Overcomplicated: Technology at the Limits of Comprehension

By Samuel Arbesman

Book Overview

Why did the New York Stock Exchange suspend trading without warning on July 8, 2015? Why did certain Toyota vehicles accelerate uncontrollably against the will of their drivers? Why does the programming inside our airplanes occasionally surprise it creators? After a thorough analysis by the top experts, the answers still elude us. Your don't understand the software running your car or your iPhone. But here's a secret- neither do the geniuses at Applie or the Ph.D.'s at Toyota-not perfectly, anyway. No one, not lawyers, doctors, accountants, or policy makers, fully grasps the rules governing your tax return =, your retirement account, or your hospital's medical machinery. The same technological advances that have simplified out lives have made the systems governing our lives incomprehensible, unpredictable, and overcomplicated. In Overcomplicated , complexity scientist Samuel Arbesman offers a fresh, insightful field guide to living with complex technologies that defy human comprehension. As technology grows more complex, Arbesman argues, its behavior mimics the vagaries of the natural world more than it conforms to a mathematical model. If we are to survive and thrive in this new age, we must abandon our need for governing principles and rules and accept the chaos. By embracing and observing the freak accidents and flukes that disrupt our lives, we can gain valuable clues about how our algorithms really work. What's more, we will become better thinkers, scientists, and innovators as a result. Lucid and energizing, this book is a vital new analysis of the world heralded as 'modern' for anyone who wants to live wisely. Advance praise for Overcomplicated

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591847761
• ISBN13: 9781591847762
• Release Date: July 2016
• Publisher: Current
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.4"