davidgasquez.com
📚 Personal bits of knowledge
📝 High entropy systems
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Systems.md
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Systems.md
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11. The mindset or paradigm out of which the system — its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters — arises.
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12. The power to transcend paradigms.
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**Don't aim for an ideal system. Build a set of [[processes]] and protocols that evolve to fit the environment over time.** [Complex systems fail](https://how.complexsystems.fail/).
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[The purpose of a system is what it does](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does). However, [this view can be misleading](https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/come-on-obviously-the-purpose-of). A system's purpose is often its intended goal, even if it fails or has unintended consequences (e.g., a hospital intends to cure all patients, even if it doesn't succeed; bus emissions are side effects, not the purpose). Attributing failure or negative side effects as the *intended* purpose often ignores complexity, conflicting goals, or simple failure. A [common interpretation](https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/highlights-from-the-comments-on-posiwid) is that if a system consistently fails its stated purpose but isn't changed, its *actual* (perhaps hidden) purpose might be succeeding. Understanding the *intended* purpose, even if the system fails, is often useful for predicting its behavior (e.g., predicting an intelligence agency's actions based on its goal to prevent attacks, even if it fails). The phrase can obscure the useful distinction between a primary goal and unavoidable (or accepted) side effects.
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11. The mindset or paradigm out of which the system — its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters — arises.
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12. The power to transcend paradigms.
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**Don't aim for an ideal system. Build a set of [[processes]] and protocols that evolve to fit the environment over time.** [Complex systems fail](https://how.complexsystems.fail/). [High entropy systems are easier to maintain and require less energy to keep things as they are](https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/07/25/how-the-west-was-won/).
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[The purpose of a system is what it does](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does). However, [this view can be misleading](https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/come-on-obviously-the-purpose-of). A system's purpose is often its intended goal, even if it fails or has unintended consequences (e.g., a hospital intends to cure all patients, even if it doesn't succeed; bus emissions are side effects, not the purpose). Attributing failure or negative side effects as the *intended* purpose often ignores complexity, conflicting goals, or simple failure. A [common interpretation](https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/highlights-from-the-comments-on-posiwid) is that if a system consistently fails its stated purpose but isn't changed, its *actual* (perhaps hidden) purpose might be succeeding. Understanding the *intended* purpose, even if the system fails, is often useful for predicting its behavior (e.g., predicting an intelligence agency's actions based on its goal to prevent attacks, even if it fails). The phrase can obscure the useful distinction between a primary goal and unavoidable (or accepted) side effects.
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