Symbol systems in constructed complex systems

Abstract

This paper is about a particular technical problem in the study of autonomy in constructed complex systems: how can a computing system decide that it needs a new symbol system to re-express all of its own processes? We have shown earlier that a constructed complex system will need to change its symbol system, by proving two theorems that limit what it can do with a fixed symbol system. To change that phenomenon, we need construction mechanisms that can themselves be changed and elaborated. In this paper, we show how a constructed complex system can decide that it needs to change its symbol system, and how it can do it. We think that if we can change the construction mechanisms, then we have another way to escape the trap of creeping rigidity: we can elaborate the units out from underneath the existing structures. This brings us directly to computational semiotics, which is the study of the treatment and use of symbols in computing systems. This paper is primarily intended to stimulate discussion and further research in these areas.