The “Complex” Perspective
English
The 2016 book in English, translated with AI in 2025 and revised in 2026.
Complex Systems
Markets, organizations, and societies are complex systems: their behavior emerges from interactions, feedback, and adaptation, rather than from any single part.
I explore technological, economic, and political change through this lens, drawing on game theory, behavioral economics, psychology, data, AI, and history.
The Complex Perspective series
From my 2016 book to interactive explorations, a 2036 outlook, and a practical guide: four ways to explore and apply the complexity lens.
Die ‚komplexe‘ Perspektive
Deutsch
The 2016 German original on the digital economy, complex systems, networks, data, and AI.
The Complex Perspective 2026
EnglishAn interactive successor to the 2016 book The Complex Perspective: thirteen modules applying complexity science, networks, and agent-based modeling to economics, society, politics, and AI.
The Complex Perspective: 2036
EnglishWhat still matters when machines think: six skills AI makes more valuable, each argued from a present-day mechanism and playable as a toy. Every claim is marked Anchored, Projection, or Cinema, so you always know when it turns to speculation.
Complex Perspective · How-to
EnglishHow to actually use the complexity lens: concrete moves for politics, large and small companies, and your own life — against the grain of command-and-control culture, plan worship, and fear of failure.
New material
Simulations
Vibe coded simulations
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Interactive simulations based on chapter 2 of the book (2016)
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Explore
Explore allStandalone websites built with AI, one complex-systems topic per site:
An interactive essay on Hayek’s 1945 “The Use of Knowledge in Society” — and whether transformative AI changes the answer. Eleven stations of games and simulations let you feel the knowledge problem instead of only reading about it.
The Watercourse Way
TaoismLao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching read five times over — by a Cynefin practitioner, a cyberneticist, a cognitive scientist, a process philosopher, and a mandatory Skeptic who keeps the metaphors honest.
Articles about Complex Systems
Dec 22, 2025
science
A Journey Through "The Complex Perspective" with NotebookLM
Ten years ago, I wrote “Die komplexe Perspektive” (the complex perspective) as a practical mental model for making sense of the digital economy. I’m revisiting those ideas using a set...
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Feb 13, 2016
science
The 'Complex' Perspective - Introduction to the Digital Economy
Humanity has arrived in the information and knowledge society. No sooner have the first changes been digested than more news appears on the horizon: the Internet of Things, Big Data,...
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Aug 08, 2011
science
Review of 'Complexity - A Guided Tour'
“Complexity - A Guided Tour” is a worthwhile and interesting introduction. “Complexity” is a cross-disciplinary topic that permeates many fields, such as biology (immune system, brain, evolution), economics, computer science,...
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