Friday, November 18, 2005

Vital Signs

I am working on a Ph.D. in Complexity theory. We study systems with external perturbations and internal incoherence which can both lead to systemic change or be resisted by the system's own order. These complex ordered systems (dissipative structures) balance on the "edge of chaos" in a state of perpetual disequilbrium, or constant change (oxymoron). Complex systems are made up of many interacting parts which create an emergent order that interfaces" with its environment.

So you can see why it strikes me as funny that one of the important Rush songs in my formative years is "Vital Signs":

"Vital Signs"

Unstable condition
A symptom of life
In mental and environmental change
Atmospheric disturbance
The feverish flux
Of human interface and interchange

The impulse is pure
Sometimes our circuits get shorted
By external interference
Signals get crossed
And the balance distorted
By internal incoherence

...