# Complex adaptive system
## MicroSim spec
- **Recommended sim type:** agent-based
- **Microsimmability score:** 82/100
- **Layout:** drawing region (canvas) on top; control region (sliders/buttons) below.
### Parameters (tunable controls)
- `Number of agents`
- `Adaptation rate`
- `Selection pressure`
### What animates
Agents adapt to one another and the system reorganizes as [[Adaptation|adaptation]] and selection change.
### Learning objective
Show how agents that adapt reshape the whole system.
## Links (Wikipedia order)
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[[Adaptation]] · `Adaptive_capacity` · `Adaptive_system` · [[Agent-based_model]] · `Albert-László_Barabási` · [[Alexander_Bogdanov]] · [[Allenna_Leonard]] · [[Anatol_Rapoport]] · `Anomaly_detection` · `Ant` · [[Anthony_Wilden]] · [[Artificial_intelligence]] · [[Artificial_life]] · [[Attractor]] · [[Autopoiesis]] · [[Barbara_J._Grosz]] · `Basic_Books` · [[Bifurcation_theory]] · [[Biological_system]] · `Biomass_(ecology)` · [[Bounded_rationality]] · `Brain` · [[Béla_H._Bánáthy]] · [[C._West_Churchman]] · `Cell_(biology)` · [[Centrality]] · [[Chaos_theory]] · [[Charles_A._S._Hall]] · [[Claude_Shannon]] · `Cognitive_model` · [[Cognitive_science]] · [[Collective_action]] · [[Collective_behavior]] · [[Collective_consciousness]] · [[Collective_intelligence]] · `Command_and_Control_Research_Program` · `Community` · `Complex_network` · [[Complex_system]] · [[Complexity]] · `Computational_sociology` · [[Control_theory]] · [[Coupled_human–environment_system]] · `Cultural_evolution` · [[Cybernetics]] · `Cyberspace` · [[Differential_equation]] · `Digital_twin` · [[Donella_Meadows]] · [[Doubling_time]] · `Dual-phase_evolution` · `Duncan_J._Watts` · [[Dynamic_network_analysis]] · [[Earth_system_science]] · `Economic_system` · `Econophysics` · [[Ecosystem]] · [[Edsger_W._Dijkstra]] · [[Edward_Norton_Lorenz]] · `Embryo` · [[Emergence]] · [[Enterprise_systems_engineering]] · [[Entropy]] · [[Eric_Trist]] · [[Evolution]] · `Evolution_of_biological_complexity` · [[Evolutionary_computation]] · [[Evolutionary_developmental_biology]] · [[Evolutionary_game_theory]] · [[Evolutionary_robotics]] · [[Evolvability]] · [[Feedback]] · [[Francisco_Varela]] · `Fred_Emery_(psychologist)` · [[Game_theory]] · [[Genetic_programming]] · [[Geomorphology]] · [[George_Dantzig]] · [[George_Klir]] · [[Graph_theory]] · [[Gregory_Bateson]] · [[Heinz_von_Foerster]] · [[Herd_mentality]] · [[Homeostasis]] · [[Howard_T._Odum]] · `Human–computer_interaction` · [[Humberto_Maturana]] · [[Ilya_Prigogine]] · `Immune_system` · [[Information_system]] · [[Information_theory]] · `Internet` · [[James_Grier_Miller]] · [[James_J._Kay]] · [[Jay_Wright_Forrester]] · [[Jennifer_Wilby]] · [[John_Henry_Holland]] · [[John_Seddon]] · [[Kathleen_Carley]] · [[Katia_Sycara]] · `Kenneth_E._Boulding` · `Kevin_Kelly_(editor)` · [[Kevin_Warwick]] · `Life` · [[Limiting_factor]] · [[List_of_systems_sciences_organizations]] · `List_of_systems_scientists` · [[Living_systems]] · [[Ludwig_von_Bertalanffy]] · [[Lydia_Kavraki]] · [[Machine_learning]] · `Macrostructure_(sociology)` · [[Manfred_Clynes]] · [[Manuela_M._Veloso]] · [[Margaret_Boden]] · [[Margaret_Mead]] · [[Mary_Cartwright]] · `Mean-field_game_theory` · `Memetics` · `Mental_model` · `Michael_D._Cohen_(academic)` · `Microorganism` · [[Mihajlo_D._Mesarovic]] · `Mike_Jackson_(systems_scientist)` · `Mode_(statistics)` · [[Multi-agent_system]] · [[Multistability]] · [[Murray_Bowen]] · [[Negative_feedback]] · [[Nervous_system]] · [[Network_motif]] · [[Network_science]] · [[Niklas_Luhmann]] · `Non-equilibrium_thermodynamics` · [[Nonlinear_system]] · [[Norbert_Wiener]] · [[Open_system_(systems_theory)]] · [[Operationalization]] · [[Particle_swarm_optimization]] · [[Pattern_formation]] · `Paul_Cilliers` · `Percolation_theory` · [[Peter_Senge]] · [[Phase_space]] · [[Phase_transition]] · `Political_party` · [[Population_dynamics]] · [[Positive_feedback]] · [[Principia_Cybernetica]] · [[Prisoner's_dilemma]] · `Prokaryote` · [[Qian_Xuesen]] · [[Radhika_Nagpal]] · `Random_walk` · [[Recommender_system]] · `Richard_Dawkins` · `Robert_Axelrod_(political_scientist)` · [[Robustness_(computer_science)]] · `Russell_L._Ackoff` · `Ruzena_Bajcsy` · `Sampling_bias` · `Santa_Fe_Institute` · [[Scalability]] · [[Self-organization]] · [[Self-organized_criticality]] · [[Self-reference]] · [[Self-replication]] · `Self-similarity` · [[Sensemaking]] · `Sidney_Dekker` · `Simulated_reality` · `Skewness` · `Social_Darwinism` · [[Social_dynamics]] · [[Social_network_analysis]] · `Social_system` · `Sociobiology` · [[Sociotechnical_system]] · [[Spatial_ecology]] · `Species` · [[Stafford_Beer]] · `Statistical_population` · [[Stephanie_Forrest]] · `Steven_Strogatz` · `Supply_chain` · `Survival_of_the_fittest` · `Swarm_Development_Group` · [[Swarm_behaviour]] · [[Synchronization]] · [[System]] · [[System_dynamics]] · `Systemics` · `Systems_analysis` · `Systems_art` · [[Systems_biology]] · [[Systems_ecology]] · [[Systems_engineering]] · [[Systems_neuroscience]] · [[Systems_pharmacology]] · `Systems_philosophy` · `Systems_psychology` · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]] · `Systems_theory_in_anthropology` · [[Systems_theory_in_archaeology]] · [[Systems_theory_in_political_science]] · [[Systems_thinking]] · [[Talcott_Parsons]] · [[Twelve_leverage_points]] · `Universal_Darwinism` · [[Urban_metabolism]] · `Variance` · `Viability_theory` · [[Viable_system_theory]] · `Victor_Aladjev` · `Walter_F._Buckley` · `War` · [[Wayback_Machine]] · `Wicked_problem` · `World-systems_theory`
## From the Real GENERATIVE library (beauty pass)
*Complex adaptive system — image hotlinked from Wikimedia Commons (via the Real G.E.N.E.R.A.T.I.V.E. course library, Information room). [Details & license](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Complex_adaptive_system.svg).*
> A complex adaptive system is a system that is complex in that it is a dynamic network of interactions, but the behavior of the ensemble may not be predictable according to the behavior of the components. It is adaptive in that the individual and collective behavior mutate and self-organize corresponding to the change-initiating micro-event or collection of events.[1][2][3] It is a "complex macroscopic collection" of relatively "similar and partially connected micro-struct ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_adaptive_system))
<!-- BEAUTY-PASS-MEDIA:END -->
> p5.js MicroSim stub · part of Systems Thinking · [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_adaptive_system)
> Relation: subfield of systems thinking.
## Concept summary
A complex adaptive system (CAS) is a [[System|system]] that is complex in that it is a dynamic network of interactions, but the behavior of the ensemble may not be predictable according to the behavior of the components. It is adaptive in that the individual and [[Collective_behavior|collective behavior]] mutate and self-organize ...
## Build checklist
- [ ] Claim it: set `status: in-progress` + `lease` + `leased_at`
- [ ] Write the child page explaining the concept (tie it back to systems thinking)
- [ ] Finalize parameter ranges and defaults
- [ ] Implement the p5.js sketch (drawing + control regions)
- [ ] Add caption + the learning objective on the page
- [ ] Set `status: done`
## p5.js sketch
```javascript
// MicroSim: Complex adaptive system
let controls = {};
function setup() {
// createCanvas(...); create sliders for the parameters above.
}
function draw() {
// background(...); read controls; render agent-based; respond live.
}
```
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Back to Systems Thinking · Wikipedia: [Complex adaptive system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_adaptive_system)
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## Semiotic profile
> *The semiotic universals this article invokes, machine-derived from the crossref — **unverified** (born so). Populated 2026-07-06 for the Systems room.*
**Universals (5):** 🟡 system (36) · 🟡 science (5) · 🟢 network (3) · 🟢 emergence (2) · 🟢 pressure (1)
**Enter by sign:** Systems Semiotic Gateway · Alphabetum · Icon Registry · ← Systems Portal
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## Wikipedia : Wikitube
**Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_adaptive_system) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Complex_adaptive_system)
## Previous hub tags
Tree parents: [[Agent-based_model]] · [[Complex_system]] · [[Cybernetics]] · [[Emergence]] · [[Feedback]] · [[Self-organization]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]].
Legacy hubs: none.
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*Sources: 3 legacy notes. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*