Is Turn & Walk a Complex Adaptive System?

Posted April 21, 2017 by ilee

Let's talk about this. Tell us what you think, Is Turn & Walk a Complex Adaptive System?  Why or why not?

Comments

Submitted by eso on Wed, 06/07/2017 - 01:57 · Permalink

Turn & Walk is a Complex Adaptive System because  rules are being followed continuously. It could be argued that it is simply complicated since there is one person orchestrating the commands in sync for the in-person activity. For the program, the rules are simply being followed and creating an emergent pattern. 

Submitted by sircollins88 on Thu, 06/08/2017 - 17:10 · Permalink

Turn and Walk is a Complex Adaptive System because while there is not a single leader an emergent property (the spiral) is formed by a group of agents (people) following a clear set of rules. While in the human simulation there is a single person giving instructions, there is nothing to say the this pattern may not develop even without her guidance. 

Submitted by Bright_Eyed_Science on Fri, 06/09/2017 - 10:42 · Permalink

I"Turn and Walk" can be considered a CAS. The system clearly meets the following two criteria:

  • There were many agents (students) following the simple rules: (1) Turn to face the person on your right, (2) then take 1 step forward.
  • Self-organizing formed an emergent pattern of inward spiraling.

One can make the argument that "Turn and Walk" also meets the remaining two criteria: 

  • The activity could be considered leaderless if you assumed pre-programmed biological behavior: If in proximity to other agents then follow rules (1) turn to face the person on your right, (2) then take 1 step forward, (3) repeat step 2 until contact is made with another agent.
  • The behavior of the system with "scattered setup was difficult to predict prior to observing the emergent pattern.

Submitted by jsimpson on Fri, 06/09/2017 - 18:27 · Permalink

Turn and Walk is a complex adaptive system because there is no leader, the agents are follow rules, self organizing, and difficult to predict. 

Submitted by jgurbada on Wed, 06/14/2017 - 14:04 · Permalink

The Turn and Walk model is a complex adaptive system because there is no leader controlling the behavior of others. The order comes from the bottom up, the organization was a result of the sum of the parts. I can see how Turn and Walk in real-life might be considered complicated because there is one human directing the motion of the individual people.

Submitted by person11d on Sat, 08/05/2017 - 00:40 · Permalink

Turn and Walk is an example of a complex adaptive system because it involves many individuals with no leader. All the individuals follow simple rules that result in a pattern. If circumstances regarding the system are changed, the system changes accordingly. 

Submitted by jstblue on Mon, 08/28/2017 - 10:27 · Permalink

Turn and Walk is a complicated system because it is easy to predict.  There isn't a leader, but there is a programmer giving directions.    

Submitted by gberrios28 on Sat, 04/07/2018 - 23:03 · Permalink

Turn and Walk is a complex adaptive system. Based on agents that react to simple rules. There is not a leader and all agents follow the command that is programed.