scales. This course promotes recognizing its manifestations and impact on biology, business, politics.
Unfortunately the topic is discussed primarily at the level of abstract generalities. I would have preferred starting with descriptions of concrete examples of complex systems followed by teasing out the principles at play.