John Henry Holland

1929–2015 · US university professor ,American scientist

Topics: complexity, learning

• The recycling of resource by the aggregate behavior of a diverse array of agents is much more than the sum of the individual actions.

  — John Henry Holland

• Even though these complex systems differ in detail, the question of coherence under change is the central enigma for each.

  — John Henry Holland

• The multiplier effect is a major feature of networks and flows. It arises regardless of the particular nature of the resource, be it goods, money, or messages.

  — John Henry Holland

• Looking back to data, we can see if the consequences are plausible; looking forward to theory, we can see if general principles are suggested.

  — John Henry Holland

• With theory, we can separate fundamental characteristics from fascinating idiosyncrasies and incidental features. Theory supplies landmarks and guideposts, and we begin to know what to observe and where to act.

  — John Henry Holland

• When a new building block is discovered, the result is usually a range of innovations.

  — John Henry Holland

• Model building is the art of selecting those aspects of a process that are relevant to the question being asked. As with any art, this selection is guided by taste, elegance, and metaphor; it is a matter of induction, rather than deduction. High science depends on this art.

  — John Henry Holland

• Evolution continually innovates, but at each level it conserves the elements that are recombined to yield the innovations.

  — John Henry Holland

• Particular individuals do not recur, but their building blocks do.

  — John Henry Holland

• If we are to understand the interactions of a large number of agents, we must first be able to describe the capabilities of individual agents.

  — John Henry Holland